Whiplash

Many people suffer from Whiplash after being in an automobile accident.Whiplash occurs when the head and neck are suddenly jerked forward and/or backward. Whiplash injury can affect the bones, muscles, tendons and nerves in the neck and may be extremely painful. The following five factors are associated with a longer duration of whiplash pain and headaches:

• Front seat position during collision
• Pain onset within 12 hours of injury
• Past history of neck pain - this factor has the greatest influence on duration of significant pain
• Pre-injury degenerative change on radiographs
• Being older that 45 years of age at time of collision

Studies have also shown that injuries were more severe if the crash victim was unaware and unprepared for the impending jolt. Also a rear-end collision had more impact and a rotated or inclined head position at the moment of impact was shown to cause more severe injuries.

The amount of damage to the automobile and the speed of the cars involved in the collision bear little relationship to the injury sustained by the cervical spine.

• More injuries occur at crash speeds below 12 mph
• Most cars do not have any structural damage at impacts of 8 - 12 mph
• Peak acceleration of the head is much greater than that of the vehicle
• A 5 mph crash will produce approximately 10 - 12 g of acceleration of the victim's head