A lawyer with whiplash

Abstract

Emma K was a 38-year-old woman who was referred to physiotherapy by her general practitioner (GP) for management of neck pain as a result of a motor vehicle crash 10 days earlier. She had no previous history of neck pain or headache. Emma was a partner in a law practice and worked full time. She was involved in various fields of law, but her predominant work was in wills and conveyancing. She was married with two children (aged 11 and 9 years). Ten days earlier, after dropping the children off at school on her way to work, she was stationary at red lights. She heard screeching of brakes the instant before her car was hit from the rear. She felt the jolt and immediately had a sudden twinge of pain in her neck. Her car had been hit directly in the rear, and the bumper bar and boot had crushed. The police attended the accident, her car was towed to a repair shop and the police advised her to have her neck checked as a precaution. Emma felt that her neck was not too bad, so she caught a taxi to work. However, during the day, her neck pain increased progressively, and by the day’s end, a headache had developed. She went home, took two Nurofen (over-the-counter anti-inflammatory) and went to bed early