A recent study revealed that occupants that have their head turned during a rear-end collision suffer greater injury than all other collisions.

Manohar et al. (2006) stated that “In a 5-year retrospective study of 11,000 patients with a cervical spine injury, 87.4% had soft tissue injuries…more than 25 of the patients. reported symptoms more than 5 years following whiplash” (p. 420).

The symptoms commonly encountered included cranial nerve irritation, neck, and upper extremity pain, restricted neck motion and paresthesia (numbness).

This study concluded that “Head-turned rear impact caused significantly greater injury [to the cervical spine], as compared to the head-forward rear and frontal impacts…” (Manohar et al., 2006, p.420).

Therefore, when taking a history on your whiplash patients, be sure to ask, “Were you looking straight ahead or was your head turned?” as this is a “significant risk factor (a circumstance that makes a situation worse),” it is vital to determine when eliciting a client’s history.

Reference:
Panjabi, M. M., Ivancic, P. C., Maak, T. G., Tominaga, Y., & Rubin, W. (2006). Multiplanar cervical spine injury due to head-turned rear impact. Spine, 31(4), 420-429.

Disc Centers of America works with disc cases all over the world. Only DCOA doctors are certified to utilize TDC Therapy. DCOA doctors receive ongoing training, research and are acknowledged by the International Medical Advisory Board on Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and the International Disc Education Association.

The medical information on this page is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions. © This copyrighted material is exclusive to DCOA. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.