What is Whiplash and How Can Chiropractic Care Help?

Although primarily the result of car accidents, whiplash injuries can also be associated with work-related accidents, sports injuries, and amusement park rides. Essentially, anything that causes the head to be moved violently and suddenly back and forth — or sideways — can lead to whiplash.

The symptoms of of a whiplash injury include back pain, neck pain, neck stiffness, headache, shoulder pain, low back pain, and numbness or pain in the feet, hips, or hands. Some whiplash injuries cause its sufferer to experience dizziness, blurred vision, decreased concentration, or impaired memory.

How Chiropractic Care Can Help

Care from one of our Wallace, Wilmington, or Clinton chiropractors helps to restore movement, strengthen muscles, and reduce chronic symptoms of a whiplash injury. Immediately after a whiplash injury, our chiropractor will first address any inflammation associated with the whiplash. As the muscle injury begins to heal, treatment strategies may include gentle spinal manipulation, mobilization of spinal joints, muscle stimulation, muscle relaxation, and exercises.

In many cases, our primary treatment for whiplash injuries is spinal manipulation, which involves gentle movement or thrust of the affected joint in the direction of its restriction. Muscle stimulation or relaxation is helpful in cases of muscle dysfunction, and involves gentle stretches to the affected muscle to relieve both neck pain and pain in your back. Finger pressure directed at trigger points may also be employed to relieve pain related to tightened muscles.

For whiplash injuries involving disc derangement, our Wilmington chiropractor may incorporate a series of McKenzie exercises into your treatment plan. McKenzie exercises are simple exercises that can also be done at home, once the proper technique is learned in our office.

If you have had a car accident and suspect you have a whiplash injury, you should immediately seek an evaluation from one of our chiropractors to determine the extent of the injury and damage. Even if you don't have symptoms right away, it's critical to seek medical care because whiplash symptoms can take weeks, months, and sometimes years to develop.

Delay in whiplash injury treatment can lead to complications and a longer, more painful recovery time. Beginning chiropractic rehabilitation as early as possible after a whiplash injury not only helps with your pain management, but increases your chances of making a full recovery — without being faced with recurring, chronic symptoms.

Have you ever had whiplash? What were your symptoms?