If you were recently in a car accident and are experiencing pain and stiffness in your neck, you may have whiplash. Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries, and is defined as damage to the soft tissues of the neck caused when the head is thrown forward and backward suddenly.
There’s no way to tell how bad a case of whiplash is without an examination by an orthopedic specialist. In many cases whiplash will heal on its own, but the long-term health effects of whiplash when untreated by a chiropractor in Tucker can cause serious problems as the years go on.
Symptoms of Whiplash
Although the most commonly known symptoms of whiplash are neck pain and stiffness, there are additional symptoms to be alert for:
- Swelling, redness, bruising, or other discoloration of the neck
- Headache
- Blurred eyesight
- Difficulty concentrating
- Pain in the upper or lower back
- Dizziness
- Difficulty speaking or swallowing
If you think a recent car accident or physical trauma you have experienced could have caused whiplash and you have any of these symptoms, it’s in your best interest to contact an orthopedic specialist to make sure that your injury heals the way it should. If your whiplash injury doesn’t heal properly it can lead to chronic pain and reduced range of motion, among other things.
If left untreated, whiplash can lead to:
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Horner’s Syndrome
- Chronic vertigo
- Insomnia
- Chronic headaches
- Premature Cervical Spondylosis
- Premature Degenerative Disc Disease
- Disc herniation
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
- TMJ Disorder
Treatment for Whiplash
Your best option is to get screened for any injuries no more than 24 hours after your accident or physical trauma, but if you’re outside of that window of time there’s still hope. Even though most car insurance companies usually won’t cover the cost of treatment after 24 hours (because a period of more than 24 hours gives them room to suggest that something other than the car accident or physical trauma could have caused your injury) you can still find relief from your pain.
It doesn’t matter whether your injury occurred today or years ago, proper chiropractic treatment can help. It can speed up the healing of a new injury and reduce the discomfort from an old one. Accidents will happen, and occasional injuries can’t be avoided, but proper treatment is always the right answer.