Last year, Arizona saw about 130,000 auto accidents. Thankfully not all of these collisions result in death or injury. One of the most common injuries that people suffer as a result of car crashes is whiplash, a result of the head being whipped back and forth forcefully during the collision.
If you think that you may have whiplash as a result of a car accident, you likely have many questions. What symptoms will you be noticing? How long does it take for whiplash symptoms to appear? After how long do you need to see a doctor?
Read on to answer these questions and get medical assistance if you are suffering from whiplash.
What Symptoms Will You Notice From Whiplash?
Neck pain and stiffness is one of the first symptoms that you’ll notice, but this is usually accompanied by worse pain when you try to move your neck or back. The range of movement in your neck might suffer for this reason.
Whiplash doesn’t only affect the neck. You might begin to notice a tender pain in the shoulders and upper arms as well as headaches that commonly begin at the base of your skull. Back pain is also a huge symptom of whiplash, which makes sense since your spine takes a beating in a collision. Numbness in the arms is also a symptom of whiplash.
You may also experience nausea, fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, or sleep disturbances.
How Long Does It Take for Whiplash Symptoms to Appear?
Generally, most symptoms of whiplash will appear within the first 24 hours after the accident. You likely won’t feel this pain immediately after the collision due to shock, adrenaline rush, and other factors. To know if they’ll appear, you need to wait a full day. If they don’t appear within this time period, it’s likely that they won’t appear at all!
However, many people do develop symptoms after this time frame. Sometimes, it takes a few days for them to appear. You should check with your doctor ASAP to see if you have whiplash and be sure that you get the required treatment if you do.
Now that you know how long you will need to wait to see symptoms of whiplash, it is time to see a medical professional so that you can check to make sure whether or not you have this injury.