Unfortunately, neck injuries are not uncommon during car accidents. While whiplash may be one of the most common neck injuries resulting from auto accidents, it certainly isn’t the only one. Each type of neck injury requires a different customized treatment plan from the Accident Recovery Team and your car accident chiropractor at County Line Chiropractic.
Types of Neck Injuries After Auto Accidents
Here are some of the main types of neck injuries people usually suffer during car accidents.
Whiplash
Whiplash is caused by your head and neck being jerked forward and backward suddenly, typically in a rear-end collision. Occurring at speeds as low as 5 mph, whiplash causes damage, tears, and strains to muscles, ligaments, nerves, and other connective tissues in the neck. Symptoms may start immediately or may be delayed a few hours due to shock.
Recovery from whiplash injuries can be shortened with early treatment, but untreated whiplash injuries may cause long-term headaches, chronic pain, or memory issues.
Cuts or Lacerations
Broken glass, debris, or objects in your car can hit your neck during an accident and cause bruising, abrasions, cuts, and lacerations. While these injuries may be minor, they may also damage tendons and ligaments in the neck.
Facet Joint Injuries
The facet joints in your cervical spine help with neck and head mobility and stabilization. The impact of an auto accident can irritate and inflame your facet joints and damage surrounding ligaments, which can affect your range of motion and movement.
Herniated or Slipped Discs
Your spine has cushion-like discs between each vertebra that can slip out of place during a high-impact collision, compressing nerves in the special cord. Pinched nerves from slipped discs can cause tingling, weakness, pain, and numbness in the shoulders, neck, fingers, hands, and arms.
Soft Tissue Damage
Car accidents can strain, sprain, or tear the soft tissues in your neck, including tendons, ligaments, and muscles. Soft tissue damage typically causes stiffness, tenderness, and pain in the shoulders and neck as well as muscle spasms and limited movement of the neck.
Neck Fractures
Most people know right away if they may have a neck fracture from a car accident because it’s a severe injury that can cause substantial pain. If you think you’ve suffered a neck fracture during a car accident, don’t move without medical assistance, as moving improperly with a broken neck may injure your spinal cord, causing paralysis.
If you’ve suffered a neck injury from an auto accident, contact the experienced car accident chiropractors at County Line Chiropractic Medical & Rehab Centers to make an appointment. Our Accident Recovery Team will create a personalized care plan to set you on your healing journey.
We have 6 locations across South Florida to serve you, and we welcome walk-ins. We also offer transportation for our car accident patients, because we don’t want anything to stand in the way of their recovery.