Bounce Back from Whiplash

Did you know that whiplash is one of the most common complaints of patients that have been in car accidents? When an accident occurs, the force of a sudden stop can jolt your body violently. This can cause serious damage and pain in the body, especially in the neck. Fortunately, at Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center, we have effective treatments for whiplash to help your body recuperate fast. You no longer have to wait weeks hoping that the pain will fade away! We have myofascial manipulation, trigger-point therapy, deep tissue massage, spinal adjustments and more to help eliminate the pain of whiplash and the lingering neck damage symptoms. Get the help you need now to prevent pain later!

Whiplash: What Is It?

Whiplash is not something every patient will experience. If you’ve ever been in a car crash, you may have experienced whiplash before. Whiplash is the damage to the muscles, ligaments, tendons and even the bones of the neck from the sudden force of stopping. Many patients experience whiplash most often from car accidents. The neck and head are forced backwards and forwards quickly, which puts the cervical spine through extreme stress from such quick motions. For example, when a car gets rear-ended by another car, the torso keeps accelerating forward while the head does not. This causes the spine to make an unnatural S shape, whereas it usually has a natural C shape. The sudden movement of the neck as your vehicle is rear-ended or hit can damage the neck, but can also compress discs in the spine, damage intervertebral discs, facet joints and more. Whiplash can also occur from activities such as:

• Sports accidents
• Falling or diving into water
• Slips and falls
• Falling objects that come in contact with the head
• Rollercoasters
• Bungee jumping
• Assault
• Football
• High-impact activities

Common Symptoms

There are certain symptoms common to patients that experience whiplash. A sudden stop (such as in a car) can cause your body to be jolted against the seat quite violently. The body stays more stable than the head, and the pivot point with a sudden force from stopping makes the neck move too rapidly. Any action that bends or pulls on the neck in that way could cause you damage and pain. Some symptoms many experience include:

• Blurred vision or other visual disturbances
• Pain and stiffness in the shoulders and especially the neck
• Insomnia and/or irritability
• Dizzy spells that seem to come and go
• Ringing in the ears
• Reduced range-of-motion
• Shoulder and upper back pain
• Headaches and migraines that stem from the top of the neck and the base of the skull from where the damage occurred
• Fatigue that develops after the incidence has happened

Some Facts

• Many who experience whiplash will recover in about 3 months, but others have symptoms that last for years.
• Whiplash injuries make up more than 65% of bodily-injury claims.
• This is the most common injury to come out of rear-end collisions.
• Around 200 rear-end collisions happen each day just in British Columbia. Thousands more collisions happen throughout the United States each day.
• Whiplash occurs more often in women than in men.
• Symptoms commonly don’t appear for weeks or months after an accident.
• 3/4ths of people will experience symptoms for 6 months or more.

Reasons to Be Treated

After an accident has occurred, it can take days, weeks or even months for symptoms to set in. There are patients that will have back problems, trigger points or unexplained pain even a year after an accident has occurred that stems from the initial accident. It’s tempting for many to brush off their aches, pain and even fatigue after a sudden accident because the problem doesn’t seem severe. Once symptoms set in though, it can cause chronic pain, disrupt your daily activities and ability to move and could make you unable to work.

Bounce Back from Whiplash through Therapy

At Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center, we have many treatments and therapies that have helped our patients experience relief from their pain and symptoms. These include:

• Chiropractic Care – Spinal adjustments with the chiropractor can fix alignment issues in the neck and back. We can also help correct subluxations and compressed or herniated discs.
• Massage Therapy – Soothing deep-tissue massage can help relieve some of the chronic pain you feel. It can also help loosen stiff muscles that hold tension.
• Vibration Therapy – Traction and vibration therapies can slow down and reverse damage that has happened to the neck and spine.
• Myofascial Manipulation – This therapy works to release tension in the muscles much like massage therapy.
• Trigger-Point Therapy – Your back and neck may be filed with tight knots of tension, especially if an injury has occurred. This therapy can help loosen compressed nerves and knots that cause you neuropathy symptoms and pain.
• Spinal Decompression – We slowly and gently stretch the spine to relieve pent-up pressure within compressed discs and vertebrae.

Your Consultation

If you think you may be suffering from whiplash, Dr. Atencio and the team at Texas Spine & Sports Therapy Center are ready to help! We can create a specialized treatment plan to help relieve your symptoms of whiplash. For your free consultation, simply call our office at (512) 806-0015!