Whiplash is a sudden forward and/or backward movement of the head after an accident or a fall. This can cause postural abnormalities and joint dysfunction. Too often patients admit to being in a car accident but believe it wasn’t too bad. I ask, “How bad was the car?” They reply, “Oh it was totaled!!!”
Now how is it a 3,000-pound chunk of steel is damaged but the 150-pound soft tissue body strapped in, except for the head that bounces around, is okay? The exterior of the car doesn’t magically correct itself. Neither does the spinal damage to your entire body.
Many patients have problems today because they ignored their own health. Sadly they believed that the damage to their bodies had to be seen or felt, or they are okay after a fall or a car accident because they feel fine. WRONG! I guarantee they had their car fixed before they used it again because it was “unsafe” whether they could “see the damage” or not.
If you broke a tooth you would have it fixed immediately because you can see it. If there was a gelatinous cover over your car and you looked at its exterior after an accident, it would look fine. But would you still have it fixed? Yes, because you understand that the vehicle damage doesn’t have to be seen to be present.
Current studies have shown the damage to the neck and back from a blow to the head, a motor vehicle accident (MVA) or a fall may either be felt immediately, not for hours, or sometimes even years.
The impact to the driver is 2.5 times greater than the force to the vehicle itself. So whatever damage you see to the vehicle, realize the force to your body was 2.5 times greater. Changes of speed of only 2.5 miles an hour during crash tests caused occupants symptoms of soft tissue injuries; whereas damage to a vehicle may not be seen until 8.7 mph.
If left untreated or uncorrected, resultant adaptive changes will occur in the architecture of the spine. The soft tissue and bones of the neck will cause pain, muscles will become fibrotic or less pliable, scarring will develop in the tendons and ligaments and there will be degenerative changes in the spine.
When the ligaments heal, they will develop a cross linkage or net-like mesh of their fibers that create inferior strength in the tissue. Unless these scars and adhesions are disrupted by mobilization or adjustments, the result will be the tissues involved will now fail at only 40 percent of the original strength.
Your neck has a wide range of motion, so you put greater bending, twisting and turning demands on it than you do on the rest of your spine. The seatbelt protects your torso making the neck the most vulnerable part of your spine, especially during an auto accident. Even minor whipping of the cervical vertebrae of the neck can cause severe trauma to the neck muscles, ligaments and soft tissues. A hit during a football game or slipping and falling can have the same result.
In a rear-end collision your neck is forced to move into extension starting with the lower vertebrae first. This motion is completely different from the normal motion of the spine during extension and can be a source for understanding how the neck is injured in an accident.
It is a common example of a strain injury and sometimes a sprain if ligaments are involved. Although overlooked by many people, including healthcare professionals, whiplash occurs more than they realize. Most people escape severe injury like fractures. The damage to the spine can go undetected and lead to biomechanical
<!–
–>
