Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries. Whenever your head is thrown forwards and backwards quickly, it can damage the muscles and tissues in the neck and upper back. This can lead to pain and restrict your range of motion. Fortunately, whiplash injuries normally don’t result in long-term conditions, but it can. This is why you need to see an expert as soon as you can after a car accident injury, sports injury, or another event in which your head and neck were injured. Car accident injury chiropractors have years of experience in diagnosing and treating spinal conditions, which includes whiplash.
How Whiplash is Diagnosed by a Chiropractor
Following your car accident, you will want to book a chiropractic appointment as soon as you can. Like with most injuries, treating whiplash as quickly as possible will help improve how effective the treatment is and can reduce your symptoms. Your chiropractor will evaluate your entire spine to make certain no other areas were damaged. They will be looking for disc injuries, ligament damage, restricted motion, and muscle spasms. They will also ask you about tightness, tenderness, and if there’s any pain or restriction on your joints. In some cases, they may need to have an MRI or an X-ray done of your neck and back.
Once they have completed their examination, they will discuss your diagnosis and talk about treatment.
How Is Whiplash Treated?
If you see your chiropractor early enough, they may be able to reduce the inflammation in your neck using several different types of therapy. They may use manual manipulation to stretch and massage your neck, or they may use ultrasound techniques.
If your whiplash has damaged a disc in your back, the most common type of treatment is flexion-distraction. This technique involves the chiropractor carefully using their hands to treat a herniated or bulging disc. Your chiropractor will move their hands in a gentle pumping action against the disc. They may also use specific hand movements to help with joints that are restricted. If you cannot turn your neck fully to one side or the other, your chiropractor may use gentle thrusting motions to help stretch the tissue and stimulate your nervous system. This will help restore your full range of motion.
Another common type of treatment is to use a handheld instrument that applies a gentle amount of force on the damaged disc. This tool is often used with older patients who have damage to their joints. There are also a number of tools that can be used to help treat soft tissue injuries. In some cases, they may even use a type of electrical stimulation that uses a very low current to stimulate your muscles and help reduce inflammation.
Your chiropractor may also use therapeutic massage and trigger point therapy to assist with restoring motion, repairing damage, and reducing the amount of pain you’re in. After treatment, they may assign you some exercises or stretches to do to help further reduce your pain.
Chiropractors Use a Holistic Approach to Treating Whiplash
Because whiplash can affect your entire torso, not just your neck, chiropractors will look at your nervous system as a whole. For example, you may have pain in your arm that you didn’t realize was connected to whiplash, but it could be caused by damage to a nerve root in the spine. This is why chiropractors are much better at diagnosing and treating whiplash than general practitioners or family doctors. They have extensively studied how the nervous system works and understand how it’s all connected.
Contact Us Today for Chiropractic Care
If you’ve been in a car accident and need the help of a professional chiropractor, contact Pro-Care Medical Centers today. Our team has years of experience treating whiplash and other injuries.
