How quickly can I expect to recover from my whiplash symptoms? Whiplash is a neck injury that occurs when the neck accelerates quickly forward and then decelerates quickly backwards. Usually whiplash happens as a result of a car collision. People who suffer from whiplash experience numbness, acute pain in neck, shoulders, and back, and a loss of mobility. How quickly one recovers from whiplash depends on each individual case. However research findings in the last few years, yielded two interesting factors that seemed to affect the recovery time of a whiplash patient. The studies showed that the amount of pain level reported by the patient and the patient’s state of mind greatly affected the recovery time frame from whiplash.
In an article published by WebMD back in 2008, they stated David Walton, a researcher at The University of Western Ontario in London, discovered during his research that the level of pain reported three weeks after a whiplash injury predicted how quickly a patient recovered. Out of the 3,000 patients he reviewed in his study, those that rated their pain as less than five on a ten point pain scale where likely to recover faster than those who rated themselves as five or higher. The higher the level of pain experienced, the longer the recovery process.
A patient’s state of mind also greatly affected the recovery process. Those patients that exhibited positive thinking and gave themselves realistic recovery expectations, were quicker at healing than those patients who exhibited negative thoughts and unrealistic recovery expectations. Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Do you believe the glass is half full or half empty. It turns out that in another study conducted, positive thinking yielded positive results whereas negative thinking yielded negative results.
If you are trying to recover from your whiplash symptoms quickly there are two things you can do to improve your situation. The first thing to do is train your mind to think positively and set realistic recovery goals for yourself. If you are experiencing severe pain three weeks after the car crash (rating yourself as more than five out ten on the 10-point pain scale), you should expect that your recovery may just take a little longer and not to get discouraged. If your pain is less than five after three weeks, you should expect to recover fairly quickly.
The main key is to maintain a positive outlook on the situation. Once you recognize you have whiplash symptoms, immediately seek medical attention. Most times physical therapy treatments can greatly reduce whiplash, especially if treated right away. People are able to recover from their injuries with their physical therapy healing techniques.