How Long Will Whiplash Symptoms Last?

How Long Will Whiplash Symptoms Last?

If you have never had an auto accident injury, I am sure you are currently a bit shocked by how much everything actually hurts, and how difficult it is to do normal daily activities. Well I have some good news for you and some bad news.

First the bad news; you are probably going to feel more pain, before you feel better. The good news, there are things that you can do to help decrease the time that you are in pain. The sooner you see a specialist the better your chances are for a full recovery, and the faster you will heal. How long will it take? That depends.

The problem with whiplash

The problem with whiplash is that very few doctors truly understand it. Well meaning emergency room physicians, general medical doctors, and physical therapist do not appreciate the extent of the pain and injuries whiplash injury victims suffer. The end result is these people often provide inadequate treatment to care for the injuries. Do Not Let This Happen To You!

At Barton Chiropractic in Concord, we truly understand the pain you are going through.

Your soft tissues, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and muscles were stretched, strained and sprained 
maybe even torn during this trauma. And strangely, these soft tissue injuries often will take longer to heal than if you had broken bones. To make matters worst, they often heal with scar tissue, and often in the wrong place.

Minor Car Accident

Even minor accidents can cause serious whiplash symptoms. Your car is slightly damaged or in some cases shows no noticeable damage, and you have pain that may arrive 10 days - too two weeks after your accident. With this type of accident, you can expect up to 3 months to heal with proper care.

Medium Accident

This is an accident where there is significant damage to your car, sometimes even totaled. You may have been taken to the emergency room, and your pain may be immediate or up to show up 10 days to 2 weeks after your accident. Expect 3 to 6 months to heal and even with the correct care you may end up with some permanent damage.

Serious Accident

In this type of accident your car is heavily damaged, often totaled, and you are always injured, you may have lost consciousness, or suffered a concussion. Expect 6 months to a year to heal. You will most likely have some permanent damage with even the best care. Without care the prognosis is poor.

Severe Car  Accident

In this accident you usually need surgery, you leave the accident site in an ambulance, and unfortunately there are often fatalities in this level of accident. The healing of this accident for your medical care, may take a year or more. This accident can also leave very serious emotional scars, you may find that psychological counseling eases some of your pain and trauma. It goes without saying, if you were involved in an accident of this nature, extended care is going to be indicated.


The following is a guide that shows approximate care indicated for different levels of injury. This is just a guideline, but it will give you an idea of what you can expect.

Guidelines for Frequency and Duration of Care in Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration Trauma 1
	Daily	3x/wk	2x/wk	1x/wk	1x/mo	TD 2	TN 2
Grade I	1 wk	1-2 wk	2-3 wk	<4wks font="" nbsp="">	<3 font="" mo="">	<11 font="" wks="">	<21 font="">
Grade II	1 wk	<4 font="" wks="">	<4 font="" wks="">	<4 wks="">	<4 font="" mo="">	<29 font="" nbsp="" wks="">	<33 font="">
Grade III	1-2 wk	<10wks font="">	<10wks font="">	<10wks font="">	<6 font="" mo="">	<56 font="" wks="">	<76 font="">
Grade IV	2-3 wk	<16 font="" wks="">	<12 font="" wks="">	<20wks font="">	<6mo font="">	....4	....4
Grade V	Surgical stabilization necessary--chiropractic care is post-surgical

Brain Injury and Whiplash

Before we go any further, please know that some of the whiplash symptoms are more serious than others. If you or someone you love has been in a serious car accident and has these or other odd or worrisome symptoms:

• difficulty concentrating
• memory problems
• speech disturbances (stuttering, forgetting words, misplacing words)
• or severe personality changes

...it's very important for you or your loved one to call us immediately. Sometimes during a car accident, the whipping motion to the head can also cause mild and occasionally severe brain injury. You do not need to be diagnosed with a concussion to have brain injury symptoms. The brain can become injured when it hits the inside of the skull during a car accident. Real and lasting damage can happen without a person hitting their head.

It is important that you do not ignore any symptoms that may indicate an injury to the brain. Do not accept that you are depressed. If the first doctor does not take you seriously, make sure you continue to search for a doctor who will exam your brain injuries and help you find a solution.

If you have been involved in a car accident, you most likely suffered a Whiplash type injury. Research shows that left untreated, you most likely will end up with some type of permanent damage.

Click Whiplash Specialist or call our office at 925 685-2002 to schedule a consultation with one of our doctors at absolutely no charge. If you would like to find out more about our office click Concord Chiropractor.