Just yesterday, Harvard Health tweeted an article where Dr. Anthony Komaroff, MD, a practicing physician in Internal Medicine, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Editor of Harvard Health Letter, answered the following question:
"I was in a car accident several months ago and got whiplash. I still have neck pain. Is this normal?"
Dr. Komaroff responded by stating in pertinent part that:
Whiplash damage to muscles and ligaments should heal within a few months. If your symptoms continue, talk with your doctor. He or she can check for injuries to the facet joints and disks. On very rare occasions, there may be a problem that can be corrected by surgery. But most people recover from whiplash through physical therapy and regular exercise.
Dr. Komaroff also suggested that doctors sometimes treat whiplash symptoms with pain pills, facet joint injections, and even sometimes with radiofrequency neurotomy, where heat is used to block out the pain.
If you have been injured in an auto accident, always seek the appropriate medical attention and listen to the advise of your treating medical providers so that they can help you on your path to recovery after an accident where injuries have occurred.
Source: Ask Dr. K