Whiplash is a nasty injury which occurs due to a sudden acceleration followed by deceleration. The severity of the injury is dependent on several factors:
- How aware the person is before the accident,
- Size of vehicle,
- Where the person’s head and neck is at time of impact,
- Condition of the road,
- Size of neck
- Angle of seat belt,
- Position of head rest
- Springiness of seat
amongst other factors. It’s due to these numerous factors that chiropractors must evaluate and manage each case individually.
Stage one of the process for treatment will be the chiropractor looking at the history of the patient and to perform an examination. During this stage, the chiropractor will ask questions to find out what happened, how injury occurred and to factor this in with the patient’s history to enable a complete understanding of the scope of injury.
Although whiplash is nasty, patients are lucky because there are many treatments and techniques the chiropractor can perform to help the patient.These treatments can include but are not limited to:
- Spinal manipulation,
- The assessment of the physical capacities of patients with giving out particular exercises and considerations to modify work stations,
- Manual traction,
- Mobilization,
- The relaxation of muscle and/or methods of stimulation, and/or
- Lifestyle changes
Chiropractic manipulation is one of the commonest approaches used to treat joint dysfunction. This manipulation or adjustment will typically be a quick, but short movement of a joints usual range of motion in order to correct the joint dysfunction. Patients often feel great after this manipulation.
Exercises are also extremely important, and your local chiropractor, or myself if you are in the Tampa area can help with this. These exercises are designed to restore movement with as little discomfort as possible. Once the movement has been loosened, further exercises are prescribed, to further open up the range of motion and to strengthen the injured region. These exercises are shown by the chiropractor, and then the patient performs them to ensure accuracy of the exercise. The chiro will then suggest an exercise schedule to help and fully mobilize the patient.
Between chiropractic care and proper exercising, a whiplash suffering patient can move out of pain and discomfort and back to normality.