When people are involved in a car crash in Kentucky, they may think they are unharmed because they do not have any broken bones. Some injuries may not always be obvious, though. In the days after the collision, someone may realize that his or her neck hurts from whiplash.
According to WebMD, someone might have whiplash if his or her head snapped back and forth during the collision. This quick rocking motion can harm the neck and make it feel stiff. While some people may want to simply take an ibuprofen or another pain reliever, it can be a good idea to go to the doctor. This is because whiplash can also harm the soft tissue and sometimes an injury may be more severe than people initially think it is. A doctor can typically run a test to see if a ligament or disc in the neck has been damaged.
People who incur whiplash might experience a wide variety of symptoms. The Mayo Clinic says that people might have headaches and feel dizzy or fatigued. Other people might experience tingling in their arms or their neck may hurt and feel stiff. Some people may find that their neck has limited mobility and hurts more when they move it. Additionally, people may sometimes feel irritable and have blurry vision.
Most of the time, this neck injury heals in the weeks after the collision. Some people may experience chronic pain from this wound, however, especially if they are older or incurred whiplash during a previous crash. People might sometimes be more prone to chronic pain if they had intense neck pain that extended to their arms after the crash occurred.