People are often confused by whiplash. After all, the only symptom of whiplash is pain and there is no way for us to look inside ourselves to see what’s causing it. Numerous medical examinations and published papers have discovered that whiplash is an injury sustained as a result of the head moving backwards, forwards, and sideways vigorously. This stretches the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the neck beyond their normal capability.
The most common cause of whiplash is through a road traffic accident.
When a car comes to an abrupt stop, or is shunted in any direction, a massive amount of energy is involved. This energy is directed around occupants in the car, however the force of the impact travels through the car and the squishy organic matter in the seats (that’s you) is affected. Your seat belt stops your torso from flying into whatever’s in front of you, however there is nothing to protect your head from moving backwards, forwards, and sideways vigorously. Your neck takes the full brunt of this force and this is how whiplash occurs.
Whiplash and speed – is there a link?
There is an obvious link between whiplash and speed – a high speed impact is more likely to result in a whiplash injury than a low speed impact.
However, you can get whiplash from a low speed accident.
The soft tissues in the neck and ligaments can be stretched beyond their normal range of movement at speeds as low as 5mph. However, the most common whiplash injuries are where there is a sudden, abrupt impact. This type of impact can be low speed or high speed, and what each type of impact has in common is that neither gives you any time to brace yourself.
A low speed impact, or LVI (low velocity impact), often results in no obvious symptoms of whiplash immediately afterwards. It can take a few days for whiplash symptoms to emerge, and when they do they present themselves in the form of pain. Discomfort moving your head in any direction is a symptom of whiplash and nausea and dizziness are common symptoms too. If you are suffering from these symptoms, you should consult your GP right away, who will most likely diagnose your pain as whiplash and probably prescribe for you some strong painkillers.
Call our 24/7 Helpline on 0800 157 1438 to discuss your whiplash injury and find out how much compensation you could receive. Alternatively pleaseenter site here for more information.