Whiplash has become almost a cliché among people who have suffered motor vehicle accidents. People worry about suffering whiplash when they’re injured in a car accident, and often feel embarrassed if they do have whiplash symptoms following a car wreck. Don’t let the negative stereotypes keep you from getting medical treatment, or filing a claim when appropriate. Whiplash is a potentially serious injury, so you need to be alert to potential whiplash when you’re in a car, truck or bus accident.
What is Whiplash? Whiplash typically occurs when you’re struck from the rear by another car who failed to stop in time. Your body is physically thrown back then forward during a violent collision of this type. While you may feel ok at the scene of an accident, whiplash typically becomes evident hours later, or even the next day. Whiplash is a broad term that covers many different types of neck pain, including many types of soft tissue injuries.
Your doctor may refer to whiplash in medical terms like cervical sprain, cervical strain or hyperextension injuries. These are all common medical conditions that fall under the heading ‘whiplash.’
Symptoms of Whiplash. The most common symptom of whiplash is pain to the neck and back. Whiplash sufferers may also experience shoulder pain, headaches and a ‘pins and needles’ feeling in the arms and legs. You may begin experiencing whiplash symptoms within hours of an accident, or it may be days before whiplash symptoms occur.
How is Whiplash Treated? Because whiplash is typically used to describe types of soft tissue injuries to the neck, you’ll find many types of treatments, depending on the doctor. Some doctors don’t offer any treatment for whiplash at all, instead prescribing anti-inflammatory drugs and pain killers until the soft tissue damage heals naturally. We see this as a mistake as it usually leads to longer recovery times and not nearly as good of a final outocome. This type of treatment is masking the problem, not treating it.
Other doctors may recommend physical therapy to help improve your range of motion and reduce pain and swelling.Still other doctors may refer you to a chiropractor to relieve whiplash symptoms through chiropractic manipulation. Oftentime, the Physical therapy and chiropractic treatment are very similar and reach similar results.
Long-term Repercussions. In cases of mild whiplash, you may undergo treatment for days or weeks until your soft tissues heal and you may resume regular activities. During this time, you may be confined to bed rest, and you may be unable to work and perform other normal activities.
Some whiplash injuries result in permanent restrictions, though, such as being unable to move your neck beyond a certain point, or permanent pain and change in activities.
Don’t Let Insurance Companies Walk All Over You.
Soft tissue damages can be some of the most difficult injuries to prove to insurance companies, and whiplash is high on the list of ‘warning signs’ that provokes insurance companies to give you hassle. Don’t let insurance companies walk all over you. Whiplash encompasses a broad range of legitimate injuries for which you should be compensated if you’re injured in a motor vehicle accident.
Free Consultations For a free, no hassle evaluation of your car, truck or motorcycle injury claim, call the Fort Worth/Dallas based Anderson Law Firm at 877-294-1115.
