When you think of a whiplash injury, most think about the pain caused by their head being jerked in a new direction against the will during an automobile accident. In fact, this is how a lot of whiplash injuries are caused. There is a pinched nerve in the neck muscles that causes you significant pain, along with several symptoms that arise within hours or days of the accident.
But what can you expect in terms of these symptoms and the negative consequences from them? Let’s take a look at those symptoms and what you can expect because of them.
What Are the Symptoms of Whiplash?
Whiplash can happen to all of us at some point in our lives. Most of us will get whiplash after an accident at work or after an automobile accident. The severity of the whiplash injury will depend on the severity of the accident that caused the injury in the first place.
If you do get into an accident at any time and experience unusual symptoms, you should seek medical attention at an urgent care facility or emergency room. There are several symptoms of whiplash that you should be paying attention to after an accident.
The most common symptoms include:
- Pain in your neck, back, shoulders, or jaw
- A headache of any severity
- Dizziness of any degree
- Fatigue
- Arm pain and/or weakness
- Ringing in the ears
The severity of these symptoms will depend on the severity of your whiplash injury. These symptoms should be checked out by a medical professional or your primary care physician as quickly as you can get an appointment.
If you were in an accident that was caused by negligence, you should compile the medical records you receive so you can give them to your lawyer for a personal injury claim against the negligent party.
How Can They Affect My Life and My Ability to Work?
The fact is, a whiplash injury can cause quite a few negative lifestyle changes for you. The headaches, if you have them as a symptom of whiplash, can become bad enough that you have to miss out on work for a few days. They can turn into migraines, which means you can miss up to a week or more if they’re bad enough. This means you are missing out on wages that can help pay your bills, not to mention pay the medical bills that arise from seeing a doctor about the migraine.
The dizziness can also cause you to miss out on work and the wages you need to pay your bills. The pain in your arms and the weakness that can come along with it means you are unable to lift the weight that you would have normally been able to before the pain. Because of this, you are unable to perform some of the duties at work you would normally be able to.
Your supervisor might even have to send you home on medical leave or even terminate you from your job. This can cause quite a few negative effects in the long run. If you suffer from any of these side effects, it is a good idea to speak to a lawyer about filing a personal injury claim against the person responsible for the whiplash injury.
Get started today with the help of our Greenville injury attorneys at Ricci Law Firm Injury Lawyers, P.A. Contact us online by clicking here, or give us a call at (252) 777-2222.