Whiplash is a common occurrence in rear-end car collisions, and it doesn’t have to be a particularly violent crash. Low-speed fender benders can also be a source of long-term health issues with the spine and neck.
Unfortunately, 80 percent of vehicles on the road today either have improperly adjusted headrests or the headrests have been removed.
The reason this is so critical is that when a car is struck from behind, the seat springs forward in concert with the rest of the car because it’s bolted to the floor. The seat will surge forward against the person’s body, the weight of which will force the seat to bend backward. When the head is not properly supported, it is flung back over the seat. When the seat bends to the farthest point that it will go, it snaps forward, propelling the person’s torso forward, past the head. In essence, the head is forced to catch up with the rest of the body and is then whipped forward.
When the neck and spine are being violently propelled, snapped forward, hyper-extended, hyper-flexed call it what you will you can imagine it’s not a good thing. Whiplash briefly turns the spine into an “S” shape and vertebrae, which are supposed to slide over each other, push against and scrape each other in whiplash situations. All these events can cause tightness and pain in the upper spine, neck, and shoulders due to soft-tissue damage (injury to muscles, ligaments, and tendons), disc damage, nerve impingement, headaches, dizziness, irritability, blurred vision, and sleep disturbance.
If you experience a whiplash injury as a result of being rear-ended, you owe it to yourself to contact an accident injury attorney to safeguard your rights. We are here to be of service, please feel free to contact us.