Rear-end car accidents often leave those who were hit with soreness, especially in the neck. Commonly called whiplash, the sudden back-and-forth movement of the head and neck when you’re hit from behind can be more serious than you realize. Symptoms may not appear for a few days, during which you could potentially cause yourself more harm without knowing it.
It’s vital to get medical treatment after any automobile crash, even a minor one, to ensure you don’t have any undiagnosed injuries that could lead to severe damage. Attorney Steve Lee shares this guide to whiplash symptoms and what to expect during recovery to educate you about a common condition that can have long-term consequences. Contact our office to speak with our Houston car accident lawyers and learn more today.
What is Whiplash and How Does It Happen?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, whiplash injuries occur when some outside force causes your head to move back and forth quickly, putting strain and stress on the muscles and tendons in your neck and back. Although it is not well understood, it can also cause injury to the discs in your vertebrae and nerves in your neck and shoulders. It’s commonly associated with car accidents, especially rear-end and T-bone crashes.
After a car accident, you should call 911 for emergency responders, even if you think you aren’t hurt. Others may be, and you can let the paramedics evaluate you. If they suspect you suffered whiplash, they may treat it as an emergency and send you to the hospital. Even if they don’t, you should see your doctor right away for a full diagnosis.
Whiplash can happen in other situations, such as contact sports or the movement on thrill rides, such as rollercoasters. When you visit your doctor after a crash, they will assess your injuries and determine if they’re related to the accident. If you were not at fault for the collision, this connection could help a personal injury attorney establish negligence by the other party, allowing you to potentially pursue compensation.
How Your Doctor Diagnoses Whiplash
Diagnosing whiplash may require a range of tests, from testing your ability to move your head and neck to assessing your pain on the Numeric Rating Scale of 1-10. It may take a few days to fully evaluate whiplash since the soreness and difficulty moving may not begin until two days or more after you’re hurt. Your doctor will likely order scans of the affected area, which may include any or all of the following:
- X-ray images: X-rays are usually a first resort to determine whether there’s been damage to internal organs and bones, but they won’t necessarily all whiplash injuries.
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Using an MRI allows your doctor to see more detailed images of the soft tissues and organs, including discs in your neck and spine and torn muscles.
- Computed Tomography (CT) scans: You may need a CT scan to determine if there is any brain injury associated with your whiplash. When the head moves violently from front to back or side to side, the brain can bump the inside of the skull, potentially causing bleeding, bruising, or other injuries.
Because whiplash can get worse over the course of days or weeks after your accident, it’s essential that you see your doctor right away and then continue to keep your appointments. By showing the progression of your injuries, your car accident attorney can demonstrate the full extent of how the negligent party hurt you. Although it’s not usually life-threatening, whiplash can still leave you with mobility issues and chronic pain if you are unable to get the treatment you need to recover.
Symptoms and Treatments for Painful Whiplash
Whiplash can cause tears, strains, and other damage to the muscles in your neck, shoulders, and back. It may even cause damage to your spine, ligaments, and tendons in those areas, all of which must be treated immediately. These injuries can cause symptoms such as:
- Stiffness and pain in the neck and shoulders
- Headaches
- Dizziness or drowsiness
- Pain, weakness, or numbness in the shoulders and arms
- Ringing in the ears
- Vision blurriness or distortion
- Pain anywhere in the back
- Pain in the jaw, such as temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)
- Difficulty turning your head, looking up, or looking down
If you also have associated traumatic brain injury, you could experience nausea, insomnia or other sleep issues, and irregular fatigue. Keep a careful eye on how you feel after your car accident, and ask your family members to report any unusual personality changes or other issues to you. Get to your doctor at the first sign of any of the symptoms listed above.
Treatment for Whiplash
Your doctor will determine your treatment regimen based on your symptoms, age, and overall health, plus the results from any scans or other tests. They may prescribe some initial treatments for the pain if the whiplash is not severe, including the following:
- Use ice packs for the first 7-10 days to reduce any swelling
- Wearing a cervical collar around your neck to limit movement and prevent further damage
- Taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen
- Engaging in gentle neck movement after the first 24 hours
- Take prescription muscle relaxers if the damage is more serious
If your case involves more injury, your doctor may recommend additional treatments, such as:
- Physical therapy (PT): When a trained physical therapist manipulates your head and neck, they help you gradually gain more function without risking additional harm. After your initial recovery period, your doctor may prescribe a few weeks of PT.
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy: This non-invasive treatment uses electrical stimulation from patches applied to the skin in the injured area. Pain relief is often immediate.
- Nerve blocks: These injections temporarily turn off the nerves reporting your pain to your brain. When oral painkillers fail to control your pain, your doctor may recommend regular nerve blocks.
- Radiofrequency nerve ablation (RFA): If your pain isn’t responding to other treatments and is chronic, your doctor may advise RFA, which permanently damages the nerve that’s causing the pain. RFA is used when a patient’s pain doesn’t respond to other treatments.
- Spinal surgery: In more severe cases, your doctor may refer you to a surgeon who can repair damage to your spine and neck.
As you can see, treating whiplash can be very involved and time-consuming, meaning you likely won’t have a complete list of your expenses for weeks or even months after your accident. An experienced car crash attorney can work with your doctors to get estimates of your current and future medical costs so you aren’t left with unpaid bills from someone else’s carelessness. Your lawyer will also help you calculate your other losses, including missed wages, travel costs for treatment, and damage to your car.
Recovering From Whiplash
Your physical recovery from whiplash should happen over the course of several weeks. You may return to your previous activities, or you could experience lasting pain and difficulty moving. You should always follow your doctor’s orders and keep your medical appointments to give yourself the best chance of getting back to your life. If your symptoms don’t get better or they get worse, contact your physician for further assessment.
When someone else was at fault for your car accident, you can file an insurance claim against their policy under Texas’s at-fault insurance laws. The insurance provider may resist paying the claim, trying to say your injuries aren’t as severe as you claim. This is where working with an aggressive car crash lawyer can help you negotiate a satisfactory settlement that addresses your financial recovery from the accident.
If the settlement talks aren’t successful, your attorney may recommend you proceed with a personal injury lawsuit. This often encourages the insurance provider to make a better offer. However, a trial can also maximize your compensation by covering your economic losses and securing monetary acknowledgment of your pain and suffering.
A full settlement lets you focus on healing without worrying about how you will pay your medical costs and regular bills.
Let Our Team Work to Get What You Deserve
Suffering pain and injury after a car crash where you were not to blame can affect you for the rest of your life. You may lose the ability to work and enjoy your hobbies because of pain or other limitations. When someone else is at fault, you have the right in Texas to seek compensation from their insurance policy or through a personal injury lawsuit.
You must act quickly because the statute of limitations in Texas is only two years from the date of your accident. If you wait too long, you could lose the chance to obtain financial relief from those at fault. To learn more, contact attorney Steve Lee for a free case review and discuss your legal options for whiplash after a car accident today.