Suffering From Whiplash Due to an Auto Accident? A Chiropractor Can Help

Whiplash is a traumatic neck strain injury that happens when a rapid inertia change propels your head back and forth with great force. While it can happen on the sports field or in a slip-and-fall incident, most of the three million whiplash injuries that occur each year in the United States are sustained in rear-end auto accidents.  

At Spine Care of Manassas Chiropractic Center in Manassas, Virginia, we provide prompt evaluation and holistic chiropractic care for patients who are dealing with neck pain and acute whiplash trauma following a car crash. Here, our team explains what that entails.   

Understanding whiplash neck trauma

When your head is forcefully thrown back and forth in a car accident, the sudden inertia change instantly thrusts your neck and cervical spine into an uncontrollable “whip-like” movement.

Tissue trauma 

Known as whiplash, this forceful directional change of motion can strain or damage any or all of the tissues in your neck, from the bones, discs, and nerves that make up your cervical spine to the soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, and muscles) that support them.    

Injury severity

Whiplash symptoms often correlate to the severity of the trauma or the degree to which your neck was hyperextended or compressed during the car accident. In most cases, the greater the extension or compression, the greater the injury.

Possible symptoms 

Grade-one or grade-two whiplash is a mild to moderate injury associated with neck stiffness and pain, which may radiate into your face or head. It can also cause:

• Injury tenderness or sensitivity 
• Neck stiffness with movement
• Reduced range of head motion
• Intensive neck muscle spasms

A severe, grade-three or grade-four whiplash injury typically triggers intense neck pain and stiffness. Because severe whiplash is more likely to disrupt nerve signal pathways, it can also cause neurological symptoms, such as: 

• Headaches; vision problems 
• Dizziness or cervical vertigo
• Arm weakness or numbness
• Burning or tingling sensations

When you’ve sustained whiplash in a car accident, you can expect a few mild symptoms to appear soon afterward. It’s also likely that more symptoms may emerge 12-24 hours later.  

How chiropractic care treats whiplash 

Chiropractic care takes a comprehensive, holistic approach to whiplash injury treatment that aims to foster complete healing for a full and accelerated recovery. This involves:   

Diagnostic imaging

Before effectively treating a whiplash injury, we must first pinpoint the nature and extent of its damage. By conducting X-ray or MRI imaging tests, we can detect hidden damage like a herniated cervical disc, a hairline vertebral fracture, or a dislocated facet joint — and create a more targeted treatment plan.  

An informed approach

The information we learn from your physical exam and imaging tests shapes your treatment plan to help you attain the best possible outcome. This is the essence of our chiropractic care approach: We aim to address the specific, interconnected areas of trauma at the root of your whiplash injury so healing can occur simultaneously on multiple levels.

Spinal manipulation

Using hands-on chiropractic manipulation techniques, we may gently adjust your cervical spine to ease the effects of whiplash extension or compression. This helps position your bones, discs, and supporting tissues better for healing and restoring movement.

Improved blood flow

While mild whiplash often heals well with an initial period of rest and ice therapy, we can accelerate the healing process with cold laser therapy. This innovative treatment uses noninvasive, low-level energy waves to increase regional blood flow, reduce inflammation, ease pain, and trigger a cascade of healing effects at the cellular level.  

Restored range of motion

Whiplash-induced neck pain and stiffness can lead to shoulder and upper back stiffness, which further limits mobility. Chiropractic care incorporates gentle massage therapy and physical therapy stretches and exercises to help reduce these effects, promote a restored range of motion, and facilitate total post-injury rehabilitation.  

Schedule your injury evaluation today

When you suffer a whiplash injury, it’s important to seek prompt medical care as soon as possible after your car accident. Why? Even if your initial symptoms seem mild, an expert evaluation can reveal the extent of the trauma you’ve sustained to inform a more tailored treatment plan for an optimized recovery.  

Think you might have whiplash? Spine Care of Manassas Chiropractic Center is here to help. Call us today, or click online to schedule a visit with Dr. Lincoln German or Dr. Mikaela Foley in our Manassas, Virginia, office at your convenience.