If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you may be experiencing neck pain. Whether it’s constant and sharp or residual and nagging, neck pain from a car accident impacts your quality of life.
Luckily, there are some things you can do to not only control neck pain but banish it from your life so it doesn’t keep recurring at unexpected times. Follow these tips to eliminate your neck pain and start enjoying more out of life.
A qualified chiropractor can help you eliminate pain from a car accident.
Things You Can Do for Neck Pain
If you’re suffering from neck pain after a car accident, the most likely culprit is whiplash. A whiplash injury occurs when your head jerks back and then forward very rapidly, like the crack of a whip. This happens most often when you’re rear-ended in a vehicle. With this sudden motion, the ligaments and tendons in your neck can stretch too far, or even tear, resulting in pain whenever you turn or bend your head.
There are some simple home treatments you can use to control whiplash neck pain. These can include…
- The application of ice packs and/or heat packs for 15 minutes at a time
- Over-the-counter pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication
- Gentle neck stretches to help mitigate stiffness as your tendons and ligaments heal
Chiropractic Diagnosis of Neck Pain Causes
If you have severe neck pain that doesn’t go away, your best option is typically to see a chiropractor for treatment. Chiropractic treatment for whiplash involves an examination of the spine as a whole.
A chiropractor’s full assessment and diagnosis will involve observing your movements and looking at both posture and spinal alignment. If more damage beyond whiplash is suspected, your chiropractor may have X-rays or an MRI performed to get a clearer picture of your condition and determine what type of treatment is warranted.
Chiropractic Treatment for Neck Pain
Usually, the first step involved in treating whiplash is to reduce inflammation in the neck. Your chiropractor may use a variety of methods, such as stretching, manual therapy, or ultrasound to ease swelling, and may also recommend the use of ice packs to further reduce the inflammation.
The rest of the treatment will depend on your pain levels and the severity of your condition. One of the most common techniques used by chiropractors to combat neck pain is spinal manipulation, which gently maneuvers the spine into the correct position through a series of carefully controlled, non-thrusting movements.
Some advanced techniques your chiropractor may use to relieve whiplash pain include:
- Therapeutic massage
- Manual joint stretching
- Trigger point therapy
- Soft tissue therapy
Whether you have low, persistent neck pain or sharp, disruptive neck pain, a qualified chiropractor can help you eliminate neck pain from a car accident, once and for all.
