Common Symptoms after whiplash injury
In general patients develop symptoms
soon after the accident or whiplash injury to their neck - these
symptoms are not exclusive to the neck but can involve a whole range of
other joint, muscle, soft tissue or psychological problems.
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Most patients develop symptoms of whiplash within twenty four hours of the injury. There is good evidence that early onset of pain is associated with a longer time to recovery.
The symptoms after whiplash injury are dominated by pain in the neck and by headache. Pain across the shoulders and pain or pins and needles in the arms also commonly follow after whiplash related accidents. Other less common symptoms include dizziness, disturbance of vision and tinnitus or ringing noises in the ears. Whiplash injury is also associated with pain in the lower back - with some research studies reporting low back pain in up to forty percent of all patients. Temporary loss of memory and tearfulness are also sometimes experienced after whiplash - as are problems with swallowing or speech.
Neck pain after whiplash
Neck pain after whiplash injury is usually felt over the back of the neck and is usually dull and aching in nature. Neck movements make this pain worse and neck movements often produce sudden more severe or sharp neck pain. The neck pain is usually associated with stiffness in the neck muscles and a decreased range of movement in the neck.
The neck pain
after whiplash often spreads down to the shoulders or to the area of
the upper back between the shoulder blades. Many research studies have
tried to work out where the neck pain arises - the most likely culprit
seems to be the joints between the vertebrae bones - but as yet there is
no clear answer to that question. You can find more information about neck and shoulder blade pain elsewhere on this website.
Headache after whiplash
Headache is the second most common symptom after a whiplash injury. The headache is usually felt at the back of the neck and can sometimes continue for weeks after the accident.
Blurred vision after whiplash
Many patients have problems with
focussing their vision for a few days after a whiplash injury. No-one
knows why this happens but it can occur in about ten percent of those
who have suffered a whiplash injury. It usually clears quickly without
any treatment
Dizziness after whiplash
The figures vary between different research studies but it seems that up to 50 percent of people experience dizziness for up to a week after a whiplash injury.
Memory problems or poor concentration after whiplash
I have seen and
examined many hundreds of patients after whiplash injuries. Only a few
have ever spontaneously told me that there memory was poor after the
accident but if I ask them directly about this, a surprising number
admit that they did indeed have problems for up to two weeks after the
accident.
Low back pain after whiplash
Until recently the subject of pain in the lower part of the back after whiplash injury was a bit controversial. Several good new research papers have now shown that this lower back pain is both genuine and relatively common. Even though low back pain recovers more quickly than neck pain after whiplash injury, it seems that up to 60 percent of all whiplash injury patients complain of it.
If you have found this article about Whiplash injury helpful then please browse around the other pages on this site for further information - or take a look at Doctor Cameron's range of in depth Expert Reports - there are two expert reports dedicated to the subject of neck pain and neck treatment.
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