What are the Effects of Whiplash?

@aishia - Don't worry, whiplash can't paralyze you. Any injury that would have damaged your neck enough to paralyze you would have happened during the incident that led to whiplash, not afterward as the whiplash developed. I know it can be especially scary and freaky to have your neck swell up and feel horribly painful, but this is just your body's reaction to being injured, not new injury.

My sister once got whiplash after being the passenger in one of two cars involved in an accident. We are twins, and you know I never bought any of those theories about twins feeling each other's pain or injuring each other at the same time until the next week...when I, too, got whiplash.

You don't just go out and get into a chance car accident out of sympathy, so it's not like I did it on purpose to match my twin. I honestly don't know how it happened, but it did. At least we were both cheered during our recoveries knowing what the other was going through.

@Domido - I would demand to be treated seriously for any condition that can cause long term health problems, and whiplash is in fact one of those conditions. Whiplash pain is pretty awful -- and I can say that from experience, too -- and for those with anxiety, you may worry that you have somehow injured your spinal cord and could end up paralyzed.

I know I worried about this. Neck and back injuries are serious business, and I will always go to the doctor rather than leave one alone. It's just too scary to imagine being paralyzed just for ignoring warning signs from what seems like a very uncomfortable but relatively harmless condition.

@mabeT - Wow, sounds like these unnamed individuals really wanted that compensation claim check. It also sounds a bit like a few comedy routines I've seen -- I guess it's true that art imitates life!

Whiplash does not sound at all fun, and I think if you had it it would be clear to see on your face hat it was painful just to move or stand for a long time. I wonder if they just threw on neck braces and threw the word "whiplash" around or actually looked up the condition and tried to act like they were really hurt?

@Domido - Yeah, I know what you mean. I think what mabeT described might also be part of why doctors shrug off whiplash -- people often exaggerate and say they have it to try and garner sympathy from a court and win a case to sue the other person involved in the accident.

That makes it lousy for the poor people who actually do get whiplash, though, because suspicious people could treat them like they're faking...

Personally, I think the words "mild brain injury" in this article are particularly scary. Whiplash moves your neck so hard it slaps your brain around in your skull and people shrug it off as nothing serious? What's the world coming to?

I shall not say who I am speaking of exactly, although this was a long time ago. But let’s just say that I might have known some people who falsified some insurance claims.

I was just a kid at the time, and I had no idea what was going on. (What can I say? I’ve lived a colorful life.)

These folks were legitimately in a car accident. Never mind that the whole dog gone thing was staged; they really were in an accident even if it was planned out to a tee.

They all did the whole emergency room visit thing. Everyone came home and seemed fine to me. You could say they were cheerful even.

That is until they all had to go to court a little bit down the road. You’ve never seen so many neck braces, canes and slings come out of nowhere in your entire life! Everybody was hobbling and looking all pitiful.

It seems someone at court should have realized that most folks don’t keep whiplash for weeks, but I’m thinking maybe the judge got a slice of the pie, too.

I’ve always got the impression that people don’t take whiplash injury very seriously; it’s almost like they think you’re good to go if you get in a car accident and walk away with whiplash.

I’m here to say that that mess hurts. I was in a wreck where my car was rear ended and pushed into the car in front of me. I felt fine at the scene, but you better believe I was feeling the pain a few hours later.

I was told I only had whiplash, and that made me want to attack the doctor who informed me it was ‘only’ a whiplash injury and nothing major.

Don’t get me wrong; I was and still am thankful there was nothing more serious up.

However, it was more than a little irritating for my condition to be made light of when my head felt like it was going to explode, I couldn’t turn my head and my back felt like someone had beat me with their size thirty stiletto, steal toe boots.

Whiplash is a painful thing, I must say.