Whiplash Injury Information
Whiplash injury, no problem the dizziness, vomiting, and nausea will go away soon and I will be fine. Yea-right mister wise cracker, Whiplash injury may not reveal apparent symptoms right away or even reveal symptoms a week from now. But down the road, you may be surprised to see symptoms from whiplash injuries developing.
A whiplash injury may cause trauma to the neck and nerves, hemorrhage, or fractures. Hemorrhage causes the brain to bleed profusely because it is internal bleeding. Fractures are of course ruptures or cracks. There are different types of fractures one being the hairline fracture, which this type of fracture is very painful.
If you suffer fractures from whiplash, three different problems can develop including depressed, linear, and comminuted, comminuted means a broken bone into fragments.
If there is, internal bleeding it can cause epidural, subdural, intracerebral, and subarachnoid problems to develop. Anytime there is damage to the brain or spinal cord there is nerve damage. If trauma occurs from whiplash then concussions and or contusions develop.
What causes whiplash:
According to medical experts, the possible etiology or cause is from falls, auto accidents, assaults, blunt trauma, and/or penetrating trauma. Anytime the head is thrown forward and sharply back, it can cause whiplash.
What does the doctor look for?
Doctors will look for loss of pupil reaction, unequal pupil size, Rhinorrhea, Otorrhea, decreased LOC, positive Babinski’s reflex, paresthesia, or disorientation to time, person, or place.
Most times a doctor will recommend X-Rays. Whiplash can cause skull fractures, which an X-Ray can help the doctor determine if there is a fracture. CT Scans are used to determine if there is hemorrhaging, shift of the midline structures, or cerebral edema. Doctors will use MRI’s to determine if there is any hemorrhage or conditions that he will look for while using the Cat scan.
Cerebral angiography is used to determine if there is any intracerebral, subdural, epidural hematoma, etc, while Echoencephalograms are used to determine if there are shifts in the structures. Any of these conditions can cause serious complications either at the present time or down the road.
Doctors may recommend medical management in which you should follow the instructions. Sadly, many people who suffer whiplash tend to believe that it will go away. Contrary to their thinking, whiplash is a silent killer, so never take any neck or head injury lightly.
Taking whiplash lightly may prove fatal. Some whiplash injuries have caused shock, meningitis, increased ICP, stress ulcers, diabetes insipidus, and infections. There have been some patients who underwent surgery, but mostly doctors take surgical intervention steps such as craniotomy for evaluation of hematomas to prevent surgery.
Some whiplash injuries caused from cerebrovascular accidents cause other complications. This type of whiplash injury disrupts the cerebral circulation, which results in sensory and motor deficits. This is a dangerous type of whiplash injury since it can cause other problems to develop and the causes are somewhat different also. Patients with syphilis can develop such symptoms or those with hypertension.