Whiplash is commonly caused by rear-end car crashes. But whiplash also can result from sports accidents, physical abuse and other types of traumas, such as a fall. Whiplash may be called a neck sprain or strain, but these terms also include other types of neck injuries.
Most people with whiplash get better within a few weeks by following a treatment plan that includes pain medicine and exercise. However, some people have long-lasting neck pain and other complications.
See your healthcare professional if you have neck pain or other whiplash symptoms after a car accident, sports injury or other injury. It's important to get a quick diagnosis. This is to rule out broken bones or other damage that can cause or worsen symptoms.
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Whiplash most often occurs when the head is quickly thrown backward and then forward with force. This often happens as a result of a rear-end car crash. This motion can cause damage to the muscles and tissues of the neck.
Whiplash is an injury to your neck. It's caused by your neck bending forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa. The injury is not well understood. But it often affects the muscles, disks, nerves, and tendons in your neck.
Most whiplash injuries result from a collision that includes sudden acceleration or deceleration. Many whiplash injuries occur when you're involved in a rear-end automobile collision. They also happen as a result of a sports injury, especially during contact sports.
X-ray. Electromagnetic energy beams make images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film. But many whiplash injuries include damage to soft tissue that can't be seen on X-rays.
Neck strain is often just called whiplash. Although it's usually associated with car accidents, any impact or blow that causes your head to jerk forward or backward can cause neck strain. The sudden force stretches and tears the muscles and tendons in your neck.
Neck strains are often confused with neck sprains. They're a bit different. Neck strains are caused by damage to the muscle or the tendons, bands of tissue that connect muscles to bones. Neck sprains are caused by tearing of the ligaments, the tissues that connect the bones to each other.
The blow that causes neck strain can sometimes cause a concussion, too. Since concussions can be serious, you need to see a doctor right away. You need emergency medical care if you have a headache that worsens or persists, have weakness or trouble talking, or are confused, dizzy, nauseous, excessively sleepy, or unconscious.
Once the acute symptoms of neck strain are gone, your doctor will probably want you to start rehabilitation. This will make your neck muscles stronger and more limber. It will help you both recover and reduce the odds of straining your neck again in the future.
Whatever you do, don't rush things. People who play contact sports need to be especially careful that they are fully healed before playing again. Your doctor will clear you to resume your activity when you are ready. Do not try to return to your previous level of physical activity until you can:
Whiplash, also called neck sprain or neck strain, is injury to the neck. Whiplash is characterized by a collection of symptoms that occur following damage to the neck. In whiplash, the intervertebral joints (located between vertebrae), discs, and ligaments, cervical muscles, and nerve roots may become damaged.
Symptoms of whiplash may be delayed for 24 hours or more after the initial trauma. However, people who experience whiplash may develop one or more of the following symptoms, usually within the first few days after the injury:
In most cases, injuries are to soft tissues such as the discs, muscles and ligaments, and cannot be seen on standard X-rays. Specialized imaging tests, such as CT scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), may be required to diagnose damage to the discs, muscles or ligaments that could be causing the symptoms of whiplash.
No single treatment has been scientifically proven as effective for whiplash, but pain relief medications such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) or naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), along with gentle exercises, physical therapy, traction, massage, heat, ice, injections and ultrasound, all have been helpful for certain patients.
In the past, whiplash injuries were often treated with immobilization in a cervical collar. However, the current trend is to encourage early movement instead of immobilization. Ice is often recommended for the first 24 hours, followed by gentle, active movement.
Dr. Angela M. Bell is an ABMS board certified physician, specializing in internal medicine and sports medicine. She practices in the south side of Chicago, in the treatment of sports and musculoskeletal injuries in athletes and nonathletes.
Jacquelyn has been a writer and research analyst in the health and pharmaceutical space since she graduated with a degree in biology from Cornell University. A native of Long Island, NY, she moved to San Francisco after college, and then took a brief hiatus to travel the world. In 2015, Jacquelyn relocated from sunny California to even sunnier Gainesville, FL, where she owns 7 acres and more than 100 fruit trees. She loves chocolate, pizza, hiking, yoga, soccer, and Brazilian capoeira. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Some people with whiplash experience chronic (long-term) pain or headaches for years after the event that caused the initial injury. Doctors may be able to trace this pain to damaged neck joints, discs, and ligaments. But chronic pain following a whiplash injury typically has no medical explanation.
Your doctor might order imaging tests that will allow them to assess any damage or inflammation in the soft tissues, spinal cord, or nerves. They can also detect the presence of a brain injury. These imaging tests may include:
Very few people have any long-term complications from whiplash. Usually, recovery time is anywhere from a few days to several weeks. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, most people recover fully within 3 months.
While the most common cause of whiplash is front- or rear-impact car accidents, the injury can actually happen anytime, according to Vincent Traynelis, MD, a neurosurgeon at Rush University Medical Center. You can get whiplash from a fall, or from high-impact sports, such as snowboarding, skiing, boxing, football or gymnastics.
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Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the true incidence, diagnosis, and treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) arising after whiplash injury and to distinguish this type of posttraumatic vertigo from other types of dizziness complained after trauma.
Methods: This was a retrospective study comprising patients referred to our center after whiplash injury. The patients were evaluated with neurotologic examination including bedside and instrumental tests. A Dizziness Handicap Inventory evaluating the symptoms of patients was submitted before and after treatment and was evaluated. The BPPV patients were separately evaluated from those with cervicogenic vertigo, and a comparison between our data about idiopathic BPPV was done.
Results: Eighteen patients of whiplash who had BPPV were evaluated. The mean age was 38.2 years. BPPV was the cause of vertigo in 33.9% of total whiplash patients. In 16 cases, the posterior semicircular canal was involved; the lateral semicircular canal was involved in 2 cases. The instrumental neurotologic assessment did not show any alteration of either vestibulospinal reflexes or dynamic ocular movements. Duration of symptoms before treatment ranged from 3 to 26 days. A total of 55.5% of patients had relief from their symptoms after first repositioning maneuver. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory score improved in all patients treated with repositioning maneuvers, but no difference emerged with idiopathic BPPV data.
Conclusion: BPPV after whiplash injury could be unveiled with a simple bedside examination of peripheral vestibular system, and a treatment could be done in the same session. The diagnosis of posttraumatic BPPV is not different from the idiopathic form, but the treatment may require more maneuvers to achieve satisfactory results.
But beware, sometimes the direct route isn't the quickest.
To make it easier we have provide this giant map of Motsville. You may want to spend some time in "Free Explore" to get the layout. Or try some of the fully legitimate and not just driving-around-random-streets-way-too-fast street circuits, and maybe set a few lap records.
? Phenomenal!
About the controls: not sure if it's just me but I often find myself pushing up to accelerate (typically after a short reverse) and it does nothing until I release and push up again.
Edit: nevermind I understand it's by design to allow a complete stop.