A study completed at Yale University (1) has placed the spotlight on turned head whiplash injury. Most of the research and simulation that has been completed on whiplash has been done with cadavers facing forward. This makes sense considering most people do sit upright and facing the front of their vehicle when driving or riding in the passenger or back seat. Yet, there are many small instances where you turn your head from side to side or even to the rear of the vehicle when driving. Passengers are even more likely to be doing other things that require twisting, turning, or even lying down.
Researchers at Yale University have finally satisfied the curiosity of many professionals by doing research that compared the whiplash sustained in cadavers facing forward with that of cadavers with a turned head. It turns out turned head whiplash is quite different from whiplash sustained in a straight, forward facing position.
Turned Head = Possibility of More Injury
The results of this study are actually quite shocking because they showed that the damage suffered with turned head whiplash varied from straight head whiplash in all of these ways:
- More pain
- Increased interference with daily life
- Lengthened period of injury
- Reduced neck mobility
Yes, you are reading that correctly! Turned head whiplash was shown to result in more pain which interfered more with daily life and lasted much longer. It is amazing how much worse whiplash can be simply by having your head rotated to the side or backward at the time you have an accident.
What it Means for You
This research is actually quite eye-opening when you combine the findings with statistics about car accidents today:
- Close to 20% of all car accidents in 2008 were caused by a distracted driver.
- Close to 6,000 people were killed in those distracted driver accidents.
- Over half a million people were injured in those distracted driver accidents.
That is a lot of people injured and killed in one year simply because someone decided to respond to a text message, change the radio station, or carry on a phone conversation while driving down the road. This number could be even higher considering many accidents caused by a distracted driver are never reported as such because it can’t be proven that the driver was distracted at the time of the accident.
The alarming number of people injured in these accidents shouldn’t be so shocking now that you understand that turned head whiplash injury is much worse then whiplash sustained with the head pointing straight ahead. When you are sending a text message or doing other things that distract your driving you are also more likely to have your head bent in one direction or another.
This means you are putting yourself at far more risk than you ever imagined when you do anything that distracts your attention from the road. If you are looking down at your cell phone or leaning over to change the station on the radio you are turning your head. If someone hits you from behind or the side while in that position you are more likely to experience chronic whiplash and it could hurt a lot more and last a lot longer than it would have if you were sitting upright paying attention to the road ahead.
Keep your Eyes on the Road
This study at Yale has shed light on just one more reason to keep your attention on the road rather than your cell phone, passengers in the vehicle, or the radio station. A simple turn of the head could make all the difference between a short term bout of whiplash that goes away within weeks and a chronic case of whiplash pain that lasts for months if not years to come.
This article is considered general information only; please consult a medical professional concerning your specific condition.
1. “Whiplash injury much more severe when head is turned” Yale University (published 13/03/2006) |
Related posts:
- Cell Phone Ban in an Effort to Reduce Car Accidents in BC
- Dizziness or Vertigo After a Car Accident: Could Whiplash be the Culprit?
- Lower Back Pain After a Car Accident: It Could be Related to Whiplash
- Chronic Whiplash from Car Accidents – Are You at Greater Risk?
- A Turned Head Could Increase Risk of Whiplash