Whiplash: 3 Things to Know
Your neck is sore. You have a headache beginning. Your shoulders are extremely tense and your energy is low. You were just rear-ended in a small fender-bender yesterday, so it doesn’t make sense why you’re hurting so much. Or does it?
Whiplash is not reserved for the worst accidents only. You can be subjected to whiplash from a simple tap on your rear bumper. The most surprising thing I have seen in over thirteen years as a chiropractor is how much damage a low speed rear-impact collision can do to someone.
If you experience symptoms of whiplash, it is important not to just ignore it and hope it just goes away. Get it treated so that you don’t suffer the long-term affects it can leave you with.
Whiplash: What is it?
When you experience a car accident, forces are transferred through the vehicle to the driver and passengers. In other words, when the car gets bumped quickly, your body will follow and jerk very quickly. Your neck accelerates forward at a high speed and then is thrown backward into the headrest. In technical terms, this is called a Cervical Acceleration-Deceleration injury, or CAD injury. It all happens in a split second. It happens so fast that your muscles can’t guard your spine and ligaments, which is normally a natural protective mechanism. Without muscles tensing, all that is left are ligaments to protect the vertebrae of your spine. As a result, ligaments of your spine get sprained and muscles around your spine get strained.
And there is more good news! The result of whiplash is not limited to your neck. Your thoracic spine (mid-back) and lumbar spine (lower back) are also subject to the high forces of a car accident and to your body jerking forward and backward at a high speed. This all goes to show why even a low speed tap on your bumper can result in pain of your neck and entire back.
Can I still get Whiplash if my Car wasn’t damaged?
Whiplash can only happen if your car is severely damaged in an accident, right? Wrong! There are over 3 million CAD or Whiplash injuries in the United States per year. Most modern vehicles won’t show any appreciable damage with rear-end crash speeds of 8-10mph. If you are hit at that speed, your car will accelerate forward 6-8mph. In order to sustain soft tissue injuries (i.e. injuries to muscles or ligaments) to your neck it only takes 2.5-5mph of forward acceleration. Basically, a low-speed hit that does not damage your car will still transfer most of that force to the driver and passengers. In fact, when your car is hit, the people inside the car accelerate up to 4 times the speed that the car was hit! Plus, your neck might be in much worse shape if your head is turned at the time of the accident. Over the past few decades cars have been built stiffer and stronger to protect occupants from catastrophic injuries, however this means that in general, greater force gets transferred from the frame of the car to the occupant, and hence there is greater incidence of whiplash.
How to treat whiplash
Following a whiplash incident, you might feel neck pain, headaches, and all-over body aches. This can include your mid back and lower back. It is best to receive an examination and begin treatment soon after experiencing these symptoms. A chiropractor can examine your joints and soft tissues and develop a care plan. Gentle chiropractic adjusting, or manipulation, can reduce pain and improve mobility. Different forms of soft tissue therapy will help reduce muscle tension and improve your rate of healing. Active Release Technique soft tissue therapy is excellent to treat specific areas and massage therapy is great for reducing muscle tension, as well. Therapeutic exercise assigned by a chiropractor or performed with a physical therapist can also help restore function while you heal. Even if you have to to to the ER or urgent care immediately following the accident to make sure nothing is broken, seeking out a chiropractor or knowledgable musculoskeletal-care practitioner is the best way to alleviate short-term and long-term pain and restore your body to full function.
If you have been in a car accident, call us today at 206-954-7479 and I would be happy to provide a full evaluation and help you take the first steps on the road to recovery. You can also download and message us through the Barlas Chiropractic App! Download it from the App Store here, or from Google Play here.
Feel free and email us at drjafferbarlas@gmail.com or contact us through our website here.
*Following proper evaluation, patients at Barlas Chiropractic are often treated with light chiropractic adjustments, Active Release Technique soft tissue therapy, Graston Technique soft tissue therapy, and therapeutic exercise to reduce pain, improve mobility, and safely speed recovery.
Yours in health,
Science Sources:
Croft, Arthur C. Whiplash Injury: Biomechanics and Traumatology. Vol. 1, Spine Research Institute of San Diego, 2018.
(206) 954-7479