You might also experience shoulder pain and lower back pain accompanied by persistent headaches and dizziness. Type Two: Pain is typically immediate and severe, with spasms of the muscle and radiating pain as far as the fingertips. Even then, the loss of range of motion in the neck is minimal and there will be no signs of radiating pain. There is no evidence of muscle spasm and the pain is limited to the neck region. Type One: With a mild case of whiplash, the symptoms don’t present themselves until hours after the trauma. Once diagnosed, whiplash will often be categorized in one of three ways: In severe cases of whiplash, a CT or MRI scan may be helpful if the doctor feels that the spinal column may have been compromised. Instead, doctors must rely on your version of the events leading to the onset of symptoms, and a complete physical that focuses on the level of pain you feel in certain areas of your body. Its diagnosis is made difficult as there are no tell-tale signs of the injury which can be seen on an X-ray. Most often seen in victims of low impact car accidents, whiplash is an injury to the soft tissue inside of the neck. How Long Does Whiplash Last? Whiplash, a painful neck injury, causes a range of symptoms that may last only a few years but can also affect you for a lifetime.
