Whiplash Essentially The Most Widespread Collision Damage
From Data Realms Wiki
Rear end collisions are the most frequent kind of motor vehicle accidents in America, and they’re on the rise, thanks to increasing cell phone use and other driver distractions. Cervical spine and neck injuries are the injuries most often sustained in rear-end collisions; the force of impact between vehicles causes the occupants’ head to be thrown forward with forces ten or more times stronger than gravity. The current estimate for rear-end collisions injuries stands at three million people hurt, annually. Click here
In any collision, physical forces work on both the car and the body; bending and twisting of the spine in an accident frequently causes neck injury, nerve root injury, and sometimes things much worse than this—herniated disks and paralysis are two examples.
Whiplash injuries, extremely common in collisions, are injuries to the soft tissue of the neck, and usually don’t necessitate surgery. The recovery time for a whiplash injury is anywhere from 6 to 12 months. People who aren’t “lucky” enough to escape with just whiplash (recovery can be very painful) may develop permanent problems with their cervical spine. These sort of injuries leave the body prone to re-injury, and can also hasten the onset of arthritic disease of the spine. And, another disconcerting part of healing from a rear-end collision is the creation of scar tissue around the spine, caused by the extreme force of the accident; the scar tissue is often the beginning of long term health problems (this information comes from doctors familiar with spinal injury patients).
Whiplash treatment entails pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs; more serious whiplash may require immobility in a neck brace, followed by home exercises to increase range of motion. Massage and physical therapy are also often required to regain use of the neck and upper back. More severe neck injuries bring dizziness, headaches, tingling and burning sensations in the neck and sometimes shoulders, and they can also accompany memory loss, insomnia, and an inability to concentrate.
If the collision injuries fail to heal inside of a year, the patient’s prognosis is unknown: there’s no “cure” for spinal injuries, and it’s not known why some people heal and others do not. If the injuries continue and worsen, the victims often must find a pain management clinic, and also support for its tandem problems: sleep disorder, depression, chronic fatigue.
