The long-term health effects of Whiplash when untreated by a Chiropractor in Atlanta are numerous.
Certainly getting the right help quickly is going to be the best remedy for avoiding further complications.
These adverse effects are going to vary depending on the damage that was done.
The Health Effects of Whiplash Injury
During an accident, at 1/20th of a second, the trunk of your body moves forward, which forces the bottom of your cervical spine forward and may cause an injury to the facet joints that attach the vertebrae to each other.
In a tenth of a second later, your chin, if forced up and your head back — and if there is enough force, can strain the back of your neck and the surrounding soft tissue.
Almost immediately you’ll encounter the most immediate side effects of a whiplash injury.
The first will be pain and inflammation, as the tissues in your neck have been stretched and hurt from the whipping action of your neck and it’s vertebrae.
If there was damage to the facet joints, it would hurt to move your neck not just because the muscles and tissue have been strained, but because the articular cartilage has been damaged. This will need time to heal.
However, if you do not receive Chiropractic Treatment for Whiplash to ease the pain, you run the risk of experiencing relapse or worsening your condition.
A Chiropractor can also recommend NSAID medicine and physiotherapy, and your doctor can prescribe muscle relaxants that can help with recovery, which simply takes time.
Whiplash and Brain Damage
One of the lesser known issues of whiplash is a concussion, which is a minor form of brain damage.
This occurs in a case of whiplash as the head is knocked forward and backward. If that movement occurs with enough force, the brain will actually move.
The front of the brain – the frontal and temporal lobes – will be injured when the head goes back and they impact the front of the skull. The back of the brain – the occipital lobe and cerebellum – will be injured when the head whips forward and they impact the back of the skull.
It’s important for people who have suffered a concussion during a bout of whiplash to get treatment, because brain damage – even if seemingly minor – can become serious if warning signs are missed.
These warning signs include slurred speech, vertigo and loss of consciousness. Left untreated the concussion can cause headaches, disability, coma and death.
These are rare cases, but the likelihood of a serious complication rises if there is a second concussion before the first has healed.
