Being in a car accident, even if it seems fairly minor, is a serious event. You may not even realize the extent of the damage to your vehicle until after a professional looks at it. The same is true of your body. Because most people have a spike of adrenaline during a car accident, you may not actually feel any pain until much later. That means you may turn down medical attention at the time of the accident because you don’t feel like anything is wrong. That can be a very costly mistake because it means your insurance company may deny any later medical claim you make. You may also have a hard time convincing a judge or a jury that you deserve compensation.
What this means is that you need to seek medical attention as soon as you can. For those who have been in a neck injury car accident Phoenix has experts who can determine the extent of the damage and help you determine a plan for recovery. Doctors can do a lot for you, but they may not necessarily be experts in the neck, head, and upper back. That’s where chiropractors come in. These professionals have spent years studying this part of the body, and they understand how all of the muscles, bones, tendons, and other parts work together. They can often spot damage that others may miss.
Car accidents often result in a number of different injuries. When it comes to the neck, there are three that are fairly common. Here are the signs of these three injuries and what you can do to help combat the pain until you can see your chiropractor.
Whiplash
The most common type of neck injury you may experience after a car accident is whiplash. When someone hits you from behind, your head is likely to be thrown forward, then backwards. This is whiplash, and it hurts. For this type of neck injury car accident Glendale residents definitely need to have their neck checked out. Whiplash can cause the muscles in the neck to overextend or tear the tendons. You may not realize that this has occurred right away, either, since there’s no physical sign of whiplash.
However, you may start to experience a number of different symptoms over the week or so after the accident. Whiplash is notorious for being discovered much later, after the accident. In fact, it can actually be a month or more before symptoms show up! If you’ve had whiplash, you may experience headache, tenderness, and pain. You may also not be able to turn your neck as far as usual without pain occurring. You need to see a chiropractor right away if you experience these symptoms. In the meantime, you can put ice on your neck and take anti-inflammatory over-the-counter medication to help reduce any inflammation.
Neck Sprains
While some people think whiplash and a neck sprain are the same, they’re actually different. When you sprain your neck, you damage the ligaments in them. This is the tissue that connects your bones together. A sprain can stretch or even tear these ligaments, causing you pain, muscle spasms, headache, and numbness in your shoulders and neck. Usually, these symptoms show up about a day after a car accident. Some people don’t realize they’ve had a neck injury because they didn’t have any kind of whiplash.
While you do need to see a chiropractor as soon as you can, you can also take some anti-inflammatory medication to deal with the pain until you can make an appointment. Heat or ice can also help. Again, though, this only holds off the pain. It may not do anything to help you actually deal with the underlying condition. If you’re in a neck injury car accident Glendale experts recommend you seek treatment for neck strain as soon as you notice the symptoms.
Pinched Nerves
While people don’t always associate pinched nerves with car accidents, they can occur. There are many nerves located in the neck and around your spine. These nerves actually reach out into your arms and fingers, sending electrical signals to the muscles there and receiving the different sensations from those regions of the body.
If your nerve gets pinched between a part of a herniated disc or a bone spur, you’ll notice a few different symptoms. You may feel pain in the area where the nerve runs, but you might also feel numb. Some people don’t realize that numbness can be just as bad as pain and can also serve as a warning sign of injury. You may also notice that the muscles in the area feel weaker than normal. If you have any of these symptoms following a neck injury car accident Phoenix residents should visit a chiropractor as soon as possible. Pinched nerves often require a specific type of physical therapy and treatment.