You were in a situation in which your head was thrown back and forth at high speeds — perhaps it was a car accident, or you were hit on the playing field — and you’re not feeling 100% a day or two later. And now you’re wondering whether you're dealing with a whiplash injury.
While we can’t diagnose you from this blog post, Dr. Rajiv Sood and the team here at Spine & Orthopedic Center can provide you with some more detailed information about whiplash injuries, including some of the telltale signs.
Let’s start with a brief description of a whiplash injury, which is also called cervical acceleration-deceleration syndrome. The term syndrome is involved because the condition can lead to a wide range of symptoms, depending upon the severity.
Whiplash occurs when your head is thrust back and forth, violently and suddenly, which places extreme forces on your cervical spine and the connective tissues in your neck.
Not only can whiplash affect your musculoskeletal structure, but it can also lead to neurological issues because your head is whipped back and forth, which can affect your brain.
Whiplash most often occurs in car accidents, though it can also take place with violent shaking, contact sports, and any other activity that causes your head to rock back and forth. Interestingly, women account for two-thirds of whiplash cases.
The first thing we want to emphasize is that the symptoms of whiplash can be delayed. Often, adrenaline at the time of the incident can mask the symptoms, and you might not truly realize the extent of the injury until 12-24 hours later. Some people even develop symptoms weeks or months later, but this isn't terribly common.
The most common signs of whiplash include:
At the top of this list are the most common side effects of whiplash, and as we get down the list, the symptoms are more serious and include neurological issues.
Diagnosing whiplash on your own can be tricky because there is a wide range of symptoms, and some may mimic other problems. We suggest that you seek our help if you’re experiencing anything we describe above.
When you come to see us, we want you to bring along a list of everything you’ve experienced since the trauma to your neck, even if it doesn’t seem logically tied to the event. The symptoms of whiplash are quite varied and include seemingly unrelated side effects, such as trouble sleeping.
Once we review your symptoms, we’ll perform a physical examination and use digital imaging to get a closer look at the structures inside your neck. If we find that you’re dealing with whiplash, we’ll come up with a treatment plan based on your symptoms. This plan might include:
To definitively determine whether you have whiplash, please contact our office in Jonesboro, Georgia, to schedule an appointment.