What structures are damaged in whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury to your neck. It is caused by your neck bending forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa. The injury, which is poorly understood, usually involves the muscles, discs, nerves, and tendons in your neck.

What is paravertebral soft tissue swelling?

Objective: Prevertebral soft tissue swelling (PVSTS) is an important marker of spinal trauma. In patients with missed or occult cervical fractures, it may be the only indication of serious injury.

Can cervical spondylosis be caused by whiplash?

Patients who sustain a whiplash injury in their third decade and undergo radiography ten years later show a level of cervical spondylosis which is typical of necks 15 years older.

Which neck muscles are involved in whiplash?

Muscle spasms in the posterior cervical spine (back of the neck), anterior cervical spine (front of the neck), or in the trapezius muscles (back of the shoulders)

What happens to tissue when whiplash occurs?

Whiplash occurs when the muscles in your neck suffer a strain because of a rapid movement backward and then forward. The sudden motion causes your neck’s tendons and ligaments to stretch and tear.

Can you get nerve damage from whiplash?

The common condition of whiplash can even involve nerve damage near the head and the neck, or a severe enough laceration can damage nerves near the injury. The blunt force trauma associated with impact can also lead to a compressed nerve, or a sprain in the neck that pinches surrounding nerves.

What causes prevertebral soft tissue swelling?

Causes of increased PVST thickness include infection, neoplasm, hemorrhage, and fluid accumulation. In the setting of trauma, severe potentially incapacitating injuries to the cervical spine can present with PVST thickening as the only radiographic sign.

What is the prevertebral soft tissue?

The perivertebral space is a cylinder of soft tissue lying posterior to the retropharyngeal space and danger space surrounded by the prevertebral layer of the deep cervical fascia and extends from the skull base to the upper mediastinum.

Can you get permanent damage from whiplash?

Also known as a cervical acceleration-deceleration injury (CAD), whiplash is very common in auto accidents. Depending on how powerful the crash was, a whiplash injury can even lead to permanent disability that will require near-constant treatment for both pain and mobility issues.