When you suffer whiplash injuries as a result of a car accident, you'll likely notice a few differences in your quality of life, especially at first. Initially, you will certainly notice pain as nearly all whiplash injuries bring pain to the person that has suffered this type of injury and you may notice other symptoms that can keep you from going on with your life. Unfortunately, not all people that suffer whiplash injuries recover from them completely and in fact, many suffer pain and other symptoms for the rest of their lives.
Whiplash is tearing of the ligaments or muscles in the neck due to a whip-like motion where the head moves one way and then quickly moves another, causing a sharp pull at those muscles. Whiplash is a painful condition and although most people will eventually recover from whiplash, for some, it may take as long as a year or two. Most will recover in a few months but as many as fifteen to twenty percent of sufferers may not completely recover at all. This means that they will experience whiplash symptoms for the rest of their life, even with treatment.
Treatment for whiplash can include drugs such as painkillers and muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory medications as well as physical therapy and chiropractic care. In some cases, surgery is required to repair the muscles and ligaments damaged by whiplash. Many times, doctors run into a problem diagnosing whiplash because the damage may not show up on imaging scans such as X-Rays. When a patient complains of symptoms after a car accident, it can be whiplash, and your doctor may order additional tests to determine if a whiplash injury has occurred.
The fact that whiplash is difficult to diagnose, and that some may never recover from it, means that it will certainly affect your quality of life. Besides the pain that you are likely to suffer from as a result of a whiplash injury, you may also experience symptoms like difficulty concentrating, dizziness or stiffness in the neck or shoulders. While some of these symptoms may seem only like an inconvenience, they may become difficult to bear over a long period of time, and other symptoms such as pain may make your life difficult for certain.
If you have been in an auto accident and you suspect that you have whiplash symptoms or your healthcare provider has diagnosed you with whiplash, you may be wondering if there is anything that you can do, particularly if your car accident was caused by recklessness, carelessness or negligence of another person. Attorney Emery Ledger has been helping car accident victims suffering from injuries collect compensation