Not surprisingly, many people who have been in car accidents experience whiplash. A sudden and severe jerk of the head causes injury during an accident. Car accidents are not the only cause, but it is one of the more common causes of whiplash.
When it comes to chiropractic therapy for whiplash, there are many treatment options available.
Those who have experienced whiplash often report the following symptoms:
- Neck pain/stiffness
- Dizziness
- Feeling tired
- Tingling or numbing sensations
- Headaches
- Decreased range of motion
Some people also experience tinnitus, depression, blurred vision, and memory loss as a result of whiplash. In this article, we will detail how chiropractic treatments can help alleviate some of these symptoms.
COMMON CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENTS FOR WHIPLASH
If you haven’t considered chiropractic treatments for whiplash before, it is definitely something worth looking into. Some of these treatments include:
Specific spinal manipulation: A chiropractor recommends this treatment after identifying subluxations in the spine. Your practitioner will use mild thrusting which improves the body’s nervous system and contributes to restoring the spine’s natural range of motion.
Instrument-assisted chiropractic manipulation: This is a non-thrusting technique whereby a chiropractor uses a hand-held device to apply pressure to the patient’s spine. This technique is often used on older adults and does not require the thrusting typical of other chiropractic treatments.
Flexion-distraction: This technique is one that most people have seen before. Flexion-distraction is hands-on whereby your chiropractor will use gentle spinal manipulation to resolve subluxations and feelings of stiffness.
There is a theme among these treatments; they all include some variation of spinal manipulation to resolve whiplash symptoms. Manual therapy is also a frequently used tool for treatment.
Manual therapy includes:
Trigger point therapy: As the name might suggest, trigger point therapy is a technique whereby you chiropractor will apply pressure to specific painful muscles/joints to help relieve tension.
Instrument-assisted soft tissue therapy: In this instance, your practitioner may use a chiropractic adjusting instrument to treat injured soft tissue, repeatedly going over the injury with the device.
In addition, your chiropractor may also recommend Interferential Electrical Stimulation. This process is one that incorporates low-frequency current that stimulates and reduces inflammation. Also, your chiropractor may recommend Ultrasound Therapy. In this process, sound waves are sent into a patient’s muscle tissue, which, creates heat and improves the circulation that promotes healing.
In summation, there are a number of chiropractic treatments that can resolve pain and discomfort stemming from whiplash. If you haven’t thought about visiting a chiropractor, at the very least, schedule a consultation.
