Whiplash can be a much more serious injury than you think
After being in a car accident, you probably expected to be in some degree of pain. After all, your body doesn’t stop as quickly as your vehicle. Since you didn’t have any significant injuries that you could see, you may have skipped going to see a Florida doctor for an examination.
The next day, you may have woken up with some pain in your neck and shoulders. Since you already expected some pain, you still didn’t go to the doctor. After all, isn’t whiplash considered a minor injury? Actually, whiplash can result in serious harm on its own, and it can indicate other, more serious issues.
Do these symptoms sound familiar?
The violent movement of your neck back and forth or side to side during an accident can easily cause injuries to the muscles, tendons and ligaments in the neck and shoulders. The problem lies in the fact that adrenaline tends to mask the injury for hours or even days after the crash. If you experience the following symptoms, you may want to see a doctor immediately:
- Dizziness
- Feeling as if the world is spinning
- Feeling faint
- Neck pain that goes through the shoulders and upper back
- Humming, hissing, ringing or static sounds in your ears
- Reduced range of motion
- Swelling
- Stiffness
- Pain at the base of the skull
- Headaches
The pain alone could keep you out of commission for some time. These injuries do not heal quickly either. In addition, if you suffer from whiplash, the possibility of other injuries such as a traumatic brain injury exists. Even if you “only” suffer from whiplash, you could experience excruciating pain when you try to move your neck. Your sleep will most likely suffer as well since the pain could keep you awake. The headaches can make it difficult for you to function and can end up as a chronic condition.
It could take weeks or months for you to recover. You could experience anxiety, depression and frustration since you cannot perform simple daily tasks due to pain and mobility issues. As you can see, whiplash is no laughing matter. You could need a variety of treatments to aid your recovery and lose time from work. The financial burdens only make matters worse. If another person’s negligence led to your injuries, it may be possible to pursue compensation through the filing of a personal injury claim.
