Whether you’ve been in a major car accident or experienced some other sudden trauma, whiplash is an injury that can occur out of nowhere and create significant problems and limited mobility. If you have experienced whiplash, it is important to consult a chiropractor immediately so that the injury doesn’t cause further damage and so that you can find relief from your pain as soon as possible.
Whiplash Symptoms
Even if you don’t notice the damage or injury right away, if you’ve experienced whiplash, you may notice these common whiplash symptoms over the following days or weeks after a car accident:
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Lack of mobility in the neck
- Limited range of motion in the neck
- Headaches, usually starting at the base of the skull
- Pain or tenderness in the shoulder, arms, or upper back
- Memory issues
- Depression
- Irritability
- Trouble sleeping
- Ringing in the ears
- Blurry vision
- Numbness or tingling in the arms
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
If you are experiencing any of these common symptoms due to whiplash, contact one of our chiropractors today for an initial appointment and personalized treatment plan.
How Does a Chiropractor Diagnose and Treat Whiplash?
Getting a proper diagnosis and treatment for a whiplash injury is crucial to getting out of pain and preventing any long-term issues down the road.
When you come into the office for a chiropractic adjustment, the chiropractor looks at the body as a whole. Even though you are experiencing neck pain due to whiplash, there are other areas of the body that could have been affected by the whiplash, including major areas of the spine. These would need to be adjusted and realigned as well.
The chiropractor will look for areas that lack mobility and movement, injuries to the spinal discs, muscle spasms, or injured ligaments. There are many different techniques that chiropractors will use to realign the neck and spine, and help the body heal after a whiplash injury:
- Spinal manipulation: Spinal manipulations involve realigning the areas of the neck that are out of place through manual manipulations to relieve tension and pain.
- Gentle adjustments: Gentle adjustments are utilized to ease the misaligned joints in the neck back into their proper place.
- Trigger point therapy: With trigger point therapy, a chiropractor can pinpoint specific spots in the back and neck that are limited due to whiplash. Through gentle thrusts and hands-on movements, they can restore the motion in the joints and stimulate the nervous system, bringing the spine back into its proper alignment and reducing pain from a car accident injury.
- Muscle relaxations or stimulations: For muscle relaxations or stimulations, a chiropractor will utilize finger pressure techniques to reduce excess tension, ease the pain brought on by tight muscles, or contract the muscles that are restricted.
- Instrument-assisted therapy: Exactly what it sounds like, instrument-assisted therapy utilizes specialized tools and instruments to apply pressure to the muscles, joints, and vertebrae in order to bring everything back into alignment. The chiropractor may also use these tools to perform gentle strokes over an injured area in order to bring about pain relief.
- Soft tissue therapy: Because whiplash involves the soft tissue, utilizing soft tissue therapy works as a very effective solution for pain relief after a whiplash injury. This method of chiropractic treatment restores muscle function by applying pressure to or stretching out the muscles that have built up excess tension.
If you have been experiencing symptoms of whiplash, consider making an appointment with a chiropractor for a personalized treatment plan and effective, long-lasting pain relief.
For more information about how chiropractic care can help relieve pain brought on by whiplash, call us today.
