We all know what a whiplash injury is. Caused by car accidents, traumatic falls or collision sports such as boxing or rugby, whiplash injuries happen when your head moves rapidly and unexpectedly back and forth. This violent movement causes a neck strain, damaging the ligaments, the muscles and the joints of the affected area. Even the spinal discs can be affected in severe cases. Victims experience neck pain, stiffness and inflammation and many other unpleasant symptoms induced by the affected spinal joints.
An untreated whiplash injury is extremely dangerous, being able to cause spinal degeneration, nerve compression and slipped discs.
As the ancient healers used to say – don’t obsess about the problem, find a solution!
The chiropractic care is a very effective form of treatment for whiplash injury. Unfortunately, many times whiplash is treated only with pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Even if the medication masks the symptoms, it doesn’t eliminate the cause of the pain.
How does the chiropractic treatment work?
The chiropractic care doesn’t focus only on getting rid of the symptoms. For a successful treatment, it analyzes the entire picture of the whiplash injury mechanism. First of all, the chiropractic therapy will stabilize and activate the affected spinal joints and only after that will begin the spinal adjustments.
In the first stage of the chiropractic treatment, while waiting for the neck and spinal muscles to become stable, the chiropractor will use ultrasound and manual therapy for reducing the inflammation. For this purpose the specialist can also use ice packs or other forms of cold treatments. Massage is a necessary part of the therapy, relaxing the muscles and increasing blood circulation (which in its turn accelerates the healing process).
When the inflammation begins to go away, the chiropractor will apply gentle manipulation to the injured area for making the spinal joints return to their original functions and movements. The main purpose of chiropractic treatment is the optimization of the spinal motion, healing of the spinal discs and relaxation of the muscle spasms. Let’s not forget that the neck is one of the most sensitive parts of our body. Because of this fact, the specialist will always assess the exact condition of your neck before the therapy, making sure that it is completely safe.
The forms of the chiropractic care in cases of whiplash injury depend on the expert’s diagnosis. The basic procedures in this therapy involve spinal manipulation for treating the affected joints, the flexion-distraction technique (it treats herniated discs using non-thrusting pressure), the trigger point therapy (application of pressure on the neck muscles) and therapeutic massage.
You should be aware that there is no such thing as a universal cure for whiplash injury. Each case will be treated differently by the chiropractor, according to the patient’s exact situation.
The main advantage of chiropractic treatment is the fact that it helps the patients quickly resume their usual activities without experiencing too much unpleasant sensations. This form of therapy is non-invasive, having a more holistic approach in the treatment of whiplash injury.
