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Have you ever heard of someone having neck pain after a car accident or a sports injury? One of the common causes of neck pain after those events is whiplash. Whiplash is the quick acceleration-deceleration movement of the neck and torso during a sporting event or car accident (see picture below). This quick acceleration-deceleration movement can put a lot of stress on the neck and injure some of the ligaments, bones, muscles, tendons, etc. around the neck, resulting in injury.
It’s not just from car accidents, but also from falls!
Motor vehicle accidents
Falls while playing sports, especially on artificial turf
Roller coasters
Slipping on icy surfaces
Some of the common symptoms associated with whiplash are headaches, dizziness, neck pain, pain in the mid back and shoulder, stiffness in the neck, numbness/tingling in the arms, weakness in the neck and shoulder, and/or fatigue.
Does this sound like something you are dealing with? Give us a call!
Whiplash is unique from some other injuries in that even though there is a common mechanism, there is not a typical structure that is injured. Meaning one person’s main problem after a car accident could be muscle tightness, while someone else’s might be stiffness in the joints around the neck. While this might make it sound like it is hard to treat, there is a large amount of evidence that shows treating the deficits that someone presents with is effective in helping getting people whiplash back to 100%. So if someone’s main problem is weakness in the neck, then strengthening those muscles is the best solution. If someone’s main problem is loss of range of motion (ROM), then exercises and manual therapy techniques that increase ROM is what the focus will be.
The overall goals of our treatment for someone with whiplash are to reduce pain, improve ROM, and an increased ability to perform functional tasks. Some of the types of treatments used are manual therapy to the neck and mid back to decrease sensitivity and increase range of motion.
You will also want to strengthen the muscles in the back of your neck and around your shoulder blade to increase your muscles tolerance and help take pressure off the neck.
Finally, you will be doing neuromuscular control exercises for your neck and muscles around the shoulder blade to help correct any inefficient or poor movement patterns that may lead to fatigue/pain. While doing all of this, we will also work to modify any painful activities in order to keep you moving and keep doing what you love.
Most people recover from whiplash in 2-3 weeks, but for many people it takes much longer. Some people will have persistent pain, loss of motion, and limited function (like disturbed sleep, or inability to work at a computer for long). If this is you, give us a call right away, and we can help accelerate your recovery.
There is hope for whiplash.
We can help you get back to the activities you love.
One Response
This was very informative. Excellent use of videos!