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Whiplash is a neck injury that is caused by a sudden jerk. The strong stress created in the cervical spine gives a valiant motion to the neck unpredictably. It causes an impulsive move to the front and back, damaging soft tissues like nerves, tendons, discs, and muscles. It is very common in rear-end collisions, different sportive events, personal assault, and slip and fall cases. The whiplash injury causes various symptoms like neck pain, irritability, neck stiffness, sleeplessness, tiredness, and so on. Whiplash injury is diagnosed through MRI, CT scan, and X-ray.
The treatment for whiplash depends on the patient’s condition. Whiplash treatment can be physical therapy, home remedies, mild exercises, and anti-irritable properties like turmeric paste, pomegranate, and pineapple. If the treatment for whiplash gives no positive contribution to the patient’s health, the individual needs to contact the health care provider.
All the same, the cause of whiplash injury is known to be the other party’s negligence, who can sue for a whiplash injury settlement. The claim includes the sum of money incurred for diagnosis, present and future whiplash treatment, emotional distress, and the whiplash attorney fee. Before making a deep dive into the whiplash treatment, let us understand a few common facts about whiplash injury.
What is Whiplash injury?
Oxford Learners Dictionary explicates whiplash injury in medical terms as “a neck injury caused when your head moves forward and back suddenly, especially in a car accident.” In other words, 5 facts about the treatment for whiplash injury expound on whiplash as a kind of whip-like gesticulation that overstretches the intersections, ligaments of the neck, and the upper neck.
The US health care survey suggests that 20 million to 25 million Americans fall prey to whiplash injury every year. There are 10 million people who go for whiplash treatment (minor and major). It is very high in older persons. Since the connection between whiplash injury and car accidents is closer, the insurance company pays the settlement to the affected person.
Rear-end collision and whiplash injury: a factual experiment
There is a governmental experiment conducted in America on the impact of low rear-end accidents on whiplash injuries. They have conducted 17 vehicle rear-end collisions and three bumper car collisions. All the cars are made in the same American model. This is conducted with ages 10-15, 15-25, and 26-38. They included both men and women. The collision took place for 4 to 5 weeks. The collision’s speed is 10 to 15k/h.
After each clash, they took MRI, and CT scans to make sure that the rear-end collision impacted whiplash injury. The outcome of the experiment showed that none but one was affected with minor whiplash injuries. The final suggestion is that the higher the speed, the greater the impact on necks. The settlement claim for whiplash injury in the rear-end collision is above 15k/h, though the exception is bound to occur regarding the age factor.
Whiplash injury causes
Whiplash injury occurs when unpredictable occurrences bring grave impact to the neck with a forward and backward movement. Since there is greater damage done to the soft tissues around the neck, it is also known as soft tissue injuries in the neck. Whiplash is ultimately caused by damage to tendons, ligaments, nerves, and neck muscles. The root cause of all the damage to the soft tissue, neck, and spine is caused by some external elements that play a major role in whiplash injury. Whiplash injury occurs in the following cases.
- Rear-end automobile collision
- Sports injuries involving neck and head
- Personal assault
- Bumper crash
- While applying unprecedented break
- Slip and fall
- Wrong physical therapy on the neck
- Sleeping disorder
- Quick faulty move, and so on
Though there are many causes of the whiplash injury, we consider only a few to be the causes of neck injury. Rear-end automobile collisions or automobile accidents are widely spoken about because they come to play for recovery and settlement. This, in turn, helps the patient to get proper treatment for whiplash and future assistance.
Whiplash injury symptoms
Whiplash injury symptoms will be a signal given to the recipient for further action. The symptoms emerge gradually, creating excruciating pain in the parts around the neck. The whiplash symptoms are as follows.
- Accelerating numbness to the neck spinal nerve roots
- Neck stiffness and pain
- Headache from the skull point
- Neck instability
- Sleep disturbances and non-motion in the neck part
- Difficulty in neck rotation
- Shoulder pain leading to upper back stress
- Throbbing sensation and fatigue
- Soreness around the spine and the neck
- Depression and mental distress
- Constant buzz in the ear
- Tension in chewing and swallowing
- Irritation in the eyes
- Issues in concentration
These are the few symptoms that occur after a few hours of whiplash injury. The complicated cases can have whiplash symptoms after a few days. While the treatment for whiplash you attend a doctor, you need to be open-minded and positive enough in explaining all the symptoms to the health care provider or chiropractor. They can assist you with the right articulation of all the whiplash symptoms.
Whiplash injury Diagnosis
Whiplash diagnosis is not very easy for the fresher. It is easy for those experienced chiropractors and physical therapists. Physical eyes may not give fuller proof of the injured person at a glance, so the doctors go for imaging tests such as MRI, CT-scan, and X-ray to verify the seriousness of the injury. Experienced doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapists will diagnose whiplash injury by normal imaging with bear eyes and specific touch.
