The number of accidents on roads has been increasing in the recent years and one of the most common injuries has been the whiplash where your neck region is affected. The depth of the injury is irrelevant to the severity of the accident. A minor whiplash injury normally fades away within a month with little medications whereas major whiplash injuries take its time up to even one year requiring a local hyperalgesia. The reason for the whiplash neck injury is due to the severe movement of your head and neck during the time of accident.
The Whiplash injury is categorized by the Quebec as follows:
Grade 0 Injury: You normally will not have many complaints about the neck
Grade 1 Injury: No visible injury is present while there is neck pain and stiffness
Grade 2 Injury: This involves the decreased movement in the neck region and tenderness with no obvious physical injury
Grade 3 Injury: Development of Neurological indications like lack of sensation in the neck, no tendon reflex and weakness in the neck region.
Grade 4 Injury: You will experience severe neck pain due to the disruption and fracture in the neck
These are classified according to the clinical anatomy for the purpose of compensating the whiplash payout. The scale by which the recovery is measured by the Quebec Task Force is as follows:
- 4 days for a Grade 1 injury
- 4-21 days for a Grade 2 injury
- 22-45 days for a Grade 3 injury
- 46-180 days for a chronic Grade 4 injury
The Issue of Hyper extension
Some of the vehicles were provided with head protection to prevent whiplash injuries as studies showed that severe whiplash injuries were related to the hyper-extension of the neck region. But these head restraints did not decrease the number of whiplash injuries. Hence it is believed that possibly the injury is caused by the early stage of the motion itself and one of the factors involved could be the hyper-extension of the neck region.
Claiming for the whiplash payout is also very common and this can be done only when you are not responsible for the accident. The payout takes care of your medical bills, your car repair, your lost salary, and replacement of your car in case it is a rented one.