Whiplash Injury

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Insurance companies sometimes act like accident victims simply imagine whiplash injuries.

But whiplash is a real phenomenon, and it causes real injuries. Whiplash results from the physics behind auto accidents, slip and fall accidents, and other collisions. The injuries caused by a whipping motion can lead to chronic or recurring pain in the head, neck, and back.

Read on for an overview of the causes and symptoms of a whiplash injury and the compensation you can seek for one.

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The Physics of a Collision

The laws of motion state that an object in motion will remain in motion until acted on by an outside force. When you ride in a car, your body moves with the car. When you collide with something, your car comes to a stop. But your body continues moving in the same direction at the same speed as before the collision.

Your seat belt holds your chest. You might also push against the steering wheel to try to brace yourself. But your head is free to move.

Your head keeps moving forward until your neck pulls it to a stop. This might not seem like much force acting on your neck. But the average adult head weighs around 11 pounds. This is roughly equivalent to a one-gallon can of paint or a medium-sized bowling ball.

Now imagine a bowling ball moving at the speed of a car. Even at a moderate speed of 25 miles per hour, you would need to exert a lot of force on the bowling ball to stop it. Your neck experiences this same force trying to stop your head when you collide with something at 25 miles per hour.

The same forces will affect your neck when you collide with something else. Hitting the ground after a fall or a guardrail after a car hits your motorcycle can create the same whipping motion, requiring your neck to stop your head’s motion.

How Does a Whiplash Injury Happen?

Your neck includes seven cervical vertebrae. Each vertebra includes a body to support the weight of your head. It also includes wing-shaped processes.

Discs sit between the vertebrae. These discs include a tough annulus around a gel-like nucleus. The discs cushion the vertebrae of your neck. They also provide a smooth but tough surface so you can turn your head and bend your neck.

Ligaments connect the vertebrae. They hold the vertebrae and discs in place. They also provide the flexibility that allows you to move your neck.

Muscles in your neck help you support and move your head. They attach through tendons to the processes of your vertebrae. These muscles connect your cervical vertebrae to your shoulder blades, skull, and collarbones.

Whiplash hyperextends your neck. The whipping motion pulls the vertebrae and discs apart. It also stretches the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your neck. As you come to a stop, the ligaments pull the vertebrae and discs back together. They smash into each other and compress.

The stretching and compressing of your neck can damage the soft tissue and bones, causing a range of injuries.

What Types of Whiplash Injury Can Occur?

Whiplash injuries can take many forms depending on the tissue that gets injured in the accident. Some examples of whiplash injuries include:

Sprained or Strained Neck

You suffer a sprained neck when the ligaments holding the cervical vertebrae together get stretched or torn. When you sprain your neck, you will often feel or hear a pop in your neck during your accident.

A sprained neck can cause symptoms such as:

Pain
Instability
Swelling
Limited range of motion
Bruises

Neck strain happens when the tendons or muscles in your neck get stretched or torn.

Symptoms of neck strain include:

Pain
Weakness
Swelling
Stiffness
Neck spasms

A strained or sprained neck will usually heal with rest in four to six weeks. Doctors rarely operate to repair neck sprains and strains.

Herniated or Bulging Disc

When your vertebrae and discs compress during the whipping motion, the pressure can damage your discs. You get a bulging disc when a disc deforms, but the annulus remains intact. You get a herniated disc when the annulus breaks down and allows the nucleus to protrude.

A bulging or herniated disc will cause pain and instability in your neck.

It can also compress nerve roots or your spinal cord, causing:

Pain radiating into your shoulders, arms, and hands
Numbness and tingling in your upper extremities
Weakness and loss of finger dexterity

Doctors can replace a damaged disc with an artificial disc. They can also remove a damaged disc and fuse the adjacent vertebrae. But you will often suffer permanent loss of flexibility in your neck after surgery. You may also experience chronic or recurring pain.

Fractured Vertebra

When you fracture a cervical vertebra, you run the risk of a spinal cord injury. Bone fragments can move into the spinal canal and sever or compress the spinal cord. The fractured vertebra can also dislocate and sever or compress the spinal cord.

When you suffer a spinal cord injury in your neck, you will suffer quadriplegia. This will include partial or complete paralysis in all four of your limbs.

How Do You Get Compensation for a Whiplash Injury?

To get compensation for a whiplash injury, you must either show that you suffered the injury in the course and scope of your employment or that someone else’s negligence caused your accident.

If you suffered whiplash at work, you could seek workers’ compensation to cover your medical treatment and therapy, as well as part of your lost income.

If you suffered whiplash due to someone else’s negligence, you could seek compensation for both your economic and non-economic losses. These losses include your medical costs, lost income, pain, and suffering.

In many cases, whiplash injuries clear up in four to six weeks as the muscles, tendons, and ligaments heal. But some whiplash injuries can damage nerve roots or your spinal cord. This injury could leave you with chronic or recurring pain and even paralysis.