The four phases of whiplash
Please drive carefully and with your full attention. Vehicle collisions are all too common. And while there are a variety of ways to get whiplash, vehicle accidents remain the most common. There are a variety of affects of whiplash or Whiplash-Associated Disorders. Whiplash is also know as Cervical Acceleration/ Deceleration Syndrome, or CADS.
We see whiplash cases in our health clinic and we can help with recovery. It can be understood to happen in four phases.
The first step of whiplash starts when the seat impacts the body. It begins acceleration of the body and an S curve begins in the cervical spine.
In phase two the neck hyperextends and the head hits the seat. In this phase the tissue in the front of the neck get injured.
In the third phase, the passenger rebounds from the seat and moves forward. The head accelerates forward too.
In the fourth phase, and possibly the most damaging phase, the seatbelt restrains the body. But the head keeps moving forward and the neck is forced into hyperflexion. This phase injures the tissue on the back of the neck.
