Resolving Back Problems Once and For All

After you've been in a car accident, you may notice pain and stiffness in your neck, shoulders, and upper back. Sometimes it's just a natural symptom of having been in a wreck, but other times it can turn into a serious problem. Here is what you need to know about diagnosing a neck injury after a car crash.

What Potential Problems Are There?

There are many potential causes of neck pain after a car crash. It could just be that your muscles are sore. Right before a crash, your whole body tenses up, and the muscles in your neck may have resisted too hard against the force of the car crash. This is one of the typical forms of whiplash.

Another possibility is that you have a sprain. The ligaments in your neck may have been torn during the impact of the crash if your head was thrown forward. These injuries are a bit more serious and require some medical care to heal correctly. For example, you will need to limit the amount of motion in your neck and potentially get a brace or a heat/ice pad to help control inflammation.

A final type of potential injury is a spinal injury. The force of an accident can shift your vertebrae, and this may be a serious problem.

Getting a Chiropractic Evaluation

Only a chiropractic evaluation can really tell you what's going on with your neck pain. As soon as you can, see a chiropractor like Contino Chiropractic Center to rule out serious injuries and help you treat the causes of your pain in the correct way. Whiplash treatment with a chiropractor can include massage, exercise, and spinal adjustments.

Whiplash as a Latent Injury

The unfortunate thing is that many people don't realize their neck injury is serious until well after a car accident when they've already filed an insurance claim. And at that point, getting compensation for an injury is more difficult, especially if you didn't seek medical treatment for it right away. You will probably need the help of a car accident attorney to make headway in this case. They will take the documentation you have of your injury and help you supplement it with expert medical testimonies, plus additional documentation of how the spinal injury has affected your daily life. You may be able to seek compensation for pain and suffering, plus diminished ability to work and function, along with the cost of your medical treatments.