Whiplash!
It's amazing how a seemingly normal day can turn awry so quickly. While traveling to a meeting earlier this week, while sitting at a stop light in traffic--BANG! I am jerked backward in my seat unexpectedly. The lady behind me comes running to my door asking me if I am alright...All I can say is "I don't know"...
She phones the police and shortly after arrival we all move to the side of the road and exchange information. My bumper is shoved down and up under the rear of my SUV and the sun roof shade is shoved open a bit from the impact. Her SUV has a cracked license plate holder. After the police are finished, we go our separate ways.
During the day my neck and shoulders are tender and I attribute it to the unexpected tensing of the muscles in the area. I attend my meeting and return to my home after seeing my doctor. He prescribes muscle relaxants, pain meds as needed and suggests I get an x-ray of the area. If I have increased symptoms, go to the ER and be evaluated.
The next morning, I get up and head to work. I teach an early morning class fully aware that the more I am in an upright position, the more I hurt. Moving my arms and head become more difficult. I feel pain radiating up my neck and pressure building in my head. Certain movements make me a bit dizzy and I feel a little nauseated. The pressure in my head becomes a headache. I realize then I have to be seen and evaluated. Thank goodness I work in a hospital so to get to an express-care/ER was a matter of going down in an elevator and going to another part of the facility.
This is horrible. I have had difficulties with my back before but that has been the lower part of the spine. Up until now the upper spine and neck have been doing fine. This is not right...I was sitting in traffic at a red light waiting for it to change. My tires were not even turning when I was hit.
Testing is performed, meds are given and I am diagnosed with what is known as Whiplash. Well I have heard many folks talk about it but had yet to know the experience until now. It is incredible and very limiting. Treatment consists of large amounts of muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatories, ice and pain meds. After 24-48 hours I switch to heat and continue the regimen.
I have so much work to do. I don't have time for this. I have classes to teach, work to catch up on, much too much. But I go home and obey the doctor's orders and I quickly see why he says I have to rest for a few days. The medications I have to take make me sleepy and there is no way I can drive or work that way so I give in and accept the fact that I am going to have to deal with things when I return to work.
It is important to follow the doctor's orders when it comes to something like this. I hope and pray I can function well and be back to my old self. I have to sit for long periods of time at computers and use my arms alot for teaching and typing. I am mindful about posture and hope I feel more comfortable soon because right now, even good posture hurts.
I have a better appreciation for those folks who have shared their experiences in the past. Having whiplash is painful and limits function. I am hoping for a complete recovery.
Related Topics: Sleepy Drivers Better Pull Over, Neck Problems and Injuries
Technorati Tags: whiplash, car accident, rear-end collision
13 Comments:
Thank you for sharing your experience. This is almost word for word what happened to me this morning! If I didn't know better I would have thought I wrote it. I appreciate the info so I can better understand my symptoms and how to treat them. Thank YOU!!
That is exactly how I felt the other day and still having difficulty 4 days later. I was hit from behind while stopped and seen the truck coming at me and my kids. They are alright but I knew that I was going to feel that smash.
Thanks.
well about 4 yrs ago i was in a car accident,and every since than my head hurts,and my back is always hurting.when i get my hedaches i have to rest or take some time for myself.i work in childcare,and i'm a mother of 7 childre.it's hard for my family,but they deal with it.
I was in a car accident last September and I'm still dealing with upper back pain, right between my shoulder blades. I'm going to the Chiropractor, but my back is still VERY VERY tight, i can't even put my chin to my chest. Everyone thinks this "whiplash" pain i'm having is being made up. I'm glad other people know how i feel....thanks !
10+ years ago I was rear-ended by a driver who shoved my car into the car in front of me. I saw the collision coming and braced myself with the steering wheel (I was wearing my seatbelt). The force of the collision was so great that I bent the bench seat that I was sitting on in the station wagon I was driving.
My original doctor told me that I had, "whiplashed my entire spine". which settled in the lower lumbar area (L1-L3).
He prescribed muscle relaxers and physical therapy which consisted of cold and heat treatment, ultrasound and electrical stimulation.
I continue to have pain in my lower back that is exacerbated when I change from sitting to standing or bending.
The pain is in the lower lumbar area and radiates to both hips making it very difficult to do more than sit or stand.
Changes in weather seem to bring on the symptoms more than any kind of activity.
I've tried OTC pain reliever with not much success in reliving the pain. NSAIDs seem to work better than Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
I had X-rays 4 years ago and the doctor said that there was a slight degeneration of the disc between L3 and L4.
The pain in manageable but debilitating.
In September, I was rear ended and thrown into a ditch. Six months later, I am still having muscle spasms in my neck and constant headaches. It's frustrating because a lot of the time it interferes with my normal life. It's good to hear other people's stories.
I feel for everyone in this situation and dread reading the comments from some that chronic pain is a very real possibility years after this accident. My wife was in a rear-end minor fender bender in Oct 07.
Her pain from the whiplash continues and it has been a tough several months. She has seen an orthopedic surgeon who hasn't really offered any solutions and has gone for regular PT (2 times a week) since the accident.
It has helped a little but she continues to have near constant tingling in the thumb and sporadic pain/tingling in the left arm (some numbness too). Her left shoulder and upper neck are still strained causing headaches and lots of discomfort.
