Many people who turn to chiropractic care and chiropractic spine adjustment do so after getting into a car accident and sustaining whiplash or neck injuries. 

Chiropractic care is one of the most recommended non-surgical treatment options for relieving pain due to whiplash. A professional whiplash chiropractor can provide long-term pain and inflammation relief via chiropractic adjustments. These treatments may also aid in shortening the recovery period.

What Is Whiplash?

Whiplash is caused by a sudden and forceful forward or backward movement of the neck. This results in strained neck muscles or damaged tissues.

The sharp back-and-forth jerk of the head and neck resemble the movement of a whip, hence the name. It can also be referred to as a neck sprain or strain.

Whiplash is a soft-tissue neck injury. It may affect the intervertebral joints, discs, ligaments, nerve roots, and cervical muscles along the neck and spine. The severity of whiplash injuries depends on the neck tissues affected and the extent of the damage.

Natural Wellness and Chiropractic regularly receive and treat many Florida residents suffering from whiplash. Statistics show that the number of Americans that sustain whiplash injuries ranges from a minimum of 1.2 million up to 3 million each year.

Our experienced and licensed chiropractors are well-versed in using spinal manipulation and other chiropractic techniques to reduce pain, restore normal neck motion, and hasten patients’ rehabilitation.

Most people who visit our clinic for whiplash chiropractic care do so after they were involved in a motor vehicle accident. Rear-end car accidents, in particular, cause many cases of whiplash injuries. Driving slowly does not rule out the possibility of getting whiplash in the event of an accident. Most whiplash injuries due to car accidents happened with crash speeds less than 12 miles per hour.

Although vehicular accidents are the most common causes of whiplash, the condition can also result from sports accidents, falls, physical abuse, and other kinds of physical trauma.

How To Treat Whiplash

It is important to see a healthcare professional immediately following a car accident or any other event that could potentially cause whiplash. Faster recovery time and fewer injury complications are often dependent on immediate and consistent treatment.

Whiplash treatments center around managing pain, restoring the neck’s normal range of motion, and resuming pain-free daily life activities.

There are several recommended treatment options for whiplash-associated disorders (WAD).

For mild to moderate cases of whiplash, doctors often prescribe over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen, to manage the pain. Patients with more severe pain may receive prescription medications for antidepressants that help reduce nerve pain. that help reduce nerve pain. 

Other common ways of managing pain include:

  • Bed rest
  • Hot or cold compress for 15 minutes every three hours
  • Muscle relaxants
  • Lidocaine injections to numb the muscle areas

Exercise and physical therapy are among the most common treatments for whiplash. These may help bring back the patient’s original range of motion in their neck. Comprehensive chiropractic care also plays a large role in helping patients improve and restore their range of motion.

A professional whiplash chiropractor can identify areas of restricted joint motion, ligament injury, muscle spasm, and intervertebral disc injury. They use motion and static palpation to diagnose such problems through touch.

We use gentle, non-thrusting chiropractic manipulations or adjustment techniques to help relieve pain, return joints and muscles to their original positions, and restore proper range of motion.

Examples of chiropractic techniques used to treat whiplash include the following:

  • Flexion-distraction technique
  • Instrument-assisted manipulation
  • Specific spinal joint manipulations
  • Therapeutic massage
  • Trigger point therapy

Although whiplash is an invisible (or internal) injury, it still has serious health risks. Take note that even mild cases of whiplash may lead to debilitating conditions and chronic pain that can severely impact one’s overall quality of life.

Common Risk Factors And Whiplash Symptoms

Whiplash symptoms do not always appear immediately after a motor vehicle accident. In most cases, the symptoms start to appear within 24 hours of the incident.

Depending on the time of the accident, signs of whiplash injuries may appear the following day. There are also reported cases where whiplash symptoms only appeared after a few days.

Common symptoms of whiplash-associated disorders may include:

  • Neck pain and stiffness
  • Little to no range of motion in the neck
  • Worsening pain when turning the neck
  • Headaches, particularly towards the base of the skull
  • Tenderness or inflammation in the shoulders, upper back, or arms
  • Numbness in the arms
  • Muscle spasms or random, uncontrollable muscle movements
  • Fatigue or constant tiredness
  • Dizziness
  • Anxiety

Patients have also reported experiencing the following less common symptoms:

  • Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
  • Blurred vision
  • Memory issues
  • Depression
  • Irritability
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Poor concentration

Make sure to visit a healthcare professional or a licensed whiplash chiropractor if you experience any of these symptoms. Failure to do so may lead to lasting or chronic health issues.

The potential consequences of untreated or delayed whiplash treatment may include the following:

  • Permanent neck impairments, including loss of range of motion
  • Permanent posture issues or impairments
  • Serious ligament injuries
  • Permanent tinnitus or ringing in the ears
  • Diminished eyesight
  • Recurring headaches and migraines
  • Chronic neck, back, and shoulder pain
  • Chronic fatigue

It is also important to note that neck injuries may carry the risk of paralysis or even death. Dislocated spinal vertebrae or fracturing discs can severely impact movement temporarily or permanently. It may even cause degenerative disc disease.

How Long Does Whiplash Last?

Most cases of whiplash may get better in just a few weeks of taking pain medication and doing neck exercises. Improvements are often seen and felt within a few days or one week of following a doctor-prescribed treatment plan.

Full recovery is possible within just one month. There are also other cases where the injury may take anywhere from a few weeks to within three months to fully heal. It all depends on the severity or extent of the injury.

However, other instances of whiplash accidents result in chronic neck pain and other serious complications. According to studies, between 12% to 50% of patients who sustained whiplash injuries continue to experience persistent neck pain even a year after the accident.

Hospitals noted that acute short-term neck sprain is more likely to become a chronic issue if the patient has higher anxiety levels and experienced greater pain severity from the initial injury.

Aside from severe pain from the start, patients who have lingering pain from whiplash injuries also noted the following symptoms:

  • Pain starts right after the accident or event that caused whiplash
  • Pain shoots down into the arm and towards the fingers
  • Patients experience memory loss or other neurological symptoms

When To Call for Professional Help

If there are no signs of improvement after two weeks, despite taking medications and receiving professional chiropractic care from a licensed whiplash chiropractor, then we recommend calling a licensed physician or visiting a healthcare professional for a check-up.

Here are other symptoms of potential whiplash complications to take note of:

  • Initially shows improvement before the condition worsens
  • Pain keeps patients from sleeping well
  • Negatively impacts the overall quality of life

How To Treat Whiplash - Chiropractic Care In Longwood, FL

Chiropractic care is one of the best non-invasive ways to treat whiplash-associated disorders and speed up your recovery. Whiplash chiropractic adjustments not only pair well with exercise and physical therapy in relieving pain but also help promote holistic wellness.

Our experienced and licensed whiplash chiropractors are always ready to help patients recover faster and regain their pain-free daily lives. We offer comprehensive chiropractic care services and accept all automobile insurance providers.

Call Natural Wellness and Chiropractic Clinic today for a free consultation.

FIND A BACK PAIN SPECIALIST

Dr. J. (Valerie) Johnson

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