Whiplash happens when your neck is violently overextended, and around 3 million people experience it each year in the United States. Although it’s often called a muscle strain, whiplash can damage your vertebrae, the discs between them, ligaments, and even your nerves and muscles.
The providers at all three locations of Apex Medical Center treat whiplash. Our focus is on alleviating your pain and making your recovery quick. Whiplash can result in long-term neck pain, headaches, and other chronic issues. However, taking action quickly after injury may help.
For some illnesses and injuries, getting a diagnosis is fairly clear. For example, if you break your leg, it shows up on an X-ray. Whiplash isn’t so clear-cut. Experts sometimes call it a “diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning that your provider rules out other conditions.
Sometimes, you suspect whiplash based on whatever incident caused your injury. If you’re in a car that gets rear-ended, you have a good indication that you have whiplash. Any injury that results from a high-velocity back-and-forth motion can cause whiplash.
The symptoms of whiplash depend on the severity of the injury. A simple muscle strain is likely to heal faster than an injury that affects the discs of your cervical spine. Another thing to remember is that you may only feel symptoms hours after sustaining the injury.
Some common symptoms of whiplash include:
If you sustain such an injury and you think you may have whiplash, even if you don’t have pain immediately, you can take some steps that might help later.
For the first couple of days after an injury that causes whiplash, you may want to take some extra rest. You shouldn’t stay in bed too long—that could delay healing—but you should avoid heavy lifting and be gentle with yourself.
Alternating heat therapy, such as with a heating pad, and cold therapy, such as an ice pack, can help ease the pain. Apply either heat or cold for about 15 minutes every three hours.
If you can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs), you may want to. It can ease mild pain and lower inflammation.
If you have whiplash, schedule an appointment at one of our offices as soon as possible. We can provide additional treatments, such as an injection to lessen your pain or prescription medication to help your muscles relax.