This is affecting her mental health - especially not knowing exactly when it will get better and exactly what is causing this continued pain. She is a stay-at-home mom with 2 young children and worries that she can't keep up with their own needs in her physical/mental state.
She fears it will never get better and has high anxiety. She worries that people think its only in her head at this point. She had an MRI, XRAY, EMG...nothing has pinpointed a specific cause to explain the continued muslce spasms and pain.
She started to see a chriopractor last month (she didn't want to - afraid of what they do but was willing to try anything to relieve the discomfort) but stopped about 2 weeks ago out of fear that it was making her neck pain worse.
She read an article about potential problems with neck adjustments (something about vertebral artery tear) especially when someone had a neck injury. So our newest concern is that the continued tingling is now caused by something that happened during her neck adjustments.
Sorry for going on but I am a concerned husband who desperately wants my wife to get better. We go back to the neurologist on Monday morning to see what to do next about the constant tingling. She fears nerve damage but so far the tests don't point to anything wrong. I am reading everything I can on WebMD to try to figure out the best treatment plan!
I had an accident 4 years ago going down a steep waterslide. At the time the back of my head hit my back, my jaw snapped wide open and then slammed shut. I heard a loud crunching in my neck, and thought that I had broken my neck. I managed to get up and walk away to my surprise. The next day I was stiff in the shoulders and neck and a few days later I started to get headaches. They were only headaches at first, but quickly turned into dabilitating migraines. I apparently herniated two vertabrae and have a bulging disk. I have facial pain, especially behind my eyes and my forehead and my jaw is always stiff. It feels like I am constantly being punched in the face. For the first year and a half my eyes twitched.
The docs say that they can't do any kind of surgery. I have had an MRI, CT Scan and they can't seem to see anything. The docs say it is most likely ligament/muscle tares at the base of the skull. The neurologist sent me to a pain management specialist who injects my neck with dexamethasone to try to block the nerve that may be causing the pain. So far I have been 3 times and nothing. I believe it is like finding a needle in a haystack. I see a chiropractor, but only for pressure point massage on my neck and ultrasound for my jaw. It hasn't given me much relief yet. I have had my neck paralyzed with botullin to see if relaxing the neck muscles will help, but nothing. I have tried accupressure, physiotherapy, massage. I do find that massaging the jaw on the inside of my mouth to be somewhat helpful, but not a fix. TMJ seems very prevalent with this type of injury. I wear an appliance at night to stop my jaw from clenching or moving around. I am currently taking lamotrigine to help me sleep as whiplash causes sleep disturbances, naproxen, lyrica, advil migraine gel caps, and for really uncontrollable pain I have started taking morphine tablets. I use a lot of ice as well.
I sit at a computer all day and I find the arms up position and just sitting difficult. I had to turn the computer light down as low as possible because I am light sensitive now.
No one seems to have any answers. It is difficult having hope while living in daily constant unmanageable pain. However, I keep looking for the answer that might help me. Sorry for such a long winded story, but I'm wondering if anyone else has any of the same symptoms and if you have found anything that works.
Thanks to everyone for their comments. They do help me feel that I am not alone.
I have the same problems with my neck and upper shoulder pain. I find no meds that work to reduce the pain an epidural helped for a few days but the pain came back, it is now 1.5 yrs after the car accident. As far as sitting in font of computer keep your back straight and head upright, try to tuck in your chin
I had the same thing happen to me about a few days ago. I'm still feeling the pain. I've been getting headaches, the back of my neck is still killing me and my lower back is killing me. I've already been to the doctor and he gave me some vicodin and muscle relaxers. I feel worse then when I was in the accident.
A lot of the problems that you listed such as whiplash, dizzy spells, pain radiating from an extremity to your head can be improved by visiting a CHIROPRACTOR. There is no need for heavy medications. And they can also take an X-ray if needed.
My car accident was about 11 years ago, and I had physical therapy for a year and I still, to this day, have a huge amount of shoulder pain, especially lately. I have "re-injured" the same area at least a couple times every year since the accident (a woman driving a dual cab pickup turned left out of the right hand lane and my car was "accordianed" to the rearview mirror)...
I went back to the doctor twice last week, and the only thing they will give me are nsaids and a very mild muscle relaxer that costs about $100.00 as we don't have insurance (hubby just started a new job)...I asked the doc for flexorill, as I have taken it with great relief in the past, but she refused and gave me a prescription for nsaids and skelexia, which I can't afford. How do I convince the doctor that I know what works for me and what I can afford???
Almost a month ago my sister fell asleep while driving and we went into the ditch and hit an approach. We flew over it and landed on the other side, so we didn't have any rear-end motions, but two hard front-end motions. I was sleeping with my seat reclined (NEVER AGAIN!) and got whiplash from flopping between the seatbelt and the seat. We were taken to the hospital in an ambulance and after 4 hours in that horrid back brace and neck brace board and multiple x-rays they sent us home. I went to a Chiropractor half a week after the accident and I've been seeing him and a massage therapist regularly since then (apparently my muscles all the way down my spine are tight from the stress of it). I wish I could go every second day, but 2 times a week is all they will cover. I really really hope I don't have to deal with this for years...
Post a Comment