Back Clinic Auto Accident Injuries Chiropractic and Physical Therapy Team. Many automobile accidents occur throughout the world every year, affecting a wide number of individuals, both physically and mentally. From neck and back pain to bone fractures and whiplash, auto accident injuries and their associated symptoms can challenge the daily lives of those who experienced unexpected circumstances.
Dr. Alex Jimenez’s collection of articles discusses auto injuries caused by trauma, including which specific symptoms affect the body and the particular treatment options available for each injury or condition resulting from an auto accident. Being involved in a motor vehicle accident can not only lead to injuries but they can be full of confusion and frustrations.
It is very important to have a qualified provider specializing in these matters completely assess the circumstances surrounding any injury. For more information, please feel free to contact us at (915) 850-0900 or text to call Dr. Jimenez personally at (915) 540-8444.
Physical therapy is a highly effective treatment option for whiplash, especially when coupled with other treatments and medicines, such as bracing. With whiplash, the soft tissues in your neck become damaged or injured, but a physical therapist can help restore the individual’s original movement and proper function of those tissues.
Physical therapy can include both passive and active treatments. Passive treatments help unwind your body as well as you. As you don’t have to actively participate, they are called passive. Most likely, you’re experiencing severe pain because of whiplash, which means you will probably start as your body heals with passive treatments and/or adapts to the pain. But the aim of physical therapy would be to get into active treatments. All these are in order for your spine has better support healing exercises that reinforce your body.
Passive Treatments for Whiplash
Deep Tissue Massage: Muscle tension that may grow as a consequence of whiplash is targeted by this technique. The therapist uses direct pressure and friction to try and release the tension in your soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles). This would help them heal quicker.
Hot and Cold Therapies: Through the use of heat, the physical therapist seeks to get more blood to the target area because more oxygen is brought by an increased blood circulation and nutrients to that particular place. Blood can also be needed to remove waste byproducts created by muscle spasms, plus additionally, it helps curing.
Circulation slows, helping lessen pain, muscle spasms, and inflammation. Your physical therapist will switch between hot and cold therapies.
(When you first injure yourself�either in a car crash or in a different injury-inducing event�you can make use of this hot and cold treatment technique at home. Use ice first to bring the inflammation down, and after the first 24 to 48 hours, you can change between ice and heat. The heat can help relax tense muscles, and it will improve circulation to the region that is injured. Increased circulation promotes faster healing. As a reminder, never place ice or heat directly on your own skin�wrap it in a towel, as an example.)
Ultrasