Whiplash is a neck injury that some people experience after a car accident. It is the equivalent of a sprain or strain of the neck area. Many times a person may not have the pain right away, but may develop the injury over time. If a person is checked at the scene of an accident, it may be evident by the person’s complaints of pain in the neck that there is an underlying whiplash injury. There are also times that the pain may be felt several days after an accident. At that time, the person may go to his or her primary care physician and find out that a whiplash injury is the reason for the pain. Some people experience symptoms such as aches, pain or nerve damage to the neck. Some accompanying side effects of whiplash may be headache, prickly sensations in the neck, memory impairment, nervousness, dizziness or stiffness in and around the area of the neck.
People with whiplash are usually given OTC pain medications and drugs to reduce inflammation. They can also be given muscle relaxants and wear a cervical collar to prevent unnecessary motion of the neck area. Often heat being applied to the area might help with the pain or relieve muscle stiffness. In any case, the person with whiplash will usually be told to stay home and recover and may be limited in the amount of additional driving that the person will be permitted to do. This will be the case until the pain subsides, or until the person feels back to normal again.
It is safe to say that most people who experience whiplash usually do have successful and full recoveries, usually within a month or so. It is also the case that there are some people have residual pain and headaches, or experience intermittent pain over the course of the rest of their lives. In the situation where a person continues to suffer pain as the result of a whiplash injury, the person’s quality of life may suffer as a result. If the person was active before the loss, then it may be difficult to get back to the same active state after the injury. Also, there are some people who have to change their lifestyles after this type of injury.
Many scientists who test car safety, advise wearing seatbelts at all times when driving. In crash tests with crash dummies, those that wore seatbelts were less likely to have had the type of movement in the crash that typified whiplash. The seatbelt is meant to hold into the seat in the event of an accident, and will keep your neck and head from moving front and back during a collision. Also, some manufacturers suggest pulling up the neck rest located on the top of your seat in your car or truck. That neck rest is there to avoid your (or your passenger’s) head from jerking backwards, and then forwards again, in the event of a collision. If there are any questions as to the neck rests and their function, you should consult the owner’s manual.
If you have experienced whiplash as a result of an injury in a car accident, call the law offices of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or email us at www.ledgerlaw.com.
