Whiplash is a common usage term for a host of neck injuries. These injuries often occur on the soft tissue in the neck and can be quite painful. Although whiplash can occur for any number of reasons, it is a common injury resulting from a car accident.
The reason whiplash frequently accompanies car accidents is due to the physics involved in an automobile crash. Often a vehicle is traveling at a certain rate of speed and the collision causes it to suddenly stop or slow. The impact propels a person’s body forward and then the snaps it back, causing the neck to experience severe extension and flexion. The reason the injury is called whiplash is because it resembles the cracking or lashing of a whip. When a person experiences whiplash, he or she is likely to sustain some degree of soft tissue damage in his or her neck.
Whiplash injuries are not often felt right away. Soft tissue damage differs from cuts or broken bones, the effects of which are immediately apparently. Soft tissue can swell and a person may not feel pain from the injury for hours or even days following the accident. For this reason, it is one of the most commonly misunderstood and discredited injuries. However, if you have ever experienced whiplash, you know that it can be extremely painful and debilitating. Fortunately, the symptoms usually disappear after a few weeks or months, though occasionally they can be permanent in nature.
If you have suffered a whiplash injury in an auto accident, you may be able to seek monetary damages from those responsible. Meet with the dedicated personal injury attorneys at Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez, Murphy & Walsh in Florida.