Whiplash and Back Injuries from Car Accidents
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Whiplash and back injuries resulting from car accidents can cause serious, chronic pain which can last for weeks, months, or even years.
Car accidents are, by and large, the primary cause of whiplash and back injuries, although some of these injuries are the result of sports, horseback riding, riding a roller coaster or other high impact activities. The neck and back are particularly sensitive to sudden movements and/or force. This means when a car slams into the rear of your car, it causes your head to move forward, snapping back with considerable force, and injuring the soft tissues of your neck and back. The spine was simply not designed to handle this level of force, and the result can be debilitating back or neck pain.
Spinal Disc Injury
The spinal discs in your back are round pieces of cartilage which are, essentially, the cushioning system for your back, allowing you to move freely, and providing stability. When a spinal disc is damaged, you can suffer intense pain. Disc pain from the sudden trauma of a car crash or from a degenerative spinal condition can take away the pleasure you had in your life, preventing you from being able to perform your normal, day-to-day duties.
Disc pain can show itself whether you are lying still, sitting up, walking, or engaging in more vigorous activities. The pain of a disc injury is usually described as “shooting,” or “sharp.” The pain may be contained in the damaged disc are, or could radiate to one or both legs, your groin, feet or buttocks. When the pain radiates in that manner, it is known as sciatica, and may be exacerbated by standing, bending over or sitting.
Whiplash Injury
By the time serious complications from whiplash have manifested themselves, your injuries could potentially become long-term. Studies have found that years after whiplash victims have settled their insurance claims, at least half of them still have pain from their whiplash injury. Some of the more common symptoms associated with whiplash injury include the following:
- Neck pain (experienced by more than 90 percent of whiplash patients)
- Facet joint pain felt on the back of the neck, to the left or right of center
- Headaches—the second most common symptom among whiplash patients
- Temporomandibular joint dysfunction, causing pain in the jaw
- Mild to moderate brain injury
- Dizziness
- Lower back pain
- Loss of range of motion in the neck
- Pain in the shoulder or arms
- Tingling or numbness in the arms
- Fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Insomnia
- Irritability, depression, and problems with memory
If you seek proper medical care for your back injury or whiplash injury, the odds that your pain will eventually subside are much higher than if you do nothing at all. When cared for correctly, mild whiplash injuries generally heal in six to nine months, however as many as one-fifth of those who suffer from a whiplash injury will still have pain related to the injury two years after the car accident and some will have some level of pain or disability for many more years.
If you have whiplash or a back injury from a car accident, the professionals at Seattle Pain can help. Whether your pain responds to injections, pain medication, trigger point therapy, stretching or any number of other traditional and non-traditional pain treatments, Seattle Pain will help you rid yourself of pain.
Are you struggling with severe whiplash or back pain after your car accident?
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When your ankle pain is causing you to miss out on your life, Seattle Pain can relieve your pain and improve your quality of life. We believe in treating the whole patient – and not just the illness or injury. You do not have to live in pain.
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- Recommedned Treatments:
- Caudal Steroid Injection
- Epidural Steroid Injection
- Back Pain Treatments
- Occipital Nerve Block
- Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block
- Stellate Ganglion Block
- Cervical Steroid Injection
- Facet Injections
- Medial Branch Blocks
- Radiofrequency Ablation
- Spinal Cord Stimulator Trial
- Trigger Point Injections
