If you experience routine headaches after enduring an accident, you can think of it as your body trying to tell you that something is wrong internally. In some cases the something wrong will be very minor and short lived, such as basic muscular tension and headaches from whiplash. In other cases your body could be sending headaches to tell you something is devastatingly wrong that will not correct itself, such as an injury to the brain.
Since there is always that potential that your post-accident headaches are symptoms of a much larger problem, you can’t afford to ignore them. It may just turn out to be that you are having migraines from the tension and stress that naturally comes in the aftermath of an accident, but you can’t just assume that from the beginning. There is too much on the line for assumptions when it comes to your health and the functioning of your body.
Cervicogenic Headache
This is a big term with a very simple meaning: pain in the neck. When your head and body are jerked in two different directions in an accident you can suffer from muscular strain in the neck, more commonly known as whiplash. For many accident victims, part of whiplash is a throbbing, pulsating headache that starts or is centered in the back of the neck. Some people will have a burning sensation in the neck along with their cervicogenic headaches.
There are pressure points all along the back of the neck which can produce pain in the head and neck if they are pressed or jerked even just a little. This leads to headaches from whiplash, which starts at those pressure points and travel up into the head. With 20 muscles located in the neck and multiple pressure points, it is easy to see how pain can easily be passed up into the head after an injury.
Treatment for this type of injury typically involves physical therapy along with medication to control muscle spasms, called anti-spasmotics.
Headaches from Damaged Nerves
There are eight cervical nerves traveling through the neck and they can be injured either directly or as a result of other injuries in the neck. If you suffer from whiplash, herniated disc, or bone spurs you can experience symptoms of nerve damage as well. One of the symptoms of nerve damage is pain that goes from the neck out into other areas of the body, including the head.
In less extreme cases, damaged nerves can lead to headaches from whiplash as well as pain in the shoulders, arms, and/or chest. This will gradually go away along with other signs of common whiplash, but in more severe injuries it may be something you deal with for a long time to come.
There is a real danger when it comes to damaging the cervical nerves, since their job is to transfer messages between the brain and the rest of your body. When serious injury to the nerves is experienced, you may feel tingling in your arms or various parts of the body could go completely numb.
In many cases, the best treatment for headaches from whiplash is physical therapy.
Headaches from Brain Injury
Brain injury is probably the most serious problem that your headaches could be trying to alert you to. Any accident that is forceful enough to produce whiplash and other injuries in the neck can also produce injuries to the brain. Pressure, jerking, and banging of the head against the skull can result in injuries that may have no other symptoms other than headaches, but usually there will be other symptoms including:
- Dizziness
- Vision Problems
- Confusion
- Interruptions in Bodily Functioning
Depending on the nature of the brain injury, you may or may not notice symptoms beyond headaches. There are some injuries that are not very serious and which can be treated and then there are those that leave you unable to speak, walk, or perform other basic bodily functions.
If you have a very serious brain injury chances are you will have other symptoms that draw attention to the problem, but that is not always the case. This is why headaches from whiplash or after an accident should be taken seriously until the exact cause is determined.
It may turn out that you are having headaches because you are under a lot of stress after your accident, but you can’t risk your life assuming that! Think of your pain as a message that something may be wrong.
This article is considered general information only; please consult a medical professional concerning your specific condition.
Related posts: