What Happens if Whiplash Is Left Untreated?
Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries, and a lot of car accident victims don’t realize they’ve sustained this injury until weeks or even a month after an accident. Whiplash is an insidious injury, and you may develop chronic ailments if you don’t get whiplash treated right away. For answers to the questions car accident victims frequently ask about whiplash, read on! We provide most affordable car accident lawyer St. Albans services!
Call 1-800-HURT-511 to speak with our car accident lawyers in St. Albans. If you’re experiencing whiplash in the wake of a car accident, we’ll help you get compensation to offset the cost of injury-related medical bills.
What Is Whiplash?
Whiplash is a type of soft tissue neck injury, and it’s often the result of a rapid back-and-forth movement that a human neck is not designed to withstand. The reason why it’s called whiplash is because the motion the neck makes mirrors a cracking whip. While this injury is most often associated with car accidents, it can be linked to a variety of other activities, such as sports. Whiplash is a specific kind of neck injury; it’s not an umbrella term for neck injuries, as some believe. Whiplash is usually associated with rear-end collisions, though you can experience whiplash during front-end and T-bone collisions too.
How Do You Know You Have Whiplash After a Car Accident?
If you’ve been injured in a car accident recently, and you’re starting to feel pains in your neck and head that weren’t presenting before, you may be experiencing whiplash. Here are some common symptoms:
- Your neck is stiff and it hurts.
- Headaches are emanating from the base of your skull.
- Merely moving your head causes pain, and you don’t have full range of motion.
- Your neck muscles are sore.
- Your shoulders and your upper-back are in pain.
- You may feel a tingling sensation in your arms.
- You feel generally fatigued.
- You may experience dizziness.
- You’re experiencing jaw pain.
- You’re experiencing double vision.
- Your ears are ringing.
If you don’t know whether your symptoms are tied to whiplash or not, you should seek help from a medical professional immediately so things don’t get worse. A physician will look you over and be able to tell if your symptoms are indicative of whiplash. If you’re found to be experiencing whiplash, you’ll be treated right away.
Will Whiplash Pain Go Away on Its Own?
The symptoms of whiplash can seem mild at first, but usually they get worse, which is the main reason why you shouldn’t wait for whiplash to go away on its own. A lot of car accident victims believe applying ice and heat to the area that hurts, in conjunction with taking over-the-counter pain-relievers, is enough for the pain, but this is merely masking the pain and not addressing the root cause of it. Whiplash won’t go away on its own; instead, it’ll start affecting other parts of your body.
Should You Ignore Whiplash Symptoms That Don’t Go Away?
If you start experiencing whiplash symptoms, you should not ignore these, as ignoring whiplash will only allow it to get worse. A lot of car accident victims ignore getting whiplash treatments because they don’t want to be saddled with what they think are needless medical expenses. Others believe the pain is merely something that’ll go away on its own.
But it’s much better to get whiplash treated right away, especially if your top concern is money. Think of how much you’ll have to spend down the road on reoccurring medical bills if you don’t get your whiplash treated right away.
What Are the Long-Term Effects of Untreated Whiplash?
Once whiplash has been exacerbated, you may experience emotional problems like depression and anxiety, and you may also have trouble sleeping. After all, how could you get any rejuvenating rest when your neck, back, and pretty much everything else is in pain? And if you can’t sleep, your muscles will ache as a result, and you’ll feel even more stressed. You may even become dependent on pain relievers.
You see, ignoring whiplash can quickly become a spiraling problem, and eventually it may lead to chronic headaches, backaches, and a reliance on medication. If you’re experiencing whiplash symptoms, you need to seek medical aid right away, as whiplash can be treated early to prevent all the aforementioned health problems.
When Should You Seek Medical Attention After a Car Accident?
Following a car accident, you should seek medical attention, even if you don’t believe you’re injured. Injuries like whiplash can present later on, and if there’s no link tying whiplash to the car accident you were in, receiving compensation for expenses associated with this injury will be quite difficult, if not impossible. Plus, delaying treatment of whiplash can cause it to get worse.
If you were treated by paramedics at the scene of an accident, and they deemed you were OK, it’s still a good idea to go to the local emergency room, as here you can get a physician to look you over in a calm and safe environment, where all the things needed to examine and treat you will be present.
Will Car Accident Compensation Cover Whiplash Treatments?
A car accident faq award will cover your medical bills, including expenses related to whiplash treatments, physical therapy, and prescription drugs. Keep in mind that if you’re experiencing whiplash, this needs to be documented early by a physician, as if it’s not it’ll be hard to claim compensation for whiplash-related expenses later on.
Will I Have to Pay Whiplash-Related Medical Bills up Front?
If you’re able to afford whiplash treatments up front, you can pay these out of pocket; it’s likely your health insurance provider will cover a portion of the total expenses. You’ll recoup after receiving an award, but first you’ll have to reimburse your health insurance provider for the portion they covered. Or you can sign an agreement with the hospital that’s treating you, wherein you agree to pay all your bills after you receive an award.
Call our car accident lawyers in St. Albans now at 1-800-HURT-511 to discuss your options. The consultation is free, and we’d love to help you get compensated for accident-related injuries like whiplash.
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