How To "Save Your Neck!"

As many of you probably know, my specialty over the years has been in treating those injured in car crashes.  In other words, my partners and I treat a lot of Whiplash Injuries.

I got to thinking about one of the best ways to help those of you who have not experienced such an injury would be to tell you how to prevent / reduce your risk of injury. 

The greatest number of injuries occur when your vehicle is rear-ended.  This is because about 50% of the time you don’t see the car coming at you and your reflexes don’t have time to react and you end up with significant injuries.

So the first step of prevention is to keep an eye on those cars behind you especially if you have to brake hard.  Just being aware of the injury statistically reduces your chance of injury and the severity of your injury. 

If you do happen to see a car that is likely going to hit you, the best position to be in is looking straight ahead to slightly upwards.

Also, push your head back against the headrest.  This will minimize the movement of your head and neck and reduce your chance of injury.  It will also reduce your severity of injury.

So, what can you do to reduce your chance of injury if you don’t see the vehicle coming at you?

Well, the most important thing you can do is to adjust the headrest so that the top of it is about the same height as the top of your head.  It is better to have it too high then too low.

The next most important thing is to adjust the seat so that you are sitting up with your head within an inch of the headrest (as little space as possible).  The closer your head is to the headrest at the time of the crash, the less of an injury you will experience.

That means it is not healthy to drive around with the seat reclined back and your head leaning forward. 

This simple act of adjusting the headrest height and the angle of the seat so that the headrest is close to the back of the head will significantly reduce your chance of injury.  Research even shows that a failure to adjust your headrest to the proper height can actually make you injure yourself worse because your head gets stretched over the headrest instead of the headrest restraining the excessive motion of the head and neck.

Take a few minutes TODAY and adjust the headrest in your car.  Then make sure if you have kids who drive that they have their seat and headrest in the proper position to reduce their chances of being injured. 

If this advice helps just one person, then it is all worth it.  Thanks for your time and remember my partners and I are always here for you with our three offices of Chipley Chiropractic to help you should you need us. 

 

Yours in Good Health, 

Dr. Julian Chipley