Auto Accidents

By Dr. Beth Blakely

If I had a penny for every person that’s been in an auto accident and said they felt fine immediately afterwards, I’d be a penny-aire! In some cases, severe whiplash can be detected immediately after a mishap. However, a whiplash injury which is caused by a sudden impact may take hours, days or even weeks before symptoms are noticed.

The most common symptoms of whiplash include: headaches, irritability, dizziness, stiff or painful neck, loss of neck motion, back pain, numbness, tingling in limbs, dizziness, loss of balance, nausea, muscle spasm, swelling, ringing in ears, early arthritis, bursitis, neuritis, tendinitis, nervous anxiety, double vision, night blindness, pinched nerves and painful joints.

Statistically speaking, a sprain or strain type of injury to the neck is 6.5 times more likely to develop into arthritis later in life and roughly 50% of accident victims sustain injuries to the low back. Of these, 15% will develop serious nerve damage down the road.

So, if you drive a large car or truck, the likelihood of you getting seriously injured is much lower, right? Wrong. A vehicle that is designed to sustain minimal damage on impact absorbs much of the impact’s force and transmits most of it to its occupants. This type of collision can cause significant injury.

When it comes to auto accidents, which gender gets hurt the most, men or women? The answer is women. In general, a woman's lighter musculature means that she will have a higher incidence of injury.

If the pain you are experiencing today is related to a minor fender-bender years ago, you can get help to lead a more active life. Our customized treatment plans have helped victims of auto accidents and we’ve seen excellent results. Our goal is to relieve pain and restore as much function as possible so that you can get back to enjoying life again.