Car Accident and Neck Injury | 车祸中颈椎受伤，竟导致如此后果
The car is an irreplaceable part in today's life, and the car accidents are also unavoidable. Neck injuries are the most common in car accidents. The most serious are spinal cord injury, or neck bone damage, which are both life-threatening and require immediate emergency rescue. However, in most cases, neck injuries caused by car accidents are not life-threatening and therefore often are not given enough attention. If the treatment is not timely or improper, these injuries can greatly affect the patients’ life.
Neck pain and discomfort
The pain in the neck and shoulders can last for several years, sometimes more than ten years, even a lifetime. In the event of a car accident, if the collide is from the front to the back, the neck will swing forward or backward like a whip because of the weight of the head. In this sudden movement, the entire neck components, including muscles, ligaments, intervertebral joints and other tissues, are subjected to intense and rapid over-stretching. In addition the swing happens in an instant that many people do even feel or know what happened. Such swing may cause serious damage to the spinal cord, neck bone fractures, head injuries, chest compressions, cardiopulmonary injuries, etc.. Lighter conditions also often cause neck damage. If the impact comes from the side, the situation will be more complicated and serious because the side muscles of the neck are weaker.
After a car accident, a small number of people will immediately develop severe pain, and their neck activities are severely limited. Most people’s pain become more and more obvious after a few hours in a car accident, a few days later, or even weeks or months later. Symptoms mainly include: neck pain, limited mobility, shoulder pain, upper back pain, stiff and swollen muscles from the neck to the upper back to the shoulders, and the pain points are widely distributed. Most are also accompanied by headache on the front, back or sides of the head, and neck pain. The patient's sleep can be severely affected, regardless of the kinds of pillow used. There may be heavy upper limbs, muscle pain, numb hands, weak grip, low energy, poor mood, and even depression, and anxiety.
One case: There is a female patient who came to seek treatment two years after the accident. She is suffering from neck pain, upper back pain and lower back pain. Her neck to waist muscles are also stiff and swollen. The pain is very noticeable, and even touching the skin in certain area causes pain. In addition she also has symptoms such as poor sleep, low energy, constipation, frequent urination, dry skin, bad mood, and heavy pulse. She has seen physiotherapists, orthodontists, acupuncturists, etc., the effect is not obvious.
This case is typical car-accident-related neck and back pain, which in turn leads to depression, or extremely unbearable muscle fiber pain. In TCM we believe that this is a complex symptom of kidney deficiency, blood clotting, and qi stagnation.
Headache
Headache is one of the main conditions associated with neck injury. It often manifests as a posterior headache, which in turn develops into pain at the front of the temple area. In addition, the headache that spreads from the back to the side of the head and above the ears is also a common symptom after a car accident.
Another case: Recently, a male patient was diagnosed with neck pain, headache, and dizziness after six months of a car accident. He also wore a neck brace when he came to visit me. His symptoms are: obvious headache, high blood pressure, stiff neck that his head cannot easily move. If he forces to move head around, the pain is serious. His face is swollen and flushed too. His sleep is disrupted to 30 mins intervals due to the pain even after taking pain-killers on a daily basis.
Conclusion
There are many other possible problems, such as dizziness, palpitations, anxiety, weakness, depression, etc.. From my clinical experience, traditional acupuncture has the best the effect in dealing with these problems. In addition, I hope everyone can seek medical treatment in time after a car accident, so it is much more easier to choose the best treatment plan.
现在的生活，车是不可取代的一部分，因此车祸也伴随发生。车祸中颈部损伤最为常见。最严重的有脊髓损伤，或颈椎骨质破坏，这些都有生命危险，需要立即急诊抢救。不过大多数情况下车祸引起的颈椎损伤并没有生命危险，因此往往得不到足够的重视。如果治疗不及时或方法不当，这些损伤也会大大地影响病人的生活质量。
1. 颈部肩部疼痛或不适
颈部和肩部的疼痛可以延绵几年，十几年，甚至一生：发生车祸时，如果从前后碰撞，则颈部因为头部的重量，会像鞭子一样向前或向后挥出去，再反弹回来，也就是医学上所称的“挥鞭行为”。这时候整个颈部的组成部分，包括肌肉，韧带，椎间关节及其他组织均会遭受剧烈、快速地过度牵拉，而且是瞬间完成，往往很多人还不知道发生了什么事。这样严重的会造成脊髓损伤，颈椎骨折，头部损伤，伴随胸腔挤压，心肺损伤等等甚至危及生命。较轻的情况也往往造成颈椎损伤。如果撞击来自侧面，因为颈椎侧面肌肉薄弱，情况将更为复杂和严重。
车祸后，少部分会立即产生严重的疼痛，活动严重受限。大多数人则在车祸几个小时后，几天后，甚至几周、几个月后才表现得越来越明显。症状主要表现为：颈痛，活动受限，双肩痛，上背痛，整个颈部至上背部至两肩部肌肉僵硬肿胀，且痛点分布广泛。多数还伴有后头痛，前头痛，侧头痛及颈痛。病人睡眠会受到严重影响，不管睡任何枕头都不合适。才外可能还有上肢沉重，肌肉疼痛，双手麻木，握力减弱，精力下降，情绪较差，甚至导致忧郁症、焦虑症，病人痛苦不堪。
一个病例：有一位女性患者，车祸后两年来我这里求治。她有颈痛、腰痛、背痛，且颈部至腰部肌肉均是僵硬肿胀状态。疼痛非常明显，甚至疼痛部位的皮肤都不能触摸。睡眠差，精力差，便秘，尿频，皮肤干燥，情绪低落，脉象沉。她曾看过物理治疗师，正脊师，针灸师等，效果均不明显。
这个病例是典型的车祸引起的颈腰痛，继而导致忧郁症，最好产生极其难忍的肌纤维痛。中医认为，这是由疼痛导致肾虚、血凝、气滞的复杂症候。
2. 头痛：
头痛是伴随颈椎损伤的主要病症之一。往往表现为后头痛，继而发展到同时前头太阳穴处疼痛。此外，从后向头部侧面，耳朵上方扩散的头痛也是一种常见的车祸后头痛症状。
再举个病例：近日有一男性病人因车祸6个月后的颈痛、头痛、头晕不能好转来就诊。来的时候他还戴着颈托。他的症状是：头痛明显，血压异常高，头部不能活动，稍微动一动疼痛就更加严重，面部发胀，满脸通红。每天要用菲力诺来止痛。然而就算如此，他依然因为疼痛难以入睡。睡觉时每半小时就醒一次。
其他的症状还有很多，如车祸颈痛导致的头晕，心悸，焦虑，虚弱，抑郁等等。这里就不一一讲解了。
从我的临床经验看，传统针灸随经络取穴治疗，对于车祸后颈椎损伤效果明显。此外希望发生车祸后能及时就医，方便选取最佳治疗方案。
