- Whiplash
Whiplash is a common neck injury that can cause a lot of pain. It occurs when the head moves forward, backward, or to either side suddenly, causing injury to the cervical spine’s ligaments, muscles, and tendons. This may lead to pain in your neck, upper back, and shoulders.
Our Sunrise whiplash treatment features different therapies to stimulate your body’s natural healing processes. Our chiropractors and physiotherapists can help, whether you have an acute or chronic whiplash injury. We can also recommend the proper lifestyle to prevent future injuries.
Causes of Whiplash
There are many causes of whiplash. Some of these causes include:
- Car Accidents: Whiplash is one of the most common injuries from car accidents since they often involve high speeds and sudden stops.
- Slips and Falls: A fall from just two feet above ground level can cause serious damage to your neck.
- Mountain Biking Accidents: Biking downhill at high speeds can cause your head to whip around when you make sharp turns or lose control of your bike.
- Falls from Heights: Falling out of trees or off balconies can result in whiplash if you hit your head during impact.
- Intense Exercise: Some physical activities may require extreme movements that put pressure on your neck muscles and vertebrae. Athletes who participate in weightlifting exercises may also suffer from whiplash injuries.
- Contact Sports: Football, hockey, rugby, and soccer can cause whiplash, as well as other spinal injuries, including herniated discs or vertebral fractures.
Whiplash Diagnosis
A doctor can diagnose whiplash by taking a complete medical history and performing a physical exam. The exam will most likely reveal tenderness around the neck and upper back, and structural abnormalities such as misaligned vertebrae or bulging discs. The doctor will also ask about other symptoms such as pain or stiffness in your neck, shoulders, or upper back. In some cases, the diagnosis can be made based on symptoms alone.
Whiplash symptoms include:
- Pain that worsens with neck movement
- Numbness or tingling in the arms or hands
- Pain in the upper back, shoulders, and chest
- Difficulty turning your head
- Trouble sleeping due to pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Jaw pain or limited jaw movement
After noting the symptoms, our doctors try to rule out fractures or dislocations. If there are no serious injuries, we can begin treating the soft tissue injuries associated with whiplashes, such as muscle strains and joint dysfunction.
X-rays are typically ordered to rule out bone fractures or other bone abnormalities. In addition, a doctor may use CT scans if he suspects a blood clot, bleeding within the brain, spinal cord damage, and other serious conditions.
Treatments for Whiplash Injuries
We use several different whiplash treatment options depending on our evaluation as well as your unique condition. Our two main treatment options include chiropractic adjustments and physiotherapy.
Chiropractic Adjustments
Chiropractic adjustments involve manually adjusting certain body parts to help relieve tension from certain muscles and joints. One of the techniques used in chiropractic adjustments is diversified adjustments. They are designed to correct misalignment of the vertebrae and other joints in the spine, which may contribute to your pain. They also help stimulate circulation to the muscles around your spine as well as improve nerve function.
In addition, Sacral-Occipital Technique (SOT) can correct misalignments between your pelvis and skull through gentle pressure. When combined with manual extremities, it can relieve pain, improve mobility and restore function to the neck.
Other techniques our chiropractors use include seated diversified, knee-chest exercise, and Thompson drop-table technique, among others.
Physiotherapy Services
Physiotherapy is an important part of our treatment for whiplash. The physiotherapist will assess how you are moving and help you regain normal movement, reduce pain and improve your posture. They will assess your neck and back and may suggest exercises or stretches that can be done at home.
Some examples of physiotherapy treatments include:
- Ultrasound Therapy: This treatment uses sound waves to penetrate deep into the body, increase blood flow (oxygen supply), and reduce swelling. This helps relieve pain, increase flexibility and reduce stiffness.
- Electrical Muscle Stimulation (E-STIM): E-STIM uses electrical impulses through your skin to stimulate muscle contraction. It’s used when other treatments don’t provide enough relief from pain and stiffness associated with whiplash injuries.
- Corrective Care: This treatment aims to correct poor posture, pain, and weakness by using exercises designed for your specific needs.
- Massage Therapy: Massage therapy uses pressure to stimulate blood flow and increase circulation in the area being treated. It also helps relieve muscle spasms and pain and reduce swelling.
- Rehabilitative Therapy: Rehabilitative therapy aims to improve your function after an injury or illness by restoring normal muscle strength and movement patterns through exercise and physical therapy modalities.
What Are Risks Factors for Whiplash?
Some factors may increase your risk of developing whiplash, including:
- Gender: Although whiplash can equally affect both genders, women are twice as likely to suffer whiplash after an accident.
- Age: Older adults tend to experience more severe injuries than younger people because their necks tend to be weaker and have less muscle mass.
- Prior Injury: People who have had previous whiplash-type injuries are at greater risk of developing chronic pain or disability following new injuries. This is particularly true if they have not received appropriate treatment for their past injuries and have not been able to return to pre-injury levels of physical activity.
- Some Occupations: Workers in certain occupations, such as construction workers, may experience more frequent or severe whiplash injuries because they spend more time handling strenuous work.
Get Sunrise Whiplash Treatment
If you’re suffering from whiplash, Sunrise whiplash treatment can help. Our chiropractors at Specific Care Chiropractic are dedicated to helping you recover from whiplash injuries by addressing the underlying causes of your pain and discomfort. We use various techniques to reduce pain and improve mobility while avoiding further injury or complications.
Contact us today at 239-369-9109, and we’ll be glad to help you recover!