Complicated whiplash injury throbs pain in and around the neck leading to shoulder, arms, and jawbone demands MRI or CT-Scan. MRI scan works with radio waves and offers the viewer a clear picture of the injured part in a 3D format. It is colossal clear in all ankles, disclosing no more doubts to the medical care provider. MRI scans can help the doctor identify even the minute soft tissue damage and the provoked injury in the spinal cord. CT scan gives a clear illustration of bone impairment. X-rays can help out to know the minor cracks in the whiplash peripherally.
How to treat whiplash?
The common remedies are self-care for minor whiplash treatments. The home remedies for whiplash or the whiplash natural remedies comprise icing the affected part, and if needed, little left and right, front and back stretching will help one identify the gravity of the whiplash injury. If the damage is so grave, the treatment for whiplash needs to be done by chiropractors, medical doctors, and physical therapists.
There are three main objectives for the whiplash treatment. They comprise pain reduction, movement, and normalcy of life as it was ever. Doctors’ treatment for whiplash injury includes complete inaction of the injured part, ice sponge, immediate pain relievers, administration of antidepressant drugs for soft tissue normalization, and sleeping pills for total relaxation.
Once the treatment for whiplash prescribed by the doctor starts responding pessimistically, they may suggest a little warm-up exercise around the neck area. The warm-up exercises include neck rotation, gradual nodding of front and back, slight bend on its left and right, eyeball rotation, and shoulder rolling. If all the suggested remedies for whiplash treatment do not provide any positive outcome, they may reconsider their treatment process.
- Outcome-oriented treatment for whiplash
The outcome-oriented cure for whiplash is nontraditional but result-fetching. They include massage, mind-body unification, acupuncture, and chiropractic assured care. Chiropractors use joint influence methods to treat whiplash injuries. Mind-body unification is a trending treatment for whiplash. Most people in the US started using whiplash yoga to relieve pain and emotional distress, and it can also be used as a mild whiplash treatment.
Yoga and dhamma are two different mind unification techniques to give a true placebo to the human brain through meditation, and a positive vibe, ultimately curing the whiplash and associated injuries. Acupuncture uses some needles to probe the soft tissues to respond to the movement of the neck. All these techniques are partially successful in providing better health to the neck. People at large have moved from visiting hospitals to small clinics for whiplash treatment.
- Corporeal treatment for whiplash
Physical therapy is a well-known system to provide treatment for whiplash. They include both physical exercises cum stimulants to activate the nervous system. The nerve activation will be treated by varied motion exercises around the neck parts like front and backbend and neck rotation both clockwise and anticlockwise. This treatment for whiplash injury gives long-lasting care and support.
- Cervical Collar
Very from the beginning, the treatment for whiplash has been a cervical collar. The trending treatment for whiplash has given new techniques and methods, providing a lesser prescription for the cervical collar. The cervical collar reduces pain relief, but keeping it for a longer period will have repercussions on the injury. It is positive in keeping up with the non-motion of the neck. However, it is pejorative as it provides stiffness and stress to the soft tissues. In today’s context, apart from pain relief for a day or two, the treatment for whiplash cervical collars is not suggested by doctors and therapists. 
Whiplash injury settlement
The financial claim for the injury is substantial because the pain and agony are unbearable. Minor whiplash can be curable and ranges from 2-6 weeks. The damage needs to be compensated. The expenses caused by the whiplash are too costly for the victim to manage. Therefore, the principal treatment for whiplash needs assistance from the other party to avoid a financial burden.
The recuperation time for a significant injury will be too long, so the claim can assist the victim in leading a happy and comfortable life despite all the odds. Rear-end collision creating whiplash injury is, at times, the negligence of the other party. Even the slip and fall on other premises, creating whiplash injury too, is the negligence of the premise owner. All these can be a kind of negligence tort caused by the other, so the injured can knock on the court’s door for the whiplash injury settlement.
Heidari law group explains that minor whiplash can fetch you $10 000 to $100,000. If the whiplash injury is severe and permanent, can, with proof (others’ negligence caused the damage, treatment for whiplash medical bills, future action plan for a decent living, and job loss), claim $1 million to $5 million. Suppose you are affected by a car accident and have terrible whiplash. In that case, you can get true assistance from a personal injury attorney on a contingency fee basis for getting the entire settlement.
Conclusion
Whiplash symptoms generally emerge from rear-end collisions or car accidents. They can be life-altering at times. Sometimes, they can be minor and can get away within a few weeks. The life-altering whiplash symptoms (leading to the neck or spinal cord fracture) can throb you with unbearable pain. This type of whiplash needs immediate care and thumping medication. Both the whiplash injuries can be sued for settlement. Complaint to the court needs all the proof for the right verdict. You may require a whiplash injury attorney with a contingency fee acceptance to carry on with the entire case. They then sue on your behalf to get the whiplash injury settlement.
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1/5 What do you mean by a whiplash injury?
A neck injury that can occur when the head suddenly moves backward and then forward#treatmentforwhiplash #whiplash #whiplashinjury #medlegal360 pic.twitter.com/iguLqlnuOF— MedLegal360.com (@medlegal360) November 16, 2022
