Accident & injury glossary.

The terms you will hear from your doctor, your attorney, and the insurance carrier after a crash, explained without jargon.

Whiplash

A neck injury caused by rapid back-and-forth motion of the head, most commonly from a rear-end car crash. Damages the soft tissues, joints, and discs of the cervical spine.

Whiplash-Associated Disorder (WAD)

The clinical name for whiplash and its symptom set. Graded I through IV based on severity, from neck pain only to fracture or neurological loss.

Cervicogenic headache

A headache that originates in the upper cervical spine (C1 to C3) and refers pain into the head. The most common headache type after a car accident.

Concussion

A mild traumatic brain injury caused by the brain moving inside the skull. A direct head impact is not required; acceleration and deceleration alone can cause one.

Post-concussion syndrome

Persistence of concussion symptoms (headache, dizziness, brain fog, sleep changes) beyond 4 weeks. Often driven as much by cervical and vestibular injury as by brain injury.

Disc bulge

A spinal disc that protrudes outward while the outer ring stays intact. Less severe than a herniation; often asymptomatic.

Disc herniation

A torn outer ring with inner disc material leaking outward. More likely to press on a nerve root and cause radiating pain, numbness, or weakness.

Radiculopathy

Nerve root irritation causing pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in a specific distribution. Sciatica is one form.

Sciatica

Pain following the sciatic nerve from the lower back into the buttock and down the leg. Usually caused by a lumbar disc or piriformis irritation.

MedPay

Medical Payments coverage on an auto policy. Pays medical bills for the policyholder and passengers regardless of fault, typically $1,000 to $10,000.

Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

No-fault auto insurance available in some states that pays medical bills and lost wages after a crash.

Third-party claim

A claim made against the at-fault driver's auto insurance carrier, rather than your own.

Letter of Protection (LOP)

A written agreement where a medical provider agrees to wait for payment until the patient's personal injury case settles. Common in attorney-represented cases.

MIST claim

Minor Impact Soft Tissue claim. Insurance carrier label for low-speed crashes with soft-tissue injuries; often disputed despite genuine injury.

Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)

The point where a patient's condition has stabilized and further treatment is not expected to produce additional improvement. Used in claim settlement and impairment ratings.

Narrative report

A detailed written summary of injuries, treatment, and prognosis prepared for an attorney or insurance carrier. More comprehensive than a standard chart note.

Range of motion (ROM)

The measured degree of movement at a joint. Baseline ROM and follow-up ROM are key objective findings in personal injury documentation.

Orthopedic test

A physical-exam maneuver designed to reproduce or rule in specific injuries. Examples: Spurling's test for cervical radiculopathy, straight-leg raise for sciatica.

Spinal decompression

A non-surgical traction-based treatment that gently separates vertebrae to reduce pressure on discs and nerve roots.

Soft-tissue injury

Damage to muscle, tendon, ligament, or fascia. Does not show on X-ray; may show on MRI in severe cases.

Imaging gap

The delay between a crash and the first imaging study. A long gap can be used by adjusters to question whether an injury is crash-related.

Gap in care

A period during active treatment where the patient stops attending. Insurance carriers use gaps in care to argue the injury was minor or healed.