Spinal injuries can have long-term ramifications

Remember that football tackle in high school that left you on the sidelines for a few weeks with a sore, stiff neck? Your resilient young body may have been able to overcome those symptoms in the short term but that does not mean that they were permanently resolved. High-impact sports injuries, car and bike accidents are among the most common causes for whiplash- the injury in which your neck is whipped back and then forward, resulting in soft-tissue injury. The human body is a capable healer- if your injury is limited to whiplash, then it will probably be resolved in a matter of days, weeks or months. But what if there was another injury that was never diagnosed?

Ensuring you get the full picture

The human body is a system science- we need to look at these injuries in the short term and long term. That is why we strongly urge anyone who has been in an accident or suffered a sports injury to check in with a medical professional to get a full diagnosis of their injury. Whiplash is a good example- it is a surface symptom that generally goes away on its own. But a minority of cases involve an associated injury in the spine, and this injury can lead to spinal degeneration if left unaddressed. 

Preventing the snowball effect of spinal degeneration

Many people can point to a specific point when they think their chronic back pain started. These points of origin should not be ignored in the moment. Don’t be one of the millions of people who wait until back pain becomes chronic to do something about it. If you have suffered an injury, be sure to get a full medical diagnosis to ensure you don’t leave an injury unaddressed.