Guide to Whiplash
What is Whiplash?
Whiplash is the term given to describe the sudden movement of the neck in a forwards and backwards motion. This causes the soft tissue in the neck to be stretched and strained. Whiplash is most commonly caused by car accidents, but whiplash can also be caused by other accidents, including slips and trips.
What are the symptoms of whiplash?
The most common symptom of a whiplash injury is pain and stiffness in the neck. However, whiplash can also cause a number of other symptoms, including back and shoulder pain, headaches, loss of movement in the neck, blurred vission and pins and needles.
Symptoms of whiplash may not be experienced immediately after an accident. This is becuase following an accident adrenalin can often take over, supressing the pain and affect of whiplash for several hours. In fact, it is not uncommon for symptoms of a whiplash injury to go undetected for several days.
The severity of a whiplash injury can vary significantly from person to person. While some people make a full recovery within a few days or weeks, other people can suffer with a whiplash injury for several months or even years.
How is a whiplash injury caused?
Whiplash is most commonly caused when a car crashes into the rear of a stationery or slow moving vehicle. However, whiplash can also be caused by other road accidents, as well as slips and trips.
Although your head is restrained during a car crash by your seatbelt, your head is not. Therefore following impact your head is thrown backwards and forwards, causing the whiplash injury. Generally speaking, the greater the impact, the more severe the subsequent whiplash injury will be. However, even a slow moving minor car accident can result in a whiplash injury.
Contact the National Accident Helpline on 0800 6783 601 or complete our online personal injury claim form.
For more information on whiplash and making a personal injury compensation claim for a whiplash injury, click on the links below.
Tags: back, car accident, car crash, neck injury, neck pain, rear end shunt, shoulder, whiplash, whiplash injury
whiplash | admin February 22, 2008 | 
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