Whiplash is a common injury that occurs frequently after road traffic accidents. Whiplash injuries usually recover on their own, in time; however it’s always best to seek medical attention. If you damage your neck in an accident medics may advise that it is best to keep the neck moving and prescribe you pain killers to ease the pain. It is best that you inform your doctor how you encountered the injury, they will then put this in your medical records.
A whiplash sprain injury occurs when your head is forced to jilt either backwards, forwards or to the side. As mentioned before the most common cause of this is in a car accident, especially when a car hits you from behind, other causes include slips, trips and falls.
It is caused when neck muscles and ligaments are forced to stretch more than normal.
Anyone can suffer from a whiplash injury; they can be caused by major or minor car accidents. The slightest bump of a car can cause the injury to occur. Whiplash injuries can happen to both men and women; however they are more common in women because their neck muscles aren’t as strong.
If you’ve suffered from a whiplash injury you will know that the injury doesn’t develop straight away, whiplash injuries can often take a few days or in some cases even weeks to appear.
Symptoms of a whiplash neck sprain
- Pain and stiffness in the neck. However this may not happen straight after the accident. It often becomes worse a few days after the accident
- Difficulty in turning and bending your neck
- Headache
- Movement of the neck, turning or bending the neck may be difficult
- Dizziness, blurred vision, pain in the jaw or pain swallowing
When your doctor is diagnosing your injury, they will in most cases be able to tell it is a whiplash injury from the symptoms you explain to them and your description of how the accident occurred.
If you have been involved in a car accident that wasn’t your fault and suffered a whiplash neck sprain injury due to this then you may be able to make a claim for compensation.
Whether you were the driver or a passenger in the vehicle at the time you may still be able to make a claim for whiplash.
If you need to speak to a fully qualified lawyer regarding an accident you were recently involved in or to get free legal advice about a claim you are looking to pursue, you should contact The Injury Lawyers today. We will handle your claim on a No Win, No Fee basis (should your claim meet our suitability assessment), this means if you lose your claim you will not have to pay the lawyers fees.
