Gentle, Skilled Care for Your Whiplash

Only around 0.3% of people get whiplash every year, but that’s approximately 1 million people with serious neck injuries from falls, sports injuries, and accidents. Neck pain caused by whiplash can last for months or years beyond the initial acute injury.

Here at Advantage Spinal Dynamics in Meridian, Idaho, Dr. Jamie Ricks and the team are experts at diagnosing and treating whiplash and other causes of neck pain.

If you’ve been in a car accident, whiplash can take a few days to manifest, but that shouldn’t stop you from seeking prompt medical attention.

Symptoms of whiplash

Whiplash, caused by a sudden movement that snaps the head back and forth, either from front to back or side to side, is technically a cervical sprain. Any sort of trauma, whether it’s a collision in a car accident or on the sports field, can cause whiplash.

Whiplash might feel like acute soreness that slowly improves over the period of a few weeks, or it might turn into chronic pain. This is because the bands of muscle supporting your head have been stretched or torn.

If you’ve been involved in any kind of incident that might have caused whiplash, watch for the following symptoms:

Neck pain and/or stiffness
Pain that worsens a few days after the injury
Pain that’s sharper when you move
Neck pain accompanied by headaches

If you’re in a car accident, and feel fine immediately afterward, it’s likely adrenaline masking your symptoms. Don’t say you’re fine to avoid getting checked out. See a doctor as soon as possible, even if you don’t go to the ER, and have your neck checked for cervical sprain.

Pay attention to your symptoms

Whiplash can be mild. In that case, you may just need some over-the-counter pain meds and anti-inflammatories, some ice, and maybe a few days of taking it easy to get over the injury. Within a week or two, you’ll be good as new.

However, if whiplash symptoms don’t improve after a few days, or keep getting worse, the sprain is likely severe and needs further treatment. If you have any of these additional symptoms, you need to see a doctor right away:

Intense pain so bad you can’t turn your head at all or can’t sleep
Unpredictably intermittent pain and stiffness
Numbness and tingling showing up in your arms, shoulders, or legs
Incontinence of the bladder and/or bowels

At Advantage Spinal Dynamics, our team swiftly comes together to help treat your neck pain.