Contrary to popular belief, whiplash s a real injury, and it is often a great deal worse than most people think. I know because I have years of experience in speaking with whiplash victims and I have suffered from the injury myself. For some, like me, it never really goes away.
But since the symptoms whiplash don’t normally appear immediately after your accident, sometimes taking days to appear, when should you see your GP?
It’s best to go right away
Its best to go right away – as soon as you feel pain and you feel like you may need medical attention, you should have some. To be honest, there isn’t a lot a doctor can do to help you other than recommend some stretching exercises and advise you to take pain and anti-inflammatory medication.
If you’re still suffering after a few weeks, they may recommend physiotherapy but you would likely be on a huge waiting list – or they may just tell you to go privately.
So if they can’t do much for me, why go?
If you want to make a whiplash claim, the medical expert we use to assess you to allow us to value your claim may need to have a look at your medical records. If so, it can help if they can see entries in your records where you sought medical attention for your injuries after the accident.
So it is worthwhile, and the advice they give you when it comes to stretches and medication can help you as well.
How can I recover from whiplash?
There isn’t a great deal anyone can do other than rehabilitation in the form of physiotherapy or similar treatment. This is normally the best way to recover from a whiplash injury, but it can be a waiting game. The symptoms should hopefully subside, but the injury does commonly get worse before it gets better –so be prepared for that!