Why symptoms are delayed
At the moment of impact your body does two things: it produces a large adrenaline response, and it braces. Both mask pain effectively for hours.
Underneath that, the tissues injured in the collision begin an inflammatory response, and the muscles around the injured segments start guarding to protect them. Both build over the following 24 to 72 hours. That is the stiffness people wake up with on day two and the headache that starts on day three.
Go to an emergency department instead if you have
Severe or worsening headache, confusion or loss of consciousness at the time, progressive weakness or numbness, difficulty speaking or swallowing, chest or abdominal pain, or significant visual change. These are not things to sit on.
What we commonly see
- Whiplash: neck pain and stiffness, reduced rotation, headache from the base of the skull
- Mid-back and rib pain, often from the seatbelt’s restraint of the trunk
- Low back pain, particularly with a rear-end impact
- Shoulder pain on the side that was braced against the wheel
- Jaw pain, which frequently accompanies neck trauma
- Pins and needles or weakness into an arm or leg
How we assess it
The examination establishes what was injured and whether anything present rules out manual treatment. That means a detailed history of the mechanism — direction of impact, head position, whether you saw it coming, whether you braced — along with neurological and orthopaedic testing and a segmental assessment of movement.
Where imaging is warranted we have it on-site, including digital motion study X-ray, which shows the spine while it moves rather than held still. That is often the relevant question after trauma.
What care might involve
Early, graded movement produces better outcomes than rest and immobilisation. Care is usually a combination of adjustment using techniques appropriate to an irritable spine, soft tissue work, cold laser therapy in the acute phase, and rehabilitation for the deep stabilising muscles that reliably shut down after trauma and do not switch back on by themselves.
Claims and paperwork
Where the accident is covered by a compulsory third party claim, treatment is generally claimable. If it happened while you were working, we are a registered WorkCover Queensland provider, and we are also a Department of Veterans’ Affairs provider. Bring your claim number if you have one; if you do not, mention it when you book and the front desk will talk you through it.