Car Accidents and Whiplash

Today, the largest single contributor to chronic neck pain and overall spine pain is motor vehicle crashes. Of the 6 million injuries per year due to motor vehicle crashes, about three million are whiplash-type injuries. Of those, most will develop chronic pain. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the treatment of whiplash, unlike other conditions, is often embroiled in typical motor vehicle crash legal action. Lawyers and insurance-company representatives relish research that says patients will get better all on their own. The prevention and treatment of whiplash have ramifications that extend beyond the head and neck. Other conditions attributed to whiplash include blurred vision, dizziness, nausea, thoracic outlet syndrome, fibromyalgia, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Fibromyalgia is the third most common diagnosis made by American rheumatologists, and as many as 25 percent of diagnosed cases are attributed to an earlier trauma event, of which whiplash ranks number one in frequency. If you are injured, whether the vehicle sustains no damage or is totaled, there is a one-in-three chance you will have chronic pain. It doesn't matter how much or how little damage there is to the vehicle. Even an 8 mph collision produces two times the force of gravity or a 2-G acceleration of the car, and a 5-G acceleration of the head. This magnification of the force gives rise to the name Whiplash. The chiropractic approach to these types of injuries is to use specific, gentle chiropractic adjustments to help restore spinal function. Chiropractic adjustments are one of the only proven remedies for whiplash injuries. "If I don’t have pain right away, I’m O.K.," is a myth. Whiplash injuries can be so slight that at first you don’t even know you are injured, whether or not there was any damage to the car, or they can be extremely severe with multiple broken bones. The Truth… Even if you feel normal after an accident, with no symptoms, you should still be thoroughly examined. Symptoms can be delayed for days, and in some cases may not surface for years. Worse, whiplash can still cause symptoms up to five years, and in the long run, can cause secondary problems such as osteoarthritis and premature disc degeneration. This delay in symptoms and the long-term consequences make it very important to get examined after any accident.