The Symptoms Of Whiplash.

• Neck pain, stiffness, and soreness.
• Shoulder pain, stiffness, and soreness.
• Back pain, stiffness, and soreness.
• Reduction in the range of movement of the neck.
• Headaches (often in the back of the head).
• Dizziness or giddiness (generally feeling disorientated and not with it).
• Pain, numbness or pins and needles in the hands and arms.
• Tiredness.

You can see that while most people when they think of whiplash immediately think of the white neck collar; there are many different ways that whiplash can present itself to an accident victim.
When Do The Symptoms Of Whiplash Start To Show?
Once again, this question does not have a straightforward answer. For some people, they will immediately feel pain in the neck. You will often pass the scene of a car accident and see someone outside of their vehicle rubbing their neck. This is a typical reaction.
However, for other people whiplash may not manifest itself for some hours, or even a few days. Some people try to forget the accident and subconsciously block out the pain, only to be hit severely by it a few days later and struggle to get out of bed.
If you have been involved in a car accident and have been worried about why you suddenly feel giddy, woozy or simply not right and are experiencing any of the symptoms above, you may well be suffering from whiplash.
What Should You Do If You Think You Have Whiplash?
Whenever the symptoms present themselves, and no matter how severe or minor they seem, it is always sensible to examined by your local GP or Accident & Emergency Department. While most whiplash injuries lead to a complete and quick recovery, some can linger far longer, and sometimes people can suffer a broken neck. This is why it is worth taking a quick visit to be properly assessed by a medical professional. A few minutes of your time could save you a lot of long-term pain and suffering.
One Simple Thing to Prevent Whiplash
Thousands of automobile collisions occur every day. Most of them occur within a short distance from home, occur at relatively low speeds of about 12 miles per hour and often involve microscopic vehicle damage.[1] These accidents account for an astonishing number of a chronic headache and neck pain sufferers each year.
A group of prestigious medical researchers found that between 25 and 40% of auto collision victims will suffer long-term pain, stiffness, and other symptoms as a direct result of their accident [2]. These chronic cases are said to be due to damage to the facet joints and discs in the neck.
These are serious injuries with serious consequences.
The data from these three studies have changed the world of auto crash mechanics. A definitive mechanism was uncovered as the cause of whiplash-type injuries. Treating physicians now understand how these injuries occur and can apply various treatments to help victims recover. But due to the nature of these injuries and despite proper medical care, many of these cases will become chronic and never completely go away.
Since chronic whiplash injuries often become permanent, physicians who treat these injuries should focus on preventing them from occurring in the first place. Medical science has revealed many aggravating factors that increase the likelihood of suffering a whiplash injury. If more public awareness was focused on these factors, we might see fewer cases of whiplash and chronic whiplash sufferers.
This article is the first in a series of articles that attempts to inform the public on steps to take to avoid becoming a crash statistic. This first item is probably the most important and is a single action that can be taken that can eliminate most cases of low-speed whiplash.