Whiplash

 

Today I wil be talking about the effects and cause of a car whiplash.   A whiplash injury can happen any time you are subjected to sudden acceleration or deceleration, such as in a car accident. The forces on the muscles and ligaments in your neck cause your head to rapidly move backwards and forwards, with a ‘snapping’ motion.

The rapid movement over-extends the ligaments (in particular the anterior longitudinal ligament) and soft tissue in the neck, stretching and tearing the soft tissue. It is the damage to the soft tissue which causes the often long lasting pain that is the major complaint of whiplash-sufferers. In many cases this soft tissue damage can actually take longer to heal than a broken bone, as it is more difficult to keep soft tissue immobile, particularly in the neck.

Whiplash is a common injury reported by people who have been involved in a car accident, particularly a rear-end collision, where another car or vehicle has driven into the rear of their own vehicle. You might not think it, but the direction of force in a car accident is a factor in the likelihood that an accident cause a whiplash injury to the victim.