Whiplash
Whiplash happens as a result of a quick back and forth movement of your neck. Your neck moves in a way that is similar to how a whip moves when it is cracked. The vast majority of people experience whiplash after an automobile accident.
However, whiplash can be the result of a sports injury, trauma, or physical abuse. Describing the effects that whiplash has had on her life, one sufferer said, “After the incident, my neck and shoulder has been in pain. My headaches are constant, and I’m dealing with back pain. I really worry that whiplash is going to negatively affect my work or cause me to go on disability.”
If you are currently dealing with whiplash pain, it is likely that you have some of the same concerns mentioned above. We understand how challenging and how difficult living with this type of pain can be. We want to help you recover from your pain, learn to manage your pain, and get back to living the high quality of life you deserve.
What Are the Symptoms of Whiplash?
Most sufferers feel okay in the first moments after the initial trauma that gave them whiplash. However, in the next 24 hours they start to experience some of the following symptoms:
- Pain and stiffness in their neck
- Pain that gets worse when they move their neck
- Diminished range of neck motion
- Numbness and tingling in their arm
- Dizziness
- Their shoulder, upper back, and arms become tender to the touch
- Fatigue
- Tinnitus
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Depression
- Lack of Concentration
- Blurred Vision
- Forgetfulness
One of the most challenging things about dealing with whiplash pain is that it has become the catchall diagnosis for pain after an automobile accident. Since it can be difficult for medical professionals to identify the causes of whiplash pain, some doctors and some insurance companies believe that when people claim that they have it, they are actually looking for a way to get prescription drugs or to take advantage of the financial system.
Talking about how whiplash has affected his life, one sufferer said that he feel likes he had been beaten to a pulp, physically and emotionally. After being denied help and care, this individual was left asking “What can you do? Absolutely nothing.”
Dealing with Chronic Whiplash
Thankfully, for some individuals, the symptoms of whiplash dissipate after a few weeks. However, in severe cases whiplash pain can last for more than 12 months. The pain itself is annoying, but if it goes untreated, it can lead to additional problems, including:
- Stiffness
- Persistent Headaches
- Dizziness
- Anxiety
- Depression
It is difficult to predict in the moment if your neck pain will become chronic. One indicator is how quickly you start to experience pain. If quickly after the accident you feel severe neck pain, headaches, and pain that radiates into your arms, there is a higher chance of you developing chronic whiplash.
Describing the long term effect chronic whiplash has had on him, one sufferer said, “The pain is constant. I struggle with it every single day. Working on the computer is a challenge. I’m forced to work inside my home because of the frequency with which I need to lay down to deal with the pain.”
We understand that the only thing you want right now is to be to recover from your injury, manage your pain, and get back to living the life you had before the trauma that gave you neck pain.
How We Can Help
Throughout our years of working in pain management, we have seen many clients battling with whiplash. We understand how challenging it can be to try to go on living life when the majority of your upper body movements cause you pain.
We want to help. We start off by taking the time to listen to you. Many of our clients comment on how relieved they feel that they are able to openly talk about their pain with someone who believes them.
After we talk to you, our next step is to work with you in creating a long-term and short-term pain management and treatment program. We want to get you back to living life the way you did before your accident as quickly as possible.
We understand that recovering from whiplash and learning to manage the pain is not something that happens overnight. You will need to be patient with yourself. We have never given up on a client, and we will not give up on you.
Whiplash pain is relentless. But so are we. Let us use our experience to help you manage your pain and get back to living a life you can be proud of.