whiplash

What is Whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury caused by a severe jerk to the head, typically in a motor vehicle accident. If you are in a car accident, your head may fly forward and then backward causing stress to your neck. This can cause whiplash symptoms.

Common Myths

Some people believe that you cannot get whiplash from low-speed crashes. This is a myth. Most whiplash injuries occur from the rear impacts of cars going less than 15 miles per hour. Your head will project forward at a much higher speed than the speed of the car's impact. Your back hitting the seat can increase the velocity of your head by more than 50% of that of the car.

​​​​​​​Another myth is that the worse your car is damaged, the worse your symptoms will be. This is not true. There is no correlation between damage to your car and your injuries. More than half of whiplash injuries occur with no significant vehicle damage.

​​​​​​​Home Exercises for Whiplash Pain

Below you can watch some videos from Dr. Wynia and Evan. Dr. Wynia is the Director of Physical Therapy at Brookdale Health and Evan is a Physical Therapist Assistant.