Whiplash is one of the most common injuries suffered by a person after an accident. It sometimes deems as completely harmless as most people think that a couple of painkillers are your way out of it. Little do you know the long term impact of a Whiplash injury can be quite haunting and dangerous? It goes especially for people who run away from regular discomforts and are not prone to the idea of suffering regularly.
To understand the long term effect of whiplash, you need to understand what whiplash is.
What is Whiplash?
A whiplash injury occurs when the soft tissues present in the neck are injured simply because your neck was jerked back and forth violently. In other words, you can say that whiplash is a cervical acceleration-deceleration injury. This is known as a CAD injury to many people.
Whiplash in Car accidents
In-car accidents, a person can suffer from whiplash if the car is hit from behind mostly. According to a survey, whiplash is one of the most common injuries that are suffered during a car accident. The injury does not show externally and sometimes it does not have an obvious symptom so often it is left and not looked after. Also, people tend to ignore it as something common that would go away with time. This dismissal leads to several problems.
Symptoms of Whiplash
The symptoms can vary from being very mild to extreme. While short-term and mild symptoms can be treated over routine checkups and a few medicines. It is advised by doctors not to neglect any pains after a recent accident as their long-term treatment can cause a lifetime of expense as well as numerous trips to the doctor and comparatively bad health.
Common symptoms of whiplash
- Tingling sensations followed by dizziness
- Constant headache
- Blurry vision
- Stiffness and numbness
- Excruciating shoulder ache
- Disturbed sleeping pattern
Impact of whiplash
Accident victim suffering from whiplash can have both short and long term effects on their body. Needless to say, the quality of life is greatly compromised unless you opt for an on-time treatment.
Short term impact of whiplash injury
Short term effects include:
- Constant back and shoulder ache
- Needle-like pinching pain
- Headache and numbness
- Reduced range of motion
- Irritation, lack of focus and anger issues
Long term impact of whiplash
While short term issues can last up to a week or a bit more, the longer-term effect on the health comes with the following health hazards.
- Severe chronic pain that results in constant irritation
- Constantly prevailing headaches and memory problems
- Change in personality, temper and mood
- Difficulty while sleeping
- Numbness in various body parts followed by tingling
Treatment
After an accident, head out straight to your doctor as most of the internal symptoms start appearing in a day of a few hours. Explain your condition in detail as well as an overview of the previous medical history. An injury doctor will compensate you for your medical rights in front of the jury.
