What Is Whiplash And How To Treat It

Everyone has heard the word whiplash used before.  Do you know what it is and how it should be treated?  Unfortunately, most of you do not.  Whiplash is technically a layman’s term for hyper acceleration, deceleration syndrome.  This means a body part, usually your neck, is experiencing a very fast rate of acceleration then stopping very quickly, resembling the actions of a whip.  This places extreme force on bone, joints, muscle, ligaments and tendons that can cause everything from a simple strain sprain injury to tearing of soft tissue, fractured bones, and pinched nerves.  Car accidents are usually what people think of mostly as the cause of a whiplash but in actuality any accident that forces your body to violently go into this quick, jerky motion can also cause it.  Two other very common causes are slip and falls, and contact sports injuries. 

Treatment is where the ball really gets dropped.  Taking muscle relaxers, Anti-inflammatory drugs, and pain killers along with rest and a neck brace are out dated protocols. Unfortunately many medical facilities are still currently doing this for all whiplash injuries.  If no fractures or tears are suspected then current research encourages a more active method for faster repair.  This would include incorporating motion into the injured area as fast as possible with limited use of rest, ice, and bracing.  Exercises and Chiropractic adjustments are highly preferred.  The window of opportunity for proper treatment to be initiated is small.  Research shows that it only takes 3 weeks after the injury to cause up to 90% of scar tissue to be laid down in the healing process. Also if proper treatment is not given early arthritis is sure to follow. Our goal with treatment is to limit this scar tissue, stop the degeneration process and bring the injured area back to where it was before the accident.  3 weeks of rest, bracing, and medications will not do this.  If you or a loved one is involved in an auto accident or any accident that causes a whip lash injury it is very important that you seek proper care immediately.  We are experts in the treatment of whiplash.  Of course to determine exactly what course of treatment is needed we do a thorough complete examination which would include x-rays to determine degree of damage done. If we feel more serious damage has been done then an MRI may be ordered.   If you have any questions on whiplash cause, effects, or treatment please ask me. 

Common Symptoms of Whiplash

• Neck pain
• Shoulder blade pain
• Head aches
• Muscle spasms
• Possible radiating arm pain
• Numbness and tingling sensations in neck or arm
• Dizziness
• Fatigue, tiredness

Treatment of whiplash

• Limited use of rest, ice, bracing during the initial inflammatory stage of healing
• Massage to help tight muscle spasms 
• Incorporate exercises and motion as fast as possible gradually increasing intensity
• Chiropractic adjustments
• Nutritional supplementation to help with spasms, inflammation, and pain