What happens when you are rear-ended or involved in an automobile accident?
Whiplash is a phrase used to describe a sudden movement of the head on the neck in a rear-end automobile accident. This is often called an acceleration-deceleration injury. As you are rear-ended, the neck whips back and there is an overstretching or tearing of the anterior neck ligaments, tendons, and muscles. This can lead to an inflammatory reaction in the tissues causing pain and swelling. Nerve tissues can be overstretched also and lead to numbness in the arms and hands. The jaw joint can be overstretched and become painful with movement.
Intervertebral discs can be traumatized and lead to tearing of the fibers of the disc, which can produce disc protrusion and cause radiating pain into the arms and hands. As the head whips forward, the posterior neck muscles, ligaments, and posterior joints in the spine can be overstretched and injured. Some symptoms can include headaches, neck pain, and stiffness. Other symptoms include tingling and numbness in the arms and hands, muscle spasms, dizziness, back pain, and pain between the shoulder blades. Often, rib or chest pain can occur due to the pressure of seatbelts or deployed airbags. It is very important to be examined after an automobile accident to determine the extent of the damage to the tissues.
To diagnose your problem fully, a thorough orthopedic examination will be performed, which will include muscle tests, ranges of motion tests in the neck and back, reflex tests, pinwheel test, and orthopedic tests. X-rays will be performed in the injured areas to determine the extent of the injuries. Chiropractic treatments will include electrical stimulation to decrease muscle spasms, ultrasound to heal tissue, low-force chiropractic alignments of the joints to improve mobility, light exercises to strengthen muscles, and traction to open disc spaces.
All of these treatments will ensure that there will be limited scar formation in the tissues, which can lead to decreased function or mobility. The sooner an injured person seeks chiropractic treatment, the better the outcome of the injury and the faster the recovery time.