Whiplash: symptoms, treatments and legal action
Whiplash accounts for 70% of compensation claims made following a road accident in the UK. This article outlines the condition and the next steps.
What is whiplash?
Whiplash occurs when the soft tissues of the neck and spine (the tendons, ligaments and muscles) are stretched and torn after a sudden movement or forceful jolt to the head or body.
During a road traffic accident, if the brakes have been applied suddenly or the car has been involved in a collision with another vehicle, the sudden jerk or jolt often causes the neck muscles to over-extend. This can occur at low speed and regardless of the angle at which the vehicle was hit.
What are the symptoms of whiplash?
Common symptoms of whiplash are restricted neck movement and neck pain, lower back pain and headaches.
Often these symptoms are accompanied by tingling sensations (“pins and needles”), heaviness in the limbs, pain in the arms and shoulders, muscle spasms, dizziness, blurred vision, memory loss, lack of concentration, tinnitus, sleep loss and depression.
Car crash
Symptoms usually develop within hours and may worsen in the days after the accident. As whiplash is a strain injury it is not unusual for the symptoms to last for a couple of months; between 5 and 10% of sufferers still experience symptoms a year later and have not returned to work within this time. Occasionally symptoms can persist for a number of years.
What is the best initial treatment for whiplash?
Current medical advice is to apply an ice pack, take painkillers (if advised by your GP) and to rest your neck for the first day or so. Thereafter, a sufferer should keep his or her neck moving as normal and to return to a typical routine. Advice from a GP or physiotherapist must be sought.
Many whiplash sufferers benefit from complementary therapies such as physiotherapy and osteopathy. Your doctor can advise whether or not a complementary therapy is available on the NHS.
Legal action
If you have suffered whiplash in a road accident, you may be entitled to claim compensation.
At Winston Solicitors we deal frequently with whiplash compensation claims. We typically achieve average compensation figures of £1500- £2500.
Please contact us on our freephone number 0800 0322210 and we will be happy to talk you through the process.
Alternatively, if you have any queries, comments or whiplash experiences, please feel free to leave a comment using the form below.
