A whiplash injury occurs when the head and neck are suddenly impacted by rapid force and pressure causing them to move backward and forwards. The snapping action is called whiplash because it resembles the action of cracking a whip; it is a fast and forceful event. A typical whiplash injury occurs to occupants of a vehicle when struck from behind in a car or other motor vehicle accident. Their heads and necks move sharply backward then snap forward in an uncontrolled way. The force of the event damages the bones, soft tissues, ligaments, and tendons in the neck or cervical spine.
Whiplash injuries cause swelling, pain, and could involve internal damage including fractures, strains, sprains, and spinal injury. One important thing to remember is that the true extent and scope of the injury may not show for some period of time. For some victims, the effects are sudden and immediate; some people don’t see the full effects of their injuries for weeks after the event or longer.
Damaged Nerve Roots Caused by Whiplash in Car Accidents
A frequent result of whiplash is an injury to the nerves as they emerge from the spine. Shifts in the bones and spaces of the spinal column can compress nerve roots. Compressed nerve roots can cause symptoms to appear in other parts of the body along the pathway of the nerves affected by the neck injury.
Whiplash injuries cause pain and limitations. The most common types of symptoms are pains both in the neck and in parts of the body affected by damaged nerves and compressed nerve roots.
Such injuries result from accidents between vehicles, chain collisions and high impact crashes. For example, whiplash injury can result in a car accident between two cars or even one car and one motorcycle. The scenarios can vary but they have certain factors including high pressure and forceful impacts which lead to such painful injuries.
Signs & Symptoms of Whiplash Accident Injuries
Many whiplash victims have pain in the neck area but also to other areas of the body. Symptoms of whiplash injury include the below-listed conditions.
- Reduced range of movement and stiffness.
- Pain, weakness, numbing, or tingling sensations that radiate along one or both sides of the body.
- Headaches, muscle aches, and chronic soreness in the neck area.
The cervical spine is a delicate part of the human anatomy, and virtually everything that we do involves the head and neck. Sitting, standing, walking, interacting with the world around us requires stable support and easy motion in the neck area. Whiplash injuries can deprive us of the pain-free mobility we need to function. If you or a loved one has been injured by the carelessness of others, then you should call our law firm; we specialize in representing clients seek the compensation they deserve for their whiplash injuries which were the result of another’s negligence or recklessness.
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