If you’ve recently suffered a whiplash injury, you’re probably looking for ways to help reduce the pain and get you back to normal.
Whiplash can be painful and uncomfortable, knowing what to look for and what steps to take can help get back to you.
Here is a guide on whiplash that can help you and your road to recovery:
What Is Whiplash?
Whiplash is most commonly associated with motor vehicle accidents; however, you can suffer whiplash from any impact that causes your body (specifically your head) to jerk forward. Whiplash can occur while riding rollercoasters or sporting accidents such as skiing.
If your whiplash is the result of a motor vehicle accident, factors such as speed and size of the vehicles can determine the severity of your injuries. Although most people believe that whiplash only occurs after a high-speed collision, whiplash can occur in accidents of as little as ten km per hour.
What Are the Symptoms of Whiplash?
Whiplash, like any other injury, isn’t pleasant, it really is a ‘pain in the neck’ so to speak. That being said, there are a lot more injuries associated with whiplash other than neck pain.
According to Australian Accident Helpline, the most common symptoms of a whiplash injury include:
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Swelling and tenderness of the neck
- Headaches
- Restricted movement in the neck
- Shoulder or arm pain
In most cases, symptoms appear 24 hours after the accident. However, this is not always the case, and they may take days or even weeks to develop.
Other symptoms to look out for include:
- Dizziness
- Lower back pain
- Blurred vision
- Numbness or pain in the arms and hands
Ways to Help Your Recovery
Here are some things you can do to help with whiplash pain:
See A Doctor:
It is best to seek medical attention so that you can be correctly diagnosed. Make sure you tell the doctor every symptom you are experiencing so that they can best treat your whiplash.
They may take x-rays to see if there are any underlying issues that need treatment. They also generally prescribe painkillers to help.
Physiotherapy may also be advised to help on your road to recovery.
At Home remedies:
After the accident, ice can be applied to the area to help reduce the pain and bring down the swelling.
After the swelling has gone down, you can apply moist heat to your neck.
Massages can also help after a whiplash injury but it best that this is carried out by a professional to ensure there is no further damage done.
However, if you insist on DIY, an excellent guide to massaging can be found here.
In Conclusion
Although there are certain things we can do to help with a whiplash injury, everybody is different, so the recovery time will vary with each person, it will also depend on the severity of your injuries.
Time is probably the most critical factor to take into consideration. You will not recover overnight so as frustrating as it may be, you will need to be patient.
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Photo by drweisgerber 