Whiplash: How Did This Happen?

By: Dr. Greg Bond, D.C.

You're in your car, relaxed, waiting and suddenly you hear the screeching of

tires. In that split second and before you can brace yourself, you feel the car lunge

forward. You've been rear-ended. What happens in this brief moment can surprise you

and what you do about it in the next few hours, days, and weeks can and will affect your

future health.

Upon impact, your body pushes deeply into the seat. Your head, momentarily

isolated by your neck, delays its reaction while your body quickly reaches the limits of

the seat. Then, your body instantly changes directions, moving forward to the limits of

your seat belt. Now, your head starts moving backward in the opposite direction.

Unrestrained by a seat belt your head is jerked back and forward beyond its normal

limits. Your head is always going opposite of your body. What happens when you hold

a piece of paper and move your hands in opposite directions, it tears. This is exactly how

we can tear the ligaments and muscles of the neck. Everything is happening in slow

motion, yet you are unable to prevent your head from whipping back and forth.

How can we minimize our injuries in a rear-end collision? We must be restrained

by a seat belt. This obviously prevents severe injuries and excessive forward motion of

your body. The second crucial factor is the position of the headrest. It has to be no

more than 1 inch away from the back of your head and the height has to extend above

the top of your head. With the proper positioning the headrest can prevent excessive

backward motion. If the position is incorrect the headrest actually adds to the problem

by creating a fulcrum, which allows your head extend over the top and increases the

stretching of ligaments and muscle tissue in the front of your neck.

Don't minimize your own injuries because your car has sustained little or no

damage. It has been proven that a 5 mph impact can result in soft tissue injury. Signs

and symptoms from a whiplash type injury can be many and vary in severity. The most

common symptom is neck pain, which may take a few hours to begin due to the

adrenaline rush. Headaches are the second most common symptom. 85% of all

headaches are tension headaches, and we know after the above description of an

accident we would have tension. Do not let these signs and symptoms go for a long

period of time, because pain is an indication that something is wrong and just blocking

the pain will not fix the problem. A thorough evaluation would be required to identify the

problem and to determine the treatment you need. You have to restore proper motion

within the neck in order to allow the muscles and ligaments of your neck to repair and

heal. Don't wait or think, "My accident wasn't that bad." Seek proper care.