Chiropractic care to treat whiplash injury
Car Accident Lawyer
Car accidents can create all sorts of injury, both physically and emotionally. One of the most common injuries you can sustain from a car accident is whiplash. If you have ever dealt with the pain of whiplash, you know that it can affect your daily tasks and make everyday chores almost impossible. When dealing with whiplash, many people do not want to take high doses of pain medication to get their much-needed relief. Instead, turning to chiropractic care can be one of the best ways to treat your whiplash pain. Before going into the ways chiropractors can treat whiplash, however, it is important to understand what it is and what types of damage it can cause.
The basics of whiplash
What exactly is whiplash? Can you only get it from being in a car accident? The truth is, that while whiplash is often associated with car accidents, that is not the only way you can get it. The injury itself is usually focused in the neck and upper spine area. Whiplash happens when your neck and head are forced into one direction very quickly, then unexpectedly “whipped” in the other direction. You will usually see this happening in a front to back motion, though it can happen from side to side.
Although it is often thought to happen in car accidents, you can get whiplash if you are turning in one direction and someone else tugs on your arm in the opposite direction. Any scenario where your head is jerked suddenly can cause whiplash.
What damage does it do?
While your injury is in your neck and spine, that does not mean the pain stops there. It can travel to your head, down through your spine, and into your arms, hips, and even your legs. The pain can radiate in almost any part of your body. You can also experience it at different levels, such as a soreness or stiffness, to a sharp and stabbing pain. Other symptoms of whiplash are:
- Blurred vision
- Lower back pain
- Ear pain or ringing
- Dizziness
- Nerve problems
How can a chiropractor help with my whiplash?
Chiropractors have different healing techniques they can use to treat your whiplash, including:
- Muscle stimulation or relaxation. This technique involves carefully stretching the affected
muscles to relieve tension. Doing so allows them to relax. - McKenzie Exercises. These exercises in particular help to rearrange your discs that were
moved as a result of whiplash. While you will be treated with these at the chiropractor’s
office, they can teach you to safely do these at home to help with healing time. - Chiropractic adjustment. Your chiropractor can perform spinal manipulation to carefully
move your joints back into alignment. Not only will this help your body relieve pain, but it will
promote healing as well.
What’s next?
Each patient is different, and their level of whiplash will be unique to the injury. Thus, a chiropractor will need to evaluate the patient and determine the best form of treatment to help them heal. That said, no whiplash injury should go untreated.
