Whiplash

It is hard to find people who have not been in a car accident at least once in their life time.  Motor vehicle accidents are becoming more popular as time goes on, and with accidents, there also comes whiplash injuries.  Whiplash is an injury that occurs when the neck goes through a rapid hyper-flexion and hyperextension motion caused by a sudden stop.  When this occurs the muscles and ligaments get stretched and acquire slight tears.  Most people claim not to feel much pain during the onset of the accident and even several days afterward.  This is caused because the person has had an influx of adrenaline caused by the traumatic event.  The adrenaline masks the pain that the person might be feeling so they become in a euphoric state.   In a result of this state many people do not get treatment for whiplash because they feel that there is nothing wrong with their body.  It's not until days or weeks later when they feel the real symptoms of whiplash, which begins with stiffness and loss of range of motion.  The muscles become tight and start to pull the lordotic curve of the cervical spine straight, changing the bio mechanics of the spine, which leads to degeneration in the future.  On x-ray a whiplash injury is shown to have a straight spine, if this spine is left untreated it goes through a cycle of spinal decay or degeneration.

A lot of people do not realized that degeneration is occurring in their body, without being checked by a doctor.  This is the reason why the worst accidents are actually the little fender benders and not the major roll overs.  When a person goes through a little fender bender they neglect to get treatment because they don't feel immediate pain even though they got whiplash.  Untreated whiplash injuries will slowly eat away at the spine until five to ten years down the road, the person will start to feel symptoms that they can't remember when or how they developed.  These symptoms consist of recurring headaches, neck and back pain, loss of range of motion, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, and chronic muscle tension and spasms.

The treatment for whiplash is done through chiropractic care.  These doctors will be able to recover the curve in the spine by doing multiple adjustments.  These adjustments allow the muscles and ligaments to relax by taking the pressure off the surrounding nerves.  When the pressure is off the nerves not only does it stop the chronic pain, but allows all the tension to dissipate in the area.  If by any chance the patient has waited too long and degeneration has caused bony changes in the cervical spine, then those changes are permanent.  The doctors job then is still to recreate the curve in the spine but also to prevent anymore spinal degeneration.

In our clinic at Twins Chiropractic we deal with whiplash injuries on a daily basis and get great results from all type of patients.  We always ask our patients if they have been in a car accident in the past so that we can monitor any changes the previous injury has created in the spine.  We encourage people to get health check ups and become proactive with their bodies so that they can take preventative measures to keeping their body healthy. 

If you have any question about whiplash or would like a free evaluation see our website www.twinschiropractic.com

Cheers

Dr. Daniel Clements D.C.