Because of the weight and inertia involved in an automobile accident, significant force can be transferred to your body, even in low-speed collisions. A common injury involving these forces is whiplash, where the momentum of your head overcomes the counterbalancing power of your neck.
The snapping or whipping motion that results from a car accident can leave you with a collection of injuries and tissue strains. Whiplash can be complex and you may have problems and symptoms that combine in unique ways.
A visit to Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation may be what you need to jumpstart your recovery. As specialists in the treatment of car accident injuries, we can help you with the alignment and soft tissue issues that often result from car accidents, as well as from contact sports or any situation that causes a violent back-and-forth motion of your head.
Despite the singular nature of the whiplash label, the condition covers a wide range of injury and tissue damage that can occur with the violent motion of your head after a collision. Injuries result from compression or overextension of the neck and its support tissues, and sometimes both.
Whiplash is also known for its delayed effects. You could feel fine immediately after your accident or you may have immediate problems. Often, symptoms don’t emerge until 12 hours or more after the accident.
The Quebec Classification of Whiplash-Associated Disorders rates the effects of whiplash on a five-point scale:
The pain, injury, and neurological effects can each cover a wide range of symptoms.
Grade 1 effects feature mild signs of injury, such as neck stiffness or tender spots around your neck and shoulders.
Grade 2 includes Grade 1 symptoms plus signs of injury, such as bruising or muscle spasms. With signs of nerve involvement, Grade 3 adds symptoms like muscle weakness, radiating pain, numbness and tingling, dizziness, headaches, and vision and voice problems.
The most severe whiplash classification, Grade 4 can include all symptoms with some or all at an intense level.
Due to its neurological potential, whiplash isn’t always simple to treat. Unlike a cut that heals progressively, any case of whiplash displaying nerve involvement can persist, even after its physical injuries heal.
Barring bone fractures, chiropractic treatment is an effective treatment to set your body up for fastest healing. Your treatment plan includes chiropractic adjustments that restore bone and soft tissue alignment, allowing for reduced nerve compression and improved blood flow.
These conditions permit your natural healing systems to work efficiently. Pain and inflammation ease up and nerve tissue begins to work normally again.
While whiplash symptoms usually resolve on their own with time, at Active Care Chiropractic & Rehabilitation, we push the recovery clock forward in your favor. Call or click to book an appointment with the nearest of our six offices today.
