The Three Phases of Recovery from Whiplash

Recovery time is dependant upon a number of factors such as the severity of the injury, the patient’s general state of health and how well they look after themselves during the healing process but, generally speaking, recovery should occur within 6 months of the accident.

There are three phases of healing:-

The Inflammatory Phase – Where bleeding caused by the stretching and tearing of the damaged soft tissues that support the spine gradually develops. This often causes an increase in the pain and swelling over the first 72 hours. The Repair and Regeneration Phase – Where the body tries to mend damaged areas by forming scar tissue at the site of the injury. This phase takes around 6-8 weeks to complete. The Remodelling Phase – This phase can take up to 12 months or even longer to accomplish as the body attempts to rearrange the scar tissue to more closely resemble the original tissue. It takes a full 12 months for scar tissue to fully develop and after this time its tensile strength is only ever likely to be 50% to 70% of the range of the original tissue. This means that the healed areas will be much weaker and more likely to suffer stiffness, spasm, chronic pain and re-injury.

Treatment throughout the three phases of recovery will maximize the healing of damaged tissue, help reduce pain and spasm and lower the risk of chronic pain and dysfunction in the future.

If you have suffered a whiplash injury in an accident that was not your fault you should contact Macks Solicitors on Freephone 0800 652 4321 or complete the Quick Claim form on the website and one of Macks Specialist Personal Injury Lawyers will contact you.

Macks Solicitors will not only pursue a claim for compensation for your physical and psychological suffering and any financial losses but will arrange for any treatment that is necessary to aid your recovery.

Exercises that may Help Whiplash Sufferers

The following exercises may help relieve pain and reduce stiffness in the neck.

• Stand with your back against a wall and move your eyes from the 2 o’clock position to the 4 then 8 and finally the 10 o’clock position. Repeat this a few times to exercise the deep muscles in the back of the head.

Move forward away from the wall a step or two.

• Face forward and look straight ahead. Bend your head forward as if taking a bow before returning to your original position facing forward.
• Draw your chin in towards your neck and slowly and carefully bend your head forward before returning to the start position. Then, bend the head backwards so that you are looking at the ceiling. Return to the start position and repeat both movements a few times.
• Tilt the head sideways so that your left ear is near the left shoulder, return to start position and tilt to the other side. Try to keep your eyes on a point at eye level throughout.
• Turn the head as if trying to glance over your shoulder and then repeat looking over the other shoulder keeping your head as level as possible.

Exercises using a soft ball or beach ball.

• Place the ball against your forehead and a wall and try to move it around in circular or figure of eight movements.
• Repeat the exercise but using the back of the head.