Many people have seen the classic parody in the movies of an injured client walking into a courtroom wearing a neck brace and claiming that he or she suffers from a whiplash injury as a result of an auto accident. While movie writers have made have with this joke for decades, it’s left an unfortunate and inaccurate stigma on what can be a very serious injury. However, since people tend to remember these images, many people do not understand what whiplash is.
Below, you’ll find information regarding what whiplash is, the symptoms it can feature, the common causes of whiplash, the recovery time associated with whiplash, and, ultimately, how you should proceed if you suffer from a whiplash injury as a result of auto accident negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct of someone else.
Whiplash Injury — A Brief Definition
Whiplash is not a medical term. Instead, it is more of a common term that’s used to describe pain in the neck area, including the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Whiplash does not simply appear randomly — it is an injury that’s the result of some sort of trauma to the neck. This trauma can include a sudden jerking motion, violent movements that the body is not ready for, or some other type of force inflicted upon the neck area that tends to move these affected tendons, muscles, and ligaments in a manner that is not natural.
Basically, whiplash is the pain that remains after this injury has been inflicted. This pain can be constant and utterly debilitating, it can be intermittent and cause periodic stress in the patient or it can be relatively mild and seemingly manageable. What whiplash is not, however, is tangible in nature. Specifically, this means that most whiplash injuries will not appear on an MRI or an X-ray, making it difficult to diagnose.
Common Symptoms Associated with Whiplash
One of the other problems associated with whiplash is that it does not present symptoms that are extremely common per se. There are many different maladies that can affect someone who has been injured in this manner, which makes it difficult to diagnose in some cases. Examples of whiplash symptoms include:
Neck pain
Swelling in the neck area
Limited range of motion in the neck
Back pain
Headaches
Dizziness
Shooting pain from the back to the arms
Nausea
Numbness in the legs
Numbness in the arms
Sleeping difficulties
Confusion
Depression
As you can see, there is a wide variety when it comes to whiplash symptoms. In addition to the variance of symptoms, the severity of whiplash can vary widely and the time it takes for these symptoms to manifest themselves also varies. Weeks can pass in certain cases before someone who suffers from whiplash feels the effects.
Common Causes of Whiplash in AZ
Whiplash may feature a wide variance in terms of its symptoms, but the causes of a whiplash injury are relatively uniform. Below are some examples of common causes of whiplash:
As stated earlier, any violent jerking motion that the neck experiences can lead to the development of whiplash and its resulting symptoms.
In terms of recovery time from whiplash, that varies as well. In minor cases of whiplash, the patient can recover with only the aid of medication and within a few days never feel the effects of the injury again. However, there are also instances in which whiplash symptoms can last a lifetime in some shape or form.
Treating and managing whiplash is also difficult given the different symptoms and lack of uniformity in terms of prognosis. Generally, medication is provided that provides anti-inflammatory relief and pain relief.
In addition to medication, whiplash patients can also find themselves in need of ongoing physical rehabilitation, devices that include braces and the like to manage movements closely, and other special tools and adjustments that provide the patient with as much comfort as possible.
Why You Need a Phoenix Whiplash Injury Lawyer
If you have suffered from whiplash from an accident as a result of someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct, you will need the help of an Arizona whiplash accident lawyer if you want to provide yourself with the best opportunity to obtain justice. That’s because whiplash claims can be very difficult to prove — given what’s described above.
However, an effective Arizona accident whiplash injury attorney will be able to present evidence of what led to your injury, evidence regarding your symptoms and your medical costs, as well as other evidence that will help cut through the unfortunate stigma attached to this condition.
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