"The key to quick results with chiropractic is in finding the right chirporactor, one whose style and technique best matches the specific needs of the individual patient"

WHIPLASH

What is whiplash?

Whiplash is the common term used to describe soft-tissue injuries of the neck, or cervical spine, as the result of sudden changes in velocity. This type of injury most often occurs from the rapid jarring that occurs during motor vehicle accidents- but can also occur from a falling object, such as a box, that lands on the head and flexes the neck forward. The soft-tissues that can be involved are the muscles, tendons, ligaments, discs, and nerves.

What happens to the muscles?

At the time of your accident, overstretched muscles in your neck went into a state of contraction to protect you against further injury. When your head and neck were suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back and forth, a protective reflex, called the "stretch reflex", tightened the muscles of the neck to prevent excessive motion, which might otherwise have fractured your neck and damaged your spinal cord. Those muscular contractions actually formed a natural "splint", automatically bracing your spine in a quick and desperate attempt to protect you.

In the process, the incident galvanized your whole neuromuscular system into a heightened state of arousal; the shock of the incident created a vivid impression of an emergency situation in you -- a shock to your system. Shocks to the system tend to make lasting impressions on memory. Even though the incident was momentary, the memory persisted, and along with it, the protective, reflexive reaction. Suddenly a tension habit was formed.

Within minutes, in many cases of whiplash injury, neck muscles become painful, stiff, fatigued and sore. This pain and discomfort leads you to guard against head movement to prevent further pain. Guarding leads to further tension, tension leads to pain, and pain leads to a diagnosis of a whiplash injury. Tension also leads to muscle fatigue, and muscle fatigue feels like muscle weakness.

What happens to the spine?

As incidents of injury usually come from one side or the other, muscles are affected unequally. Unequal muscular tension (more tension on one side than the other) moves vertebrae more to one side: spinal misalignment. Loss of spinal alignment leads to distorted head movement and to unbalanced head position. The combination of distorted head movement and unbalanced head position send distorted sensations from the balance centers of the inner ears to the balance centers of the brain. You might feel dizzy, tight, and sore - all from the shock of an injury causing muscles to tighten. Some even experience an upset stomach, loss of memory, and feelings of depression following an accident.

The same muscular tension also pulls the vertebrae of your neck closer together, making your neck shorter, thicker, and stiffer. Pressure on the discs increases, sometimes leading to disc degeneration and sometimes, to pinched nerves, with pain and numbness down the arms, possibly into the hands. Sound familiar?

What happens to the ligaments?

The ligaments of the spine may or may not be injured and varies from individual to individual. Usually, those that see the accident coming and brace themselves, preloading the muscle contractions described above, are able to spare their ligaments from damage, unless the accident is very severe- as in a high-speed, head-on collision.

But ligamentous injury can sometimes result even in relatively low-impact collisions if the person is unaware of the impending crash and fails to pre-tighten the muscles surrounding their spine. Other factors to consider are the make and model of the vehicles involved, the person's age, height, neck length, and general physical condition at the time of the accident.

When ligaments do become involved, for whatever reason, they tend to show up during the physical exam and are often visualized on the x-rays. While the ligaments themselves cannot actually be seen on film, their damage can be implied by studying the motions of the spine on special views. During the exam, increased pain and muscle guarding during passive ranges of motion of the cervical spine also suggests ligament problems.

Overstretched ligaments basically prolong healing time and cause more pain and neurological problems. Discs are considered to be in the ligament family and can cause significant and sometimes debilitating suffering. These types of complications cause more instability to the spinal column and surrounding structures and need to be addressed quickly and cautiously.

See : Intervertebral disc syndromes

Conventional Medical Treatment

In light of this description, the desire to lengthen a shortened, contracted neck with traction is understandable, as is the use of a whiplash collar to prevent motion of a sore neck. Though the intention to lengthen the neck makes sense, neither therapeutic approach addresses the neurological conditioning resulting from the shock of injury which causes the muscular spasticity. Traction and bracing are ineffective.

Prescription medications such as muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories may initially relieve some symptoms (and make you groggy), they do little to correct and rehabilitate the spinal joints, muscles, ligaments, and nervous system

Since you are reading this article, you have probably already gone the route of standard medical diagnosis and treatment and have not gotten the desired results. Now you know why.

CHIROPRACTIC REMEDIES

Whiplash and other neuromusculoskeletal injuries that are sustained in a motor vehicle accident fall within the scope of chiropractic.

Following an initial exam, we treat for the acute inflammatory phase with ice, heat, electrical muscle stim, microcurrent, and trigger point therapy, or massage. If tolerable to the patient, we will lightly adjust the spine- usually with a low-force technique like the Arthrostim.

Deeper adjustments will follow during the sub-acute stage in order to correct spinal distortions and reduce the formation of scar tissue in and around the joints and surrounding tissues. The body has a tendency to over-heal these types of injuries. Living cells called fibroblasts start to lay down a matrix of scar tisue within hours of a soft-tissue injury. Scar tissue is less elastic than normal tissue and needs to be re-aligned with special techniques like those used at our office.

Rehabilitative exercises and stretches will eventually be introduced to strengthen muscles, increase flexibilty, and support spinal corrections. Chiropractic treatment can help people to avoid reinjuries and prevent chronic problems from developing down the road.

Nutritional therapy may also be elected as an additional adjunct to help speed the recovery and strengthen the soft tissue structures surrounding the spine.

Unresolved injuries are a leading cause of degenerative joint diseases like osteoarthritis, which can lead to permanent joint stiffness, reduced flexibility, pain, and swelling.

Warning - Disclaimer:

The information in this website may not necessarily be the expressed opinion of Standard Process, Inc. and also may not be substantiated by the FDA. The information presented herein is not intended to be a substitute for appropriate medical care or prescription medications. It is not the desire or intention of this practitioner to diagnose and treat disease, but to support the underlying nutritional debts, deficits, and imbalances of dis-ease. This information is not to be used for self-diagnosis and self-treatment, but for educational purposes only. This information is provided with the understanding that the author is not liable for the misconception or misuse of information included. The author of this manual shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss, damage or injury caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this manuscript.