Neck Pain

Muscle injuries are not serious and should heal completely in 4 to 8 weeks. Ligament injuries never heal and you will have pain and stiffness for the rest of your life. Nerve injuries and brain concussions can go either way. Sometimes these heal quickly and other times the concussion and nerve symptoms last many years. The most important question is, “How do I find out what is wrong with me?”

Car accidents shake your head and neck violently for about 300 milliseconds. Your head weighs about 12-14 pounds or approximately as much as a bowling ball. Imagine the Jolly Green Giant is shaking you violently (like an adult shaking and abusing a baby). That’s Whiplash. After a car accident all you know is that your neck hurts. You might have tingling in your arm, hand, leg or foot.

Your head may feel “foggy” and you cannot think clearly. These are all part of the Whiplash Syndrome but represent injuries to very different parts of your body. The most important first step is to get an accurate diagnosis by your doctor.

Generally, you should look for another doctor if the only diagnosis you get is “neck sprain/strain” or “whiplash”. The use of that term alone (with no other diagnosis) means your doctor is not sophisticated in the subtle differences between muscle, tendon, ligament, nerve and brain injuries.

Look for a doctor that can explain exactly what structures in your body have been injured and exactly how severely they are injured. You need to know about the following 5 body parts so ask your doctor:

• Torn Ligaments
• Disc Herniation’s
• Brain Concussion
• Spinal Cord Pressure
• Other Nerve Pressure (Peripheral)