A simple question. What actually is whiplash? With so many people suffering from it every single year (hundreds of thousands) you would think that everyone knows what whiplash is. The trouble is that you only usually find out what whiplash is when you suffer an injury. Before that time hopefully you have no grounds to find out what it is. So what is whiplash, why does it happen and what can you do about it?
Whiplash is the name given to an injury sustained to the neck. Whilst the most common cause of whiplash is a car accident, it can be caused by numerous other impacts such as sporting activities, trips and slips and any other jarring injury that makes your neck move backwards and forwards very quickly.
The most common cause of whiplash, however, is a car accident so we will look at that. Imagine the scene, one minute you are sitting in your car, seat belt securely fastened waiting for a break in traffic so you can move off from the junction. The next minute your car is hit hard and fast from behind by another vehicle. The impact immediately causes your head to start moving forwards quickly. However, your seat belt then kicks into action and does it's job, stopping you from the chest down and pinning you to the chair. The trouble is, your neck and head are still moving forward. As the seat belt does its work your body goes backwards and pings the head and neck back with it. They "whip" back and keep going until they hit the headrest. The body goes back and forwards like this a few times before your car stops. This happens in the matter of a few seconds.
This impact stretches all of your neck muscles and nerves far beyond their normal range of movement (i.e. out of their comfort zone) and this is bound to lead to pain and suffering for you, which it invariably does.
The sore neck nerves and muscles let you know they are not happy by showing all sorts of whiplash symptoms, which can incude headaches, dizziness, giddiness, sickeness, neck, shoulder and back pain. This is whiplash.
If this has happened to you you should immediately seek medical treatment. The doctor will want to ensure that it is only a whiplash injury and nothing more serious. He will be able to suggest treatment which will help you to recover more quickly. This might include physiotherapy or chiropractic treatment.
Summary.
If you have been involved in an accident and have suffered a whiplash injury, ensure you seek help for a claim from a specialist compensation solicitor who will let you keep 100% of your compensation.