Can Chiropractors Help With Whiplash?

Whiplash is a common injury after car accidents, though it can also be caused by other types of traumas, such as assault, sports injuries, falls, and more. If you suspect you may have whiplash, it’s important to seek out treatment as soon as possible, in order to ensure you can make a full recovery. Chiropractors help with whiplash in a number of different ways. 

If you’ve been in an accident or suffered a trauma that you suspect may have caused whiplash, you can seek out your local chiropractor for treatment. Here’s what you need to know about how chiropractors help with whiplash.

What Is Whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury to your neck that happens as the result of a rapid, forceful back-and-forth movement of your like, similar to the cracking of a whip, hence the name: whiplash. As previously mentioned, whiplash is commonly caused by car accidents, though anything that forces your neck to make that rapid back-and-forth movement can result in this injury.  

Whiplash is an injury because your neck isn’t made to move that fast, that forcefully. The movement can cause trauma to your spine and its structures, including your nerves, ligaments, and muscles. It can throw your spine out of alignment, which thus impacts your body’s overall functioning. Whiplash can result in quite a bit of pain. 

Typically, whiplash goes away on its own as your body heals itself in the weeks following your injury, but sometimes, it can cause long-lasting complications, such as chronic neck pain. It’s important to seek out treatment, such as how chiropractors help with whiplash, in order to aid your recovery and avoid any complications. 

Symptoms Of Whiplash

Symptoms of whiplash typically appear within a few days of the injury, although sometimes, it can take longer for them to develop. Signs and symptoms of whiplash include:

• Neck pain and stiffness
• Loss of range of motion in your neck
• Worsened pain when you move your neck
• Headaches
• Neck instability
• Upper back, shoulder, and/or arm pain and tenderness
• Tingling or numbness in your arms
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Ringing in your ears
• Blurry vision
• Irritability
• Trouble concentrating
• Difficulty sleeping
• Memory problems
• Depression

Chiropractors help with whiplash symptoms like these in a variety of ways. The sooner you seek out chiropractors’ help with whiplash, the sooner you’ll be able to recover and get back to your life.

If your initial symptoms were intense or you are at risk, such as having had whiplash before or having existing back or neck pain, then it is more likely that you will suffer lasting pain. Chiropractic treatment can alleviate this pain and realign your spine so you can live a more comfortable life.  

How Whiplash Is Diagnosed

If you suspect you have whiplash, your chiropractor will conduct an evaluation and run some tests in order to understand what happened, what your symptoms are, and the extent of the injury. Typically, this includes asking you questions about the event that resulted in your symptoms, your medical history, and then a physical examination in order to observe your range of motion and check for misalignment and tenderness and tightness. 

Whiplash doesn’t appear on imaging tests, but your doctor or chiropractor may want to order some in order to rule out other conditions. For example, chiropractors help with whiplash by ensuring that there isn’t anything that could be making it worse. They do this with tests such as X-rays that can show whether or not you’ve suffered any fractures or dislocations. 

How Chiropractors Help With Whiplash

Once whiplash has been diagnosed, chiropractors help with whiplash with a variety of different treatment methods. Every case of whiplash is different, and so treatment methods vary. Your chiropractor will personalize your treatment to you and your specific injury in order to ensure maximum effectiveness. Generally, the goal of whiplash treatment is to control and reduce pain, restore your neck’s range of motion, and help you get back to your normal life.

Some of the ways that chiropractors help with whiplash include:

• Spinal Manipulation. Whiplash can throw your spine out of alignment. Spinal manipulations use pressure in order to ease your spine back into alignment, which can alleviate your pain and help your body heal.
• Spinal Decompression. This treatment method involves gently stretching your spine, so as to alleviate the pressure that is on your spinal discs.
• Advising you on exercises you can do at home.
• Therapeutic massage.
• Ergonomic changes
• Muscle stimulation and relaxation.
• And more. 

Ogden Chiropractic can help you recover from a whiplash injury. Contact us today to learn more about how we help with whiplash or to schedule an appointment.