Accidents and Injuries

Whiplash refers to a soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine, or neck, caused by a strong, abrupt, back-and- forth movement of the head, typically caused by an automobile accident, although this type of injury can also be the result of a sports accident or other trauma. Several studies suggest that up to 43% of individuals generally suffer from long-term symptoms following a whiplash injury. Further studies also suggest that of those individuals whom still experience symptoms after three months of the injury, almost 90% of the time, they will develop chronic whiplash symptoms. 

Although conventional treatment can be used to treat whiplash, chiropractic treatment is notably recommended to treat many automobile accident injuries and the improvement results are quite significant, according to research. The authors of a study researched the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment in 28 individuals who had been previously diagnosed with chronic whiplash pain and other symptoms. Each person had been referred to a chiropractor in between a range of 3 months to almost 4 years after their accident, with an average of 15.5 months. After following the appropriate chiropractic treatment, 26 of the affected individuals, in other words, 93% of the people with chronic whiplash symptoms, had improved considerably: 16 individuals had improved by one symptom group while 10 individuals had improved by two symptom groups. 

For whiplash, a chiropractor often uses spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to correct cervical spine misalignments in order to minimize the stress and tension on the surrounding neck muscles. Chiropractic treatment can also include a set of stretches or exercises to continue rehabilitating whiplash symptoms.