What Is Whiplash?
Michael Babboni
Car Accidents
Personal Injury
When traffic accidents occur, especially ones in which some kind of collision is involved, one of the most common injuries that people sustain is something called “whiplash.” But, exactly is whiplash, and how much does it actually affect you? Is this something worth going to court over?Your Neck & Stresses
Whiplash gains its name as a result of the violent action that sudden movement inflicts on the human neck during a car collision, or other incident involving high speed impacts with human passengers. The term was originally coined in 1928 as cars became more common, and was previously known as “railway spine” in earlier years when collisions involving trains were the most common culprit.
Whiplash itself comes about from a rapid forward, then backward movement of the head and neck that occurs because, unlike the rest of your body which is likely to be confined by a seat belt, there is no restraint on your head, since you need to turn it and move it over the course of normal driving.
When a collision occurs, the lower bones of your neck are put into a position of hyperextension, while the upper bones in your neck are hyperflexed. This essentially “deforms” the shape of your spine in this area, putting it into a very abnormal “S” shape before snapping back into normal position, and it is this trauma that can damage the soft tissue in the area, including ligaments, muscles and facet capsules.
This initial trauma can have larger effects, that vary wildly from individual to individual. Some people injured with whiplash may only experience a little bit of muscular discomfort and neck pain, generally getting over it in a few days. Other people however, may go through a suite of symptoms, including dizziness, fatigue, pain in the arms, jaw, back or shoulder, weakened arms, headaches, nausea and ringing ears. There may even be associated disorders to accompany this, like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anger, stress, insomnia and other psychological or physiological issues.
Much of this depends on the severity of the injury, but the only way to know for sure is through a professional medical evaluation. The evaluation, should be immediately conducted after an accident, not just to ensure your own health and welfare, but also get on record your medical condition and costs of care should you decide to pursue a case for your whiplash.
You don’t actually have to be so injured that you miss work if you want to go to court, but without hard medical evidence, and some kind of financial figures to work with, pursuing a personal injury case is very difficult. The medical exam is also important since you must be able to prove that your whiplash is a direct result of the accident you were in, and a lack of medical evidence documenting this hurts your chances in court.
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries sustained in car accidents, but just because it is common, and just because it is easily treated, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve to be addressed in a court of law. If someone else’s negligence causes you to experience whiplash, you should get yourself taken care of my medical professionals immediately, and then contact an experienced personal injury lawyer to assess your case and find out what you should do next.