It's really important here to understand that there is a thing that happens to our ligaments in these types of hyperflexion and hyperextension injuries, and it's called ligament laxity. And what that means is that the ligament is stretched out of its normal shape, and it never ever ever goes back to its regular shape. When this happens to us in a whiplash type injury, the ligament can no longer hold our head up like it should. As a result of that our muscles take over and try to hold the head up where the ligaments would do it before because that is taxing to our muscles. That's why we get aching necks and pain. That is constant because our muscles are working overtime, trying to take over the job of the now stretched ligaments. Being directly in the path of the collision, the driver is at severe risk. Immediate force can result in mulƟple fractures, including rib, pelvis, and limb fractures. There's a significant concern for internal injuries to organs such as the heart, lungs, and spleen due to the force and proximity of the impact. Head Impact: Due to the sideways force, the driver's head might be thrust towards the driver's side window or A-pillar, potenƟally leading to concussions or other head injuries. This can cause a brain bleed, which is extremely serious because the brain does not heal like other tissue heals. If there is a brain bleed, there is no place for the swelling of the blood to go. The body simply reabsorbs the blood but when that happens in the brain, it leaves hole in the brain like Swiss cheese. That's why there's often a loss of consciousness and for a lengthy period after the wreck, we have mental fogginess, forgetfulness, and headaches.
Also, this type of impact either with a steering wheel or with a full-frontal impact of the airbag deployment can cause a condition called temporomandibular joint syndrome. Now let's talk a minute about what that is. Temporomandibular joint syndrome is an irregularity or inflammation or an injury to your temporomandibular joint.
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