How Chiropractic Care Helps with Whiplash after a Car Accident

What's Whiplash?

Whiplash occurs when your head and neck are suddenly and without warning thrust forward and backward, similar to the cracking of a whip.

This motion is very common during car accidents, especially rear-end collisions.

The motion occurs when you are impacted by another vehicle or object or if you have to slam on your brakes suddenly.

Another reason whiplash is a very common injury after a car accident is that your car crash doesn't have to be severe for you to suffer a whiplash injury.

Whiplash can occur at speeds as low as 5-10mph, so that means you can get a whiplash injury in just about any car accident.

And while car accidents are a major cause of whiplash, they aren't the only cause.

Many high-impact sports can lead to whiplash injuries that can be just as severe or worse than those sustained in auto accidents.

How Will a Chiropractor Help?

If whiplash isn't treated in time, it can lead to chronic pain and other conditions.

Chiropractors understand the soreness that comes with a whiplash injury, so they will approach them with caution.

Before they even begin full-blown treatments, they will likely work on stretching your neck muscles or having you ice the injury at home to reduce the swelling.

After that, they will likely move on to spinal manipulations to help move your spine back into proper alignment.

This can help eliminate the stress and pressure caused by any misalignments and allow your body to begin the healing process that will ultimately bring you relief.

Common chiropractic treatments for whiplash are:

• Spinal manipulation: Also referred to as chiropractic adjustments, spinal manipulation looks to identify the neck joints that are misaligned and put them back into place. This is done by gently moving the affected joint in the direction it's constrained. Sometimes your chiropractor will apply swift but gentle thrusts in the desired direction, or they will use a slow mobilizing movement. If your whiplash injury aggravated a herniated or bulging disc, your chiropractor might use the flexion-distraction technique. This is a gentle, non-thrusting spinal manipulation to ease herniated discs.

• Soft tissue therapies: Whiplash is a soft tissue injury, so your chiropractor may also use soft tissue therapies in your treatment plan. Soft tissue therapies aim to restore proper muscle function by applying pressure or stretching the muscles that have tension. A common soft tissue therapy to relieve muscle tension is therapeutic massage. A chiropractor may also include muscle energy therapy or different stretch-and-resist techniques.

• Lifestyle Advice: In addition to treatments, your chiropractor can offer advice about things you can do at home to help your condition. This advice can address factors including work, home, or recreational activities that can worsen the symptoms caused by whiplash injuries. Chiropractors can also teach better “use of self” as well as stress reduction ways to help ease whiplash pain.

When dealing with automobile accident injuries like whiplash, chiropractors look at the whole person, not just the symptoms.

They view pain in the cervical spine as unique to each patient, so they don’t just focus on your neck pain.

They will also emphasize prevention as the key to sound long-term health.

In addition to the treatments we spoke about above, your chiropractor may also prescribe therapeutic exercises to help restore the normal range of motion in your neck and spine and reduce whiplash symptoms.