Is it possible for a person to get injured in a car crash even when the vehicle doesn’t sustain any damage? Even if the answer is yes, auto insurance providers, for the benefit of the shareholders, do not agree with the fact. Most of them argue that as the body of the car is visibly intact, there is no way you could have been injured. This is just a generalization, but most people who’ve been involved in an accident agree that auto insurers often come up with ‘weird’ reasons just to avoid paying a claim. Such cases are tough to fight, and unfortunately, leave many victims high and dry to deal with the suffering of permanent injuries. According to car accident doctors, more than 300,000 people suffer from debilitating pain owing to auto accident injuries. Such injuries may lead to disability and prolonged pain if you do not receive the right sort of care after a car crash.
Putting Theory into Practice
TJ Szabo and JB Welcher conducted a study titled “Human Subject Kinematics and Electromyographic Activity During Low Speed Rear Impacts” to investigate the effects of a car crash on the human frame. They used live test volunteers who were subjected to a series of 10 mph crashes. The test vehicles did not suffer any structural damage. High-speed sensors and cameras were used to record the entire incident and acceleration of the cervical and lumbar spine. Owing to variations regarding gender, weight, size, height, and build, the outcomes of the research showed how the cervical spine accelerated dramatically and experienced forces ranging from 6.6g to 17.2g through the neck. On the lumbar region, the acceleration force was anywhere between 3.9g to 7.5g. They also collected data regarding the production of acceleration before any muscle activity occurred, thereby proving that the motion was complete even before the protective muscles around the spinal cord and the spine could react and protect the body from harm.
What Does This Mean?
If a person happens to be aware of the accident beforehand, they might try to guard themselves and prepare for the impending impact, considerably decreasing the extent of the injury. However, during a real car crash, when a person gets rear-ended without any prior knowledge, the collision tends to cause a lot more damage. The muscles in the body are not strong enough to hold the head in position, thus leading to a whipping motion of the head. Such a powerful and sudden motion has the potential to cause tremendous damage to the ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Thus, in the aftermath of the crash, it is common to experience problems like neck and shoulder pain, jaw pain, and headaches. A victim sustains all these problems whereas the actual vehicle involved in the crash remains unharmed.
Extent of the Damage
Have you ever wondered why someone who’s drunk and behind the wheel often escapes mostly unhurt after a crash? The reason behind this is simple – more often than not, they’re the ones causing the accident. The entire trauma of the crash is absorbed by the car being hit. Car accident doctors who’ve been in business for years mention how they’ve seen drivers suffer unnecessarily from whiplash type injuries that have led to severe brain damage. Not many are aware of the fact that the average human head has the potential to accelerate more than 17 times the force of gravity, resulting in widespread permanent health problems.
When someone is involved in a serious accident, the force of the crash occurs within mere seconds, which is time enough to create a harsh brain injury and cause extreme damage to the essential organs of the body.
Detection of Injury
Brain injuries sustained from a vehicle collision can range from mild to severe in intensities. The less critical ones are not always evident and can escape detection by even the most trained doctors. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of brain injuries occurring due to auto accidents is close to almost 7 million annually. Thus, one out of every 40 citizens is susceptible to traumatic brain injury. However, many such injuries are often hard to diagnose which is why these are considered to be silent killers.
A rear-end collision is not very uncommon. The victims of such accidents mostly sustain minor to moderate physical damage and then experiencing various symptoms such as back pain, headaches, and neck pain. The only way to find out if a car crash victim has suffered more complex but apparently unnoticeable injuries is to visit car accident doctors immediately after the accident. These doctors are trained to handle the problem of auto injuries and are capable of spotting any traumatic injuries to your brain – whether mild or severe.
When a person receives a brain injury from a car accident, it is rather easy to understand. The human brain is soft, while the skull is extremely tough which makes the brain a lot more susceptible to damage. The brain basically sloshes around within the confines of the skull, and so when the head experiences a sudden, forceful impact, some axons end up getting sheared, which ultimately is responsible for brain damage. People who’ve received traumatic brain injuries tend to experience a loss of consciousness during the time of the car crash. They might even feel groggy or nauseous when they attempt to remember the details about the accident. No matter how minor an injury to the brain is, timely and proper treatment is necessary to prevent any permanent damage and long-term symptoms.
If you have been involved in an automobile crash, it is imperative that you care for your wellbeing and get in touch with a car accident doctor who is specially trained and experienced to detect this silent epidemic. If you receive proper care on time, it might prevent the health situation from deteriorating and help save your life in the long run.
How does your body sustain damage from a crash even when your car doesn’t?
