While the most common cause of whiplash is being rear-ended in a car accident, there are many other ways one can suffer this particular injury. Additionally, each case of whiplash is unique and depends a great deal on the patient’s history, experiences, and health. The severity of the pain is often not proportional to visible damage to the spine. Therefore, diagnosing and treating whiplash can be quite complex. That is where chiropractic care comes in.
Chiropractors can treat the entire spine and approach a whiplash injury from a much clearer vantage point than traditional medical specialists because they aim to find the underlying cause of your pain. Visiting a chiropractor does not result in a dependency to pain medication or undergoing invasive surgery – chiropractic care is an alternative, drug-free, and non-surgical treatment option for effective relief.
Car Accident Injury and Chiropractic Care
Rear-end collisions occur as a complete surprise that takes your body completely off-guard. The trauma to the neck and spine from whipping back and forth against the headrest can cause invisible damage and great pain. When you come in for a chiropractic appointment after a car accident injury, the chiropractor will usually begin by taking a complete medical history, inquiring about the nature and onset time of the pain, its acuteness, and whether or not there is numbness. There will be a comprehensive physical exam, looking at range of motion, palpation, muscle control, and reflexes. Once a diagnosis of whiplash is confirmed, the real work can begin.
Chiropractors do not simply throw medicine or quick treatments at you promising instant relief. It would be nice if that were reality, but the truth about treatment is that it can take time. While traditional medical approaches to neck pain involve medication or surgery, chiropractic approaches take a much more natural and purposefully active approach to finding methods that will heal your pain. Because there can be so much that can go wrong with this type of injury, from ligament tears to cervical damage to nerve impingement to muscle and soft tissue trauma, a thorough examination by a chiropractor of your whole spine can determine the best course of action.
Some of the effective adjustment techniques used by chiropractors are:
- Manual manipulations
- Flexion-distraction therapy
- Instrument-assisted therapy
- Spinal realignment
- Trigger-point therapy
- Soft-tissue therapy
These all-natural, hands-on approaches have the potential to bring you real relief from your whiplash pain instead of just masking it. If you are suffering and need help, call us to make an appointment with our chiropractor today.