WHIPLASH CHIROPRACTIC

CERVICAL-ACCELERATION-DECELERATION injury (CAD)

Whiplash chiropractic is well placed to treat the victims of motor vehicle accidents. There are 3 million whiplashes in the USA each year from MVAs alone. Of course, whiplash can occur in many other ways too.

Numerous studies, done from 6 months to 15 years after a motor vehicle collision injury, reveal that between 40-50% of victims have permanent pain. Whiplash is a very significant phenomenon.

What is whiplash?

These sheer forces on the spine result in injuries to the ligaments and joints, the nerves and a pressure build up in the cerebral spinal fluid.

Interestingly, MRI scans done on victims who died in MVAs were often negative, but autopsies revealed that many of them had bleeding and microfractures in the tissues, that could not be seen on scans. The MRI is a wonderful tool, but it too has limitations. There is no substitute for a thorough physical examination of the whiplash patient.

Likewise, conventional X-rays are often 'insensitive' to whiplash injuries, showing little or no change. They are not a useful tool in ruling out whether a whiplash has occurred or not. Neither are they useful in predicting the future onset of osteo-arthritis that frequently follows whiplash.

The literature shows that the most common injury sites are the neck, back, the shoulders and the knees.

In an important study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers showed that treatment of the facet joints not only relieved severe neck pain, but also resolved the psychological disturbances associated with car accidents... 

Whiplash research

The role of the chiropractor

The tiny so-called Joints of Luschka are particularly vulnerable. Any injury to them causes sharp spurs to invade the foramen where the nerve is emerging on it's way to the arm (and the diaphragm, amongst other things).

Thereafter, chiropractors encourage patients to start exercises and stretches, as this fits well with their philosophy of health care, to reduce the likelihood of permanent pain following crashes. Chiropractic is ideally suited for managing these whiplash chiropractic cases as the DC is trained in these approaches, and getting the patient back to normal activities of daily living as soon as possible.

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is one of the known consequences because of the intimate relationship between the artery and nerve supplying the arm, on the one hand, and the first rib, the collarbone and two important neck muscles often involved in whiplash chiropractic.

Headaches are another common result of whiplash. The whip not only strains strategic muscles in the neck, but frequently also sprains ligaments that stabilise the spine, allowing subluxation and consequent nerve injury. The intimate relationship between the dura covering the spinal cord and brain and these soft tissues often leads to chronic headaches.