Hurting In Neck Due To Bad Fall. What Are The Findings From CAT Scan Of Neck And Head?

Posted on Fri, 13 Dec 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 13 Dec 2013 Answered on

Thu, 2 Jan 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Although I had a cat scan of neck and head yesterday after bad fall on back on ice and there were no fractures my neck still hurts when I turn it today, is this normal?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer: yes it is normal Detailed Answer: Hi, thanks for using healthcare magic Yes, this is normal. After trauma, the pain can take 24 to 36 hours to peak, in some persons the worse is felt 3 to 4 days after the event. The CT scan would have identified any fractures. The pain that you are experiencing would be due to injury to the soft tissue (muscle and connective tissue). If you have anti inflammatory pain killers such as ibuprofen, cataflam, aspirin, naproxen, celebrex. This would reduce the inflammation and associated pain. The pain should resolve within 7 to 10 days. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar