Hidden Whiplash After a Fender Bender: Only a Digital X-Ray Can Confirm

Being in a car accident is a harrowing experience, and walking away from it can make you feel incredibly lucky. However, even if you’re already aware of the telltale signs of whiplash, you may not show any signs and still have sustained the injury. To be certain, you’ll need to visit a facility like ours. 

Injury and Health Urgent Care offers treatment for accidents and sudden trauma, and diagnosing injuries is also a part of our program. Our providers, Melissa Kempf, MD, and Shannon Wait, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, want patients to receive the medical care they need, including help with insurance. 

Here’s why tests like digital X-rays are essential after an accident.

Whiplash signs and symptoms

Whiplash is an extremely common side effect of a car accident, affecting over 80% of individuals who experience this issue. Even at reduced speed, a sudden stop from a crash into another car or object can cause whiplash. 

When you experience whiplash, the symptoms can start right away with pain in the neck, shoulders, hands, arms, or all of the above. It can also cause significant neck stiffness, making it hard for you to turn your head. Dizziness and confusion are also common with whiplash. 

If you notice these symptoms, it’s necessary to get to an urgent care clinic like ours or to the ED right away. But what if you walk away from an accident without any of these symptoms? Does this mean you’re fine? Maybe not.

The truth behind hidden whiplash 

Unfortunately, an issue called hidden whiplash is all too common. This can leave you feeling almost nothing for several days. However, once you do start to experience symptoms, irritability, fatigue, and trouble sleeping may also show up. Notably, whiplash is much harder to treat the longer it’s left unmanaged. 

This often happens because people who walk away from car accidents are usually grateful to be alive and relieved to be pain-free. They might avoid going to the doctor for a checkup because they don’t feel like they need it. Later, when they realize they need help, it’s harder to get insurance coverage and proper, effective care, which would’ve worked earlier.

Whiplash may also be hidden because the adrenaline that floods your body after an intense experience (such as a car accident) can mask pain and discomfort, causing you to believe you’re fine. You may not even associate pain that starts days later with the accident. 

There’s only one way to know for sure

Since whiplash symptoms are not always reliable, the only way to know for sure is to seek medical help just after the accident. If it exists, the injury will be as fresh and the easiest to manage without being exacerbated by circumstances like sleeping on an injured neck. 

At Injury and Health Urgent Center, we utilize digital X-rays to view the affected area quickly and painlessly. It’s a noninvasive procedure that allows us to detect swelling, alignment problems, and possible fractures. This allows us to diagnose even a sometimes tricky issue like whiplash and get you the help you need. 

Do I need digital X-rays for a whiplash diagnosis? 

Sometimes, the issue is easily identified without X-rays. However, when hidden whiplash is possible, it’s always best to confirm the diagnosis so your medical team can treat the problem quickly. 

Call Injury and Health Urgent Care in San Antonio, Texas, today or use our online booking tool to request an appointment. We are here to help.