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Whiplash is a type of neck strain associated with a force thatjerks the head in a quick or sudden movement. The force that causesyour neck to jerk forward or backward stretches and tears themuscles and tendons in your neck. Depending on how severe thewhiplash case is, it is not always able to heal on its own.
What Causes Whiplash?
The most well-known cause of whiplash is a car accident;however, there are many other causes of whiplash as well, evensimple things can cause you to have whiplash injury symptoms. Thereis no way to avoid whiplash as whiplash is caused by unforeseenaccidents.
Whiplash can be caused by roller coasters, being pushed orshaken, physical abuse or assault, sports-related collisions (suchas being tackled in Football), a hard fall,
Whiplash Injury Symptoms
Whiplash injury symptoms do not always happen suddenly and maytake hours or days before whiplash injury symptoms begin. It isalso important to keep in mind that the same blow that caused thewhiplash could always cause a concussion and should be taken veryseriously.
- Pain - Because your neck muscles arestretched and torn, it is common to experience pain around theaffected area.
- Decreased Range of Motion - The mobilityof the neck could be limited either because of the pain or becausethe neck locks up.
- Tightness in Neck - The muscles in yourneck are greatly affected when you have whiplash and couldtighten.
- Muscles Feel Hard or Knotted - Musclesinjured from whiplash can harden or feel knotted. Massages help thetension built up, but a correction to the problematic area willallow your muscles to relax.
- Pain Moving Head Side to Side - Thestrained muscles can make it painful to move the head side toside.
- Pain or Stiffness Occurs When Looking OverShoulder
The injured muscles make it very difficult for a person to lookover their shoulder. Sometimes the person will feel a painful tugas they look over the shoulder or their neck becomes so stiff itprevents the person from looking over the shoulder.
- Tenderness - This whiplash injurysymptom can occur in the shoulder, upper back, or arms.
- Headaches at Base of Skull - Theseheadaches radiate towards the forehead.
- Fatigue - Injuries can cause the body tofeel fatigued due to your body trying to heal or due to thepressure or stress put on your system that takes away your body’senergy.
- Dizziness - Having dizzinessas a whiplash injury symptom can cause balance issues.
There are cases in which people have encountered theseadditional whiplash injury symptoms:
- Tinnitus - This refers to a ringing,clicking, buzzing, hissing, or whistling sound in the ear that isnot there.
- Blurred Vision - Due to a misalignment inthe neck, whiplash can change your vision.
- Irritability
Whiplash injuries can cause irritability depending on theseverity, especially if whiplash has caused a negative change intheir daily living activities.
- Depression - A common whiplash-associateddisorder. Whiplash, depending on the case, could lead a sufferer toexperience depression or increase their depression.
- Memory Problems - Whiplash sufferers mayexperience memory problems due to the injury as whiplash can affecttheir mental skills.
- Difficulty Concentrating - Some whiplashpatients find it hard to focus on a subject or task at hand.
- Trouble Sleeping - The pain and stressthe body is under after whiplash can cause the sufferer to havetrouble sleeping.
Whiplash and whiplash injury symptoms can last for years andlead to additional injuries if not taken care of. Whiplash leavesyour neck area vulnerable and those who have whiplash should takeit easy while the area recovers and seek treatment to help therepairing process.
Those who leave their whiplash untreated or have suffered asevere injury from whiplash could face permanent damage and havetheir whiplash injury symptoms worsen over time.
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