Pain caused by whiplash can be excruciating. Whiplash happens when your body jolts abruptly, and you are in a stationary position. It happens most frequently when another driver rear-ends you. When this occurs, the force of the impact pushes your body backward and then forward. While your seatbelt restrains your torso, your neck snaps back and then forward violently since it has nothing restricting its movement. That violent motion can cause damage to the very fragile structure of your neck.
Whiplash Can Have a Delayed Effect
Many people don’t know that whiplash can have a delayed effect. It can take up to three full days before any whiplash symptoms occur. The reason is that it can take time for the inflammation from the tiny tears in the injured ligaments and muscles to build up and further aggravate you. When the delicate ligaments that support your neck are wounded, the muscles react by tightening to guard the injured area. This tightening of the muscles protects the damaged area from further injury. For this reason, it is so essential that you come and see us as soon as the injury happens instead of waiting for the symptoms to show up. The sooner you come in after an accident, the sooner we can get you on the right path to recovery.
Symptoms of Whiplash
Although we recommend that you come and see us before these symptoms show up, you should still know what they are. So, here are the common symptoms of whiplash:
- Shoulder pain
- Headaches
- Neck pain
- Neck stiffness
- Low back pain
- Dizziness
- Pain in your arm or hand
- Numbness in your arm or hand
- Ringing in your ears
- Blurred vision
- Concentration or memory problems
- Irritability
- Sleeplessness
- Tiredness
Some of these might go away over time. However, symptoms can become permanent and debilitating depending on the accident’s severity. To prevent that from happening and improve your recovery time, come in to get our professional assessment and care.
Whiplash Treatment
We are experts at dealing with whiplash. Our auto injury treatments target pain and heal damage. Our goal is to find the best remedies to enhance the natural healing process instead of simply masking the pain with medication.
We provide a thorough assessment before recommending a comprehensive treatment plan. Depending on your injuries, your treatments might include a combination of the following:
Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections (PRP therapy)
Platelet-rich plasma injections contain a high concentration of platelets taken from samples of your own blood. Platelets play a vital role in your natural healing process. So, by increasing the concentration of platelets in targeted, injured areas, we boost your body’s natural healing abilities.
Studies have shown that PRP therapy can help tackle even the most challenging whiplash cases.
Chiropractic Care
Our chiropractors use gentle manipulation to reduce restrictions and misalignments common to car accident injuries. These misalignments cause pain and interfere with the proper function of your body. Chiropractic adjustments improve nervous system function, allowing you to manage your pain more effectively by reducing inflammation. That, in turn, will enable you to regain range of motion and increase mobility.
Contact Us
If you have suffered from whiplash or any other accident injury in our area, call us today at (843) 249-9787. You can schedule a complimentary consultation with us. All our treatments for auto injuries provide all-natural pain relief and techniques designed to improve mobility.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Craig Strickland, DC
Carolina Rehab & Physical Medicine Center