Share:

Key points to think about after a minor auto accident.  Hit from behind? Car slightly damaged and think you aren’t hurt?  These are 10 key points to understand after a accident. 

  1. 50% of whiplash patients reported chronic neck pain 15 years after the trauma.
  2. Even low impact rear-end collisions can injure and herniate the cervical disks.
  3. The most common site of whiplash disc injury is C5-C6.
  4. Whiplash trauma can accelerate disc degeneration, especially in the following 5 to 10 years following the trauma.
  5. Small tears in the anulus fibrosus can initiate the disc degeneration process.
  6. The anulus of the disk has pain nerve fibers which makes disc injury a plausible etiology of neck pain.
  7. Subfailure injuries to the disk can trigger a reflex arc leading to multifidus contraction and muscle spasm.
  8. The facet joint is the source of chronic whiplash pain in about 50% of whiplash patients.
  9. Anulus fibrosus injury can lead to disc degeneration, increased loading to the facet joints, and facet joint osteoarthritis.
  10. Whiplash disc injury can cause acute neck pain and muscle spasms, and lead to disc degeneration, facet osteoarthritis, and chronic neck pain.
tracking