Whiplash Treatment – Key Treatment Facts and The Role of Chiropractic
Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of whiplash. However, whiplash can occur with any sudden movement of your head -from sports injuries, slips and falls, and more. Whiplash can cause many different kinds of symptoms:
The reason why whiplash causes injuries to your neck and back is because the typical whiplash injury from a rear end impact occurs within 300 milliseconds. Unfortunately, your muscles take 600 milliseconds to contract. Thus, the injury has occurred before your muscles can contract to protect the joints of the spine. In addition, if there is less muscle mass in the neck the injury is typically worse. This is why we see that women are more prone to whiplash injuries compared to men.
If you are involved in a motor vehicle accident or already have been I want to discuss some important aspects as far as your whiplash treatment. I recently read a study out of the archives of surgery that looked at the prevalence of pain in patient’s after whiplash trauma.
There were over 3000 patient’s aged 18-84 involved in this study. Here were some of the key findings:
- 75% of patients had pain related to their neck.
- Pain levels at 3 months after whiplash was predictive of having pain at 12 months post whiplash.
- 60% of patients had 3 painful areas or more.
- Pain was more common in those who smoked.
- At 12 months post whiplash 62% of patients still reported injury related pain.
I believe one of the most important findings to discuss is that the pain levels at 3 months post whiplash was predictive of having pain at 12 months post whiplash. Basically, the authors found that there is a high likelihood of how you’re doing at 3 months is how you will be doing at 12 months.
In the conclusion of the study, the authors conclude that earlier and more intensive interventions to treat pain in whiplash trauma patients are needed. The major take away for you is that you want to have intensive treatment in the first 3 months following whiplash trauma. If we can get you pain-free and back to pre-accident status before 3 months post whiplash trauma there is a high likelihood that you will be pain free 12 months after the whiplash. Utilizing this whiplash treatment protocol is crucial for your best outcome.
Thus, if you wait 1 month to see if the symptoms will get better on their own there is less time for treatment to get you pain-free before the 3 month post whiplash date which was found to be very important for optimal whiplash treatment.
One of the best forms of treatment for your whiplash-related injuries is the type of motion provided by chiropractic adjustments. The earlier this motion and treatment can be started after whiplash trauma the more effective your whiplash treatment. I find that the earlier you receive treatment after a whiplash trauma the shorter the duration of treatment to get you back to pre-accident status.
If you’re experiencing neck pain, back pain, or headaches from whiplash please call my office for a free no obligation consultation. We serve patients in Roseville, MN, Saint Paul, MN, Arden Hills, MN, Como, MN, Shoreview, MN, and Falcon Heights, MN.