A neck injury may be minor, but it’s best to treat all potential injuries as serious since the ramifications of a spinal injury are so dire. In order to properly identify a neck injury, you need to know the symptoms. This starts, of course, with basic neck pain, but it could also include the following:
— Restriction of movement. You may have trouble turning your head to the side as far as you normally can, forcing you to turn your entire body from the waist up.
— Headaches, blurred vision, dizziness and vertigo. You may mistake these for the signs of a head injury, but they can all be connected to a spinal issue.
— Nausea and fatigue. Again, these are commonly associated with concussions and brain injuries, but they can stem from neck issues, as well.
— Numbness below your neck, spreading through the shoulders and arms. This could also come with a feeling of weakness in the impacted area.
— Muscles spasms. These could happen in the injured neck muscles themselves.
— Back pain, even in your lower back. This could make it hard to sit at a desk or get comfortable when lying down.
These are just a few symptoms, but they illustrate an important point: A neck injury can cause symptoms that range all through your body. Don’t assume that the only issues are going to be in your neck, and don’t decide you don’t have a neck issue just because most of the pain is in your arms or your back. This is a wide-ranging issue that needs proper treatment.
If you suffered the injury at work, you need to know your rights to ‘ . After all, you may be unable to work while suffering from these symptoms, and you may have high medical costs.
Source: Patient, “Whiplash and Cervical Spine Injury,” accessed Jan. 06, 2017
