More than two million Americans are plagued by whiplash each year. This painful condition is the result of the violent forward and backward movement of the neck, “snapping,” most often during an auto accident. Whiplash can cause a wide range of symptoms that can severely limit everyday activities, including work.
Seeking treatment as soon as possible can help reduce the complications you experience from this challenging condition. Early treatment can also enable you to move much sooner, which expedites your recovery from whiplash. Our team can help you experience better health than you had before the auto accident.
Comprehensive Health Evaluation
When you come to our office, we focus on finding the root cause of your whiplash pain. We perform a detailed physical examination in which we observe you walk, sit, and stand. Sometimes, we might order an additional test or scan for further information.
Once we’ve collected your assessment data, we carefully analyze it searching for patterns of function. We also get a clinical portrait of your overall health. We also consult with you throughout the process to ensure we’re getting a correct understanding of your body.
After completing our data collection and analysis, we make treatment recommendations. The therapies we offer can be divided into a few categories. They are hands-on, equipment-assisted, and lifestyle intervention treatments. The following overview will help you better understand what we have to offer.
Hands-On Techniques
Spinal adjustment is what many people think of when they consider chiropractic medicine. It is one of our flagship offerings because it directly addresses the heart of the problem behind so much dysfunction: spinal misalignment. When healthy spinal alignment is restored, the nerves that run through the spine can appropriately exchange pain and movement signals between the brain and the body.
Spinal adjustment or chiropractic adjustment involves using the hands to coax the spine into optimal alignment gently. Since the spine begins near the base of the skull, this treatment directly addresses the nerve issues that cause whiplash-related pain and dysfunction.
Another related therapy, and perhaps the most popular option in our office, is massage therapy. Therapeutic massage focuses on relieving muscle tension in the neck, shoulders, and upper back. This treatment revs circulation to bring healing oxygen and nutrients to the area. The goal is to reduce pain and stiffness.
Active Release Therapy (ART) is an effective way to relieve whiplash pain. When you’re in an accident, your body increases the rate at which it produces collagen. As a result, scar tissue forms much more readily. This scar tissue attaches to muscles and limits their movement. The main goal of ART is to free muscles from this scar tissue so they can move more easily and with less pain.
Equipment-Assisted Therapies
The Graston Technique also aims to separate muscle from scar tissue. The only difference between The Graston Technique and ART is that it uses a metal tool. In addition to the metal tool used to perform The Graston Technique, we have several additional forms of equipment-assisted therapies.
Whether you receive K-Laser or MR4 cold laser therapy, lasers penetrate to the deeper layers of tissue where they infuse the cells. As a result, energy production ramps up, reducing inflammation and promoting tissue healing. This sets the stage for lessening pain and boosting muscle function.
Since laser therapy reduces inflammation, it can further reduce any additional pain such swelling causes. It can also interrupt the vicious cycle of inflammatory chemicals, increased pain, and damaged tissue. Laser therapy replaces this negative cycle with a pro-healing environment in which the body’s natural healing abilities are supported.
Lifestyle Intervention Treatments
In order to heal properly, your body needs access to the necessary materials. In addition to promoting optimal nerve and muscular function through hands-on and equipment-assisted therapies, we prescribe a variety of lifestyle interventions for treating whiplash.
Getting an appropriate balance of nutrients is essential for rebuilding damaged tissue. As a result, we recommend our patients eat a wide variety of foods with a focus on fresh produce for optimal phytonutrient intake. Adequate hydration helps all of your body’s systems work together to carry in nutrients and carry out harmful waste products.
One of our favorite ways to work up a good appetite or thirst is by exercising. While we highly recommend taking advantage of all of the beautiful hiking trails in our region, targeted exercises can help speed your whiplash recovery. When you attend a supervised therapeutic exercise session in our office, you have the benefit of immediate correction for any issues with your form. You can also receive on-the-spot customization when an exercise becomes too easy or too painful to perform.
While in-office work is helpful, there is no substitute for long-term, consistent work toward health goals. When you faithfully follow a lifestyle intervention program, you reap daily benefits such as increased energy, clearer thinking, and better breathing. You also enhance your recovery from whiplash because such healthy lifestyle choices give your body the materials it needs to repair.
Whiplash Treatment Options That Work For You
We hope we’ve given you some insight into some of the treatments we offer for whiplash as well as a brighter outlook if you or a loved one currently have this condition. Coming in for a consultation is a fast and easy way to start feeling better as soon as possible. Contact us through our online contact form or give us a call today at (303) 455-2225.