Chiropractic Care and Whiplash Treatment
After a severe car accident, long term damage to the spine or the neck and head is all too common.
For years, chiropractors have recognized the need to keep these areas healthy, both before and after accidents.
But what's worse is that victims of accidents don't always make a complete recovery, especially after suffering a whiplash injury.
Whiplash is an injury to your cervical spine and neck muscles due to a rapid forward and backward motion of the neck during traumatic events like motor vehicle accidents, sports accidents, or a slip and fall accident.
Whiplash can cause short term neck pain and back pain, as well as limit the range of motion in your neck.
A whiplash injury can also cause whiplash-associated disorders (WADs).
WADs are an all too common, disabling, and expensive condition that occurs usually as a result of a car accident, usually a rear end accident.
It's estimated that up to 50% of people who experience whiplash injuries will never fully recover, and up to 30% will remain moderately to severely disabled by their condition.
But, many people see chiropractors for whiplash and swear by the results.
However, there are still skeptics out there that don't believe chiropractic care works.
So, what does the research tell us?
In the article below, we will talk about what the research says about Whiplash Injuries and Chiropractic Treatment.
Table of Contents
- How Does A Chiropractor Diagnose A Whiplash Injury?
- Chiropractic Whiplash Treatments
- What Does The Research Say?
- Contact Car Wreck Doctor
How Does a Chiropractor Diagnose a Whiplash Injury?
After your accident, your chiropractor will evaluate your spine as a whole, no matter what your initial symptoms are.
They do this because other areas of your spine could be affected as well, not just your neck, and every issue needs to be corrected to make a complete recovery.
Your chiropractor will identify all areas of restricted joint motion, disc injuries, muscle spasms, or ligament injuries.
They will also check for other symptoms of whiplash including tenderness, tightness, and how well you can move your joints.
Your chiropractor will also look at how you walk and examine your posture and spinal alignment.
Gathering all of this information will help your chiropractor make an accurate diagnosis because it will help them understand how your body and spine function.
If necessary, your chiropractor can order imaging tests like x-rays and MRIs of your spine to evaluate degenerative changes you may have had before your whiplash injury.
Once your chiropractor can make an accurate diagnosis of your symptoms, they will design a treatment plan tailored to your unique needs.
Chiropractic Whiplash Treatments
The treatment plan your chiropractor constructs will depend on the specifics of your injury. The most common whiplash treatment used by chiropractors is spinal manipulation, and there are several spinal manipulation techniques they may use.
The Flexion-distraction technique is a hands-on technique that uses very gentle, non-thrusting manipulations to treat herniated discs.
Whiplash often aggravates bulging or herniated discs, and your chiropractor will use a slow pumping action rather than direct force to your spine to reduce inflammation and treat this injury.
Instrument assisted manipulation is also a non-thrusting technique that uses a special handheld instrument.
With the instrument, your chiropractor can apply force without thrusting into the spine.
Instrument assisted manipulation is often used on elderly patients or patients with degenerative joint syndrome.
Specific spinal manipulation allows your chiropractor to identify specific spinal joints that are restricted or have subluxations.
With this technique, your chiropractor restores motion to the joint with a gentle thrusting technique that stretches soft tissue and stimulates the nervous system, restoring normal movement to your spine.
In addition to spinal manipulation, chiropractors can use manual therapies to treat your injured soft tissues.
The Graston Technique is an instrument-assisted technique that consists of gentle repeated strokes using the instrument over your injured area.
Another example of manual therapy is muscle energy therapy.
Therapeutic massage can also be used to ease the tension that has built up in your neck.
And with trigger point therapy, your chiropractor can identify specific tight or painful spots on a muscle by putting direct pressure on these particular points to alleviate muscle tension.
What Does The Research Say?
So, do all of those treatments work, or is it all smoke and mirrors?
Fortunately, there are studies out that prove the significance of chiropractic care.
Four studies prove that chiropractic care provides significant long-term relief for people suffering from whiplash injuries.
These four studies were brought to life by the Foundation of Chiropractic Progress. This non-profit promotes chiropractic care through public awareness.
Nearly 1 out of every 15 adults in the United States are suffering from the long-term effects of a whiplash injury, usually in the form of neck pain or stiffness.
Chiropractic care in the acute (short-term) stage can prevent long-term effects from developing.
Still, two of the four studies saw that chiropractic care can provide up to 90% relief for people suffering from the long-term effects of whiplash even in the chronic stage.
93% of the 28 patients studied retrospectively had a statistically significant improvement after receiving chiropractic care.
The chiropractic care conducted in this study consisted of spinal manipulations, stretching, and cryotherapy.
These studies proved that whiplash is all too common and that chiropractic care is the only proven effective treatment in chronic cases.
The other two studies found that for chronic pain in general when you compare it to traditional medical approaches and acupuncture, chiropractic care has proven to be much more effective.
In addition to these studies, here you can learn more about what happens if you let you whiplash injuries go untreated.
Contact Car Wreck Doctor
There you have it; the research backs up the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment for whiplash.
If you have been involved in a car accident or any accident that resulted in whiplash, please do not hesitate to call the team at Car Wreck Doctor.
Our chiropractors specialize in treating accident victims who are suffering from whiplash and develop personalized whiplash treatment plans.
Our medical professionals will accurately diagnose your injuries and develop a personalized treatment plan to alleviate your pain associated with your whiplash.
Our chiropractic doctors conduct thorough examinations and will discuss different treatment options before selecting one that will work best for you.
Call Car Wreck Doctor today or click on the link below so we can help you with your recovery as soon as possible.
