What Is Whiplash? The Different Types of Soft-Tissue Injuries and Their Treatment
When you think about the types of injuries typically caused by a motor vehicle accident, you often envision cuts and broken bones, spinal cord trauma, or head or traumatic brain injury. The most common type of injury suffered in a car, truck, or motorcycle crash is soft-tissue injury, which includes whiplash-related trauma. What is soft-tissue injury? How is it treated?
What Is Soft-Tissue Injury?
Soft-tissue injury refers to any type of trauma that does not involve injury to your bones. Most often, soft-tissue injury affects your connective tissue, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. It may involve strains, sprains, or tears of connective tissue, but it can also manifest as bruising, discoloration, or tenderness. Common types of soft-tissue injury include whiplash, tendinitis, and bursitis.
What Is Whiplash?
Whiplash is a form of soft-tissue injury involving the head, neck, and shoulders. It’s commonly the consequence of some type of impact, such as a car crash, where your head and neck violently snap back and forth, causing tears or strains. You can suffer whiplash from a car accident even when traveling at relatively slow speed, or as the result of an impact that seems relatively minor.
As a consequence of whiplash, you can expect swelling or inflammation in your neck and shoulders, limiting your range of motion and leading to pain when you move.
How Is Soft-Tissue Injury Treated?
When you suffer a soft-tissue injury, your doctor will first conduct a thorough medical exam to identify all your ailments. With many soft-tissue injuries, rest is extremely important as it allows tissue to heal. Ice, compression, and elevation of the injury can also bring some relief.
Your doctor may prescribe medication for short-term relief from pain or swelling and may also send you to physical therapy to improve blood flow, range of motion, and muscle strength.
Contact Advantage Healthcare Systems for an Appointment
At Advantage Healthcare Systems, we have worked extensively with people across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex who have suffered soft-tissue injury in motor vehicle accidents. We have the knowledge, skill, experience, and resources to quickly and effectively diagnose any type of soft-tissue injury, including whiplash. Call us toll-free at 1-877-487-8289 or fill out the form provided below to schedule an assessment. We offer locations across Texas, including Fort Worth, Dallas, and San Antonio.
