What is a Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD)?

➢ A whiplash is an acceleration-deceleration injury to the head and neck combined with its collection of symptoms that are affecting the neck that are caused by the accident.
➢ The cause of whiplash is an acceleration-deceleration of the head and neck relative to the body, usually resulting from vehicular collision but also possible in contact or high-speed sports.
➢ A contributing factor to the accident itself may be active trigger points (“knots”) of one of the neck muscles. These result in dizziness when a person rotates his head quickly, as when making a s houlder check while driving. This dizziness can be dangerous as it may cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
➢ More severe and long-lasting symptoms result from rear-impact collisions than from front or side impact.