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Whiplash
What is whiplash?
Whiplash is most commonly associated with rear-end car collisions
in which the heads of those in the front car are suddenly
snapped back and forth by the impact. It is more accurately
called cervical acceleration/deceleration (CAD) trauma or
syndrome, which describes the rapid movements that can injure
the vertebrae of the neck and the muscles and ligaments that
support them.
Who suffers from whiplash?
Anyone can be subjected to whiplash, even in a low-force
car crash at speeds as low as 5mph. But injuries associated
with whiplash can also result from other mishaps in which
the head is pushed or jerked beyond its normal range of motion.
Whiplash most commonly causes serious and lingering neck pain,
but there may also be back pain,
headaches and dizziness. Inasmuch
as bruising of the brain can sometimes occur in auto accidents
and similarly severe causes of whiplash, some victims have
experienced blurred vision, ringing in the ears, nausea and
numbness.
What can chiropractic do?
The sudden accident that caused the whiplash in the first
place may fade into memory, but the physical and psychological
damage of whiplash can become chronic, eroding a victim's
quality of life. Chiropractic techniques and chiropractors'
skills are particularly well-suited to relieving the neck
pain and other debilitating effects of whiplash because they
can
• restore movement lost after the accident,
• overcome muscle weakness and enhance muscle tone,
• speed recovery, and
• diminish chronic symptoms that can persist or recur
over many years.
Repeated and effective chiropractic adjustments have proved
successful for many thousands of patients. Chiropractic can,
in many cases, significantly reduce patients' distress and
allow them to return to their normal activities rather than
seeing themselves as invalids--as so many whiplash victims
do long after their accident.
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References
• Foreman, SM, Croft AC. Whiplash
injuries: The cervical acceleration/deceleration syndrome,
2nd ed., Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1995.
• Borchgrevink GE, Kaasa A, McDonagh D, et al. Acute
treatment of whiplash neck sprain injuries: A randomized trial
of treatment during the first 14 days after a car accident.
Spine, 1998; vol. 23, no. 1, pp25-31.
• Squires B, Gargan MF, Bannister GC. Soft-tissue injuries
of the cervical spine: A 15-year follow-up. Journal of
Bone and Joint Surgery (British Edition), 1996; vol. 70B,
pp955-57.
• Lord SM, Barnsley L, Wallis BJ, Bogduk, N.. Chronic
cervical zygapophysial joint pain after whiplash. Spine,
1996; vol. 21, no. 15, pp1737-45.
• Spitzer WO, Skovron, ML, Salmi LR, et al. Redefining
"whiplash" and its management. Scientific Monograph of the
Quebec Task Force on Whiplash-Associated Disorders, Spine,
1995; vol. 20, no. 8S, pp1S-72S.
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