It’s a horrifying experience to suffer a car crash. If you have walked away, count yourself fortunate, given the reality that more than 1.35 million people each year die in accidents related to car wrecks, one of the leading causes of death around the globe.
How to Know if You Have Whiplash After a Car Accident
Even after you have walked away from a wreck, you may not be “out of the woods” quite yet. It can sometimes be challenging to know if you have whiplash or identify a condition like a concussion in the immediate aftermath of an accident. Be sure to take things slow and carefully monitor your condition in the all-important days and weeks following a serious accident and proactively go to a car accident chiropractor for a complete evaluation.
Pay especially close attention in the first few days; you may potentially see some of the tell-tale signs of whiplash, like neck pain and stiffness. These conditions can be more insidious and harder to spot since they don’t even require your head to have suffered the blow of impact during the accident.
Whiplash Symptoms
Other symptoms to keep on the lookout for beyond general neck pain and stiffness include:
- Worsening pain
- Loss of range in neck motion
- Headaches starting at the base of the skull
- Pain in your shoulders, upper back, and arms
- Tingling and numbness in the arms
- Chronic fatigue and dizziness.
Don’t take chances on your health and recovery. If you begin to see signs like these and other car accident effects, take quick, proactive action and seek out medical professionals. They can more accurately diagnose what damage you may have experienced as a result of the accident and can advise on how to avoid additional signs of damage, such as blurred vision, ringing in the ears, and sleep disturbances.
If you don’t seek out help, you may think you are simply strong and coping. But you can potentially pay long-term damage in terms of irritability, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, and depression. Be sure to quickly seek out a doctor who can help get you a prompt diagnosis and identify the right medication and course of treatment for your injury.
Some people with poor health histories and family histories of challenging conditions may be especially susceptible to complications from injuries, with pain enduring for months or even years after the initial accident took place. These complicating factors include previous accidents and whiplash, advanced age, and back pain. If you fall into this category of high-risk patients, be sure to seek out help swiftly.
If you’re experiencing pain and seeking solutions for more effective coping, contact our team at East Coast Injury. You can learn more about our services and how to contact us at https://eastcoastinjury.com/.