Hamilton #1 Clinic for Auto Accidents & Whiplash Treatments
If you have been involved in a car accident, whiplash injuries need to be taken very seriously. Because symptoms of a whiplash injury can take weeks or months to manifest, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that you are not as injured as you really are. Too often people don’t seek treatment following a car accident because they don’t feel hurt. By far, the most common injury to the neck is a whiplash injury. Whiplash is caused by a sudden movement of the head, either backward, forward, or sideways, that results in the damage to the supporting muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues in the neck and upper back.
Car Whiplash Injuries are Not Diagnosed Easily
Unfortunately, by the time more serious complications develop, some damage from the injury may have become permanent. Numerous studies have shown that years after whiplash victims settle their insurance claims, roughly half of them state that they still suffer with symptoms from their injuries.
If you have been in a motor vehicle or any other kind of accident, don’t assume that you escaped injury if you are not currently in pain.
What are the symptoms of a whiplash neck sprain?
- Pain and stiffness in the neck. It may take several hours after the accident for symptoms to appear. The pain and stiffness often become worse on the day after the accident. In about half of cases, the pain first develops the day after the accident.
- Turning or bending the neck may be difficult.
- You may also feel pain or stiffness in the shoulders or down the arms.
- There may be pain and stiffness in the upper and lower part of the back.
- Headache is a common symptom.
- Dizziness, blurred vision, pain in the jaw or pain on swallowing, and unusual sensations of the facial skin may occur for a short while, but soon go. Tell a doctor if any of these persist.
- Some people feel tired and irritable for a few days and find it difficult to concentrate.
What causes chronic neck pain?
It is usually not possible to know the exact cause of neck pain in the days or weeks after a car accident. We know the muscles and ligaments get strained and are probably inflamed, but they usually heal within six to ten weeks. Pain that lasts longer is usually a result of deeper problems such as injury to the disc or facet joint, or both.