Getting into any type of car accident is a frightening and stressful experience. The sound of the crunching vehicles alone is enough to make an individual cringe. While serious car accidents that result in severe injuries or fatalities are the most devastating, even a simple fender-bender can leave you with long-term ramifications.
Unfortunately, most people who get into a fender-bender while driving on the Colorado roads simply brush it off as a minor accident with no injuries. If both parties can get out of the vehicles, examine the damage and walk away without any physical evidence of an injury, they are prone to believe that nothing has happened as a result of the crash. At least, until the next morning, when they are reeling from the impacts of whiplash. Joint pain and muscle pain are common after minor crashes, and it can last for several days.
However, researchers are now discovering that there's also long-term chronic pain associated with whiplash.
Long-term chronic pain and whiplash
For years, people who have experienced whiplash after a motor vehicle accident have been reporting that they still suffer from chronic pain weeks, months and even years down the road. This persistent and debilitating pain was real, but doctors struggled to find a reason for the ongoing issues after such a seemingly minor incident.
Now, according to CentralPhysicalTherapy.com, doctors have identified the root cause of chronic neck and joint pain after experiencing whiplash. The neck itself is a complex structure filled with bones, joints and cartilage. Designed to be flexible and resilient, there are numerous different aspects of the neck that can be injured as a result of whiplash, and it took medical researchers almost a decade to identify which area was impacted by whiplash that continued to result in chronic neck pain for years.
After studying a variety of specimens in postmortem analysis sessions, doctors have identified that whiplash that occurs as a result of a minor car accident can injure the facet joints within the neck. These joints are present between each pair of vertebrae, helping to connect the vertebrae together and allow the neck to turn in all directions. These seemingly-miniscule injuries are not identified on MRI scans or X-Rays, making it difficult for doctor's to diagnose the injury.
You need to address your whiplash pain sooner rather than later
Unfortunately, chronic pain is not a problem that is easily diagnosed or that will quickly go away. Many people are living in chronic pain for years before they realize that there is a solution available. The reality is that accidents happen, but that doesn't mean that you should have to deal with the pain, discomfort and financial insecurity that comes as a result of them.
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