Headrest and whiplash.

Whiplash – A moment of your time, please.

That headrest in your car isn’t for resting your weary noggin while driving. It is an important yet overlooked part of your car’s safety systems – your safety! A Canadian study revealed that only 14% of drivers had their headrests in the proper position. Adjusting vehicle headrests, can help prevent the pain of whiplash.

Experts say there are two measurements – vertical and horizontal or, in other words, how high your headrest is and how far from the back of your head (backset).

If the top of the headrest is higher than your ear, your rating is good. If the top of the headrest is between the top and bottom of your ear the rating is marginal and poor if below the ear. The accepted good rating for proper backset is two to four inches; if the distance was more than half the width of the head, the position is rated as poor.

Mild to moderate whiplash injuries result in neck, joint pain and loss of movement. Symptoms may also include headaches, deafness, memory loss, dizziness and difficulty swallowing. Injuries at this level respond very well to chiropractic therapy. A severe whiplash with fracture and dislocation can lead to permanent injury and may be lethal.

Taking that extra minute to properly adjust your headrest may mean the difference between walking away from an accident of living with the pain and disruption of whiplash. A little prevention can go a long way!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Body Mass Index

Image
Source: http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01320/aaaabmi-chart-for-_1320321a.jpg  The body mass index is an advance from the older and less meaningful height and weight charts. And is the current tool used by health and insurance agencies to assess body weight and degree of obesity. However, it does not allow for individual variation of muscle mass and bone structure.    Click on image for better view http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01323/lf-jockology-obesi_1323094a.jpg Although body mass index (BMI) has been adopted by WHO as an international measure of obesity, it lacks a theoretical basis, and empirical evidence suggests it is not valid for all populations.1 The body mass index (BMI) does not accurately represent the amount of [body] fat,"2 The BMI has been around since the 1840s, but it has a number of weaknesses. Firstly, it doesn't give a real estimate of percentage body fat. Secondly, the BMI can be quite differen
Read more

Beat Gluttony with Gullibility

Beat Gluttony with Gullibility Eating-behavior expert Brian Wansink ​ offers tips on fooling yourself into eating less. Katherine Harmon reports Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. And visual perception plays a big fat role in eating—often without our realizing it. So says Brian Wansink , a professor of consumer behavior and nutritional science at Cornell. His research has shown that people eat more when their food is served on larger dishes. Because lots of folks use an empty plate—rather than a full stomach—as a cue to put down their fork. Wansink reviewed his findings last week at the American Psychological Association meeting in Washington. In one experiment, he had unsuspecting subjects eat soup from bowls that continually refilled from the bottom. And volunteers who unknowingly ate from these bowls consumed on average 73 percent more soup than those who had had a finite supply. But both groups thought they had eaten about the same amount. Wansink’s advice i
Read more

What Science Says You Should Eat

Image
   What Does Science Say You Should Eat? By Brad Lemley, Photography by Dan Winters   From Discover Magazine, February 2004 issue , http://discovermagazine.com/2004/feb/science-diet/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C= Most diets aren't realistic or advisable, including the U.S. agriculture department's famous food pyramid. Instead, a Harvard scientist recommends a new way of eating based on the world's largest and longest food study. America clearly needs dietary guidance.   More than 44 million people are clinically obese compared with 30 million a decade ago, putting them at increased risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and breast, prostate, and colon cancers. In the meantime, the noun diet seems to attract a different adjective every week, including Atkins, Ornish, Cooper, grapefruit, rice, protein, Scarsdale, South Beach, Beverly Hills, Best Chance, Eat Smart, and Miracle, not to mention Help, I’m Southern and I Can’t Stop Eating.
Read more