SHORT AND LONG TERM EFFECTS OF WHIPLASH
Whiplash, while simple, can get very complex.
The inherent danger stems from the mechanism of the injury which results from a quick acceleration and then deceleration. Whiplash injury is, in fact, the more common name for what is known in the chiropractic community as an “acceleration/deceleration injury”. Regardless of the speed of your automobile during a collision, an injury from whiplash can still cause significant damage to your neck. The reason for this is not so much the speed of the automobile but the quick change in directions of force.
Here’s an example everyone can relate to.
Take a wet towel and swing it, like your swinging a baseball bat, at someone’s leg. They will no doubt look at your bewildered and confused. The flaccid towel will likely hit with the impact of a wet noodle resulting in no damage, pain or any cause for concern. Now take that same towel and hit them in the leg with a quick acceleration/deceleration motion resulting in a SNAPPING of the towel and probably more than a few profanities from the receiving party. Even with less force and speed the snapping towel assault is far more painful and can easily cause a welt, bruise and even break open the skin. WHY? You know why. For the same reason, that whiplash is so damaging to your neck… the acceleration/deceleration or quick change in direction of forces.
Now that you see how whiplash from an auto accident can easily damage the ligaments and muscles in your neck, you should understand what kind of damage whiplash can do. This is important as most medical doctors and even some chiropractors do not fully grasp the severity of the whiplash injury.
SHORT TERM AUTO ACCIDENT CONDITIONS
Any chiropractor can tell you that because of whiplash induced injuries and other soft tissue injuries during an auto accident you’re likely to experience:
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Neck pain
- Mid-back pain
- Low back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Tinnitus
- Visual Disturbances
- Temporal Mandibular Joint Pain
That’s not all there is to it, though. These short-term pains and symptoms do not always stay short-term. They must be evaluated and treated by a chiropractor knowledgeable in the auto accident and whiplash injuries.
The Big Mistake That People Make With Whiplash and Other Auto Accident Injuries:
- Any pain or symptoms they experience will not last and be short term. “The accident wasn’t that bad so I’m sure my neck pain/back pain/headaches will get better on their own.”
- If you don’t have pain right away (within a few days or weeks) then there was no damage and you will have no pain later.
- Drugs (pain killers and muscle relaxers) will fix or heal the primary condition causing the secondary pain and symptoms.
LONG TERM AUTO ACCIDENT CONDITIONS
Whiplash from an auto accident is VERY likely to have long-term and chronic deleterious effects to your health if not properly treated by a chiropractor familiar with more than just the short-term effects of injuries from whiplash.
Medical doctors and very few chiropractors are trained to treat long-term effects of whiplash injuries so they are often ignored and not addressed which is why they are so prevalent. Many of the patients are Corrective Chiropractic are being treated as a result of needing corrective chiropractic care because the treatment they received from their traditional chiropractor did not address their spines structures, which was the primary condition that caused their neck pain, back pain, headaches, etc. These long-term conditions include but are not limited to:
- Loss of the Normal Cervical (neck) Curve
- Kyphosis (reversal) of the Normal Cervical (neck) Curve
- Ligament Injuries
- Degenerative Joint Disease
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
- Tinnitus
- Visual Disturbances
- Temporal Mandibular Degeneration
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Neck pain
- Mid-back pain
- Low back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
The most important fact to understand about these long term conditions is that most of them are secondary conditions that are caused by only a few primary conditions that happen during an auto accident. The first three long-term conditions from injuries caused by whiplash are typically responsible for all the remaining aches and pains and other secondary conditions. This is why it is so common for long term auto accident pains and symptoms to go untreated. No medical doctors and very few chiropractors actually treat these conditions. This is why your best choice is chiropractor Dr. Bret Wickstrom at Corrective Chiropractic in Greenville, NC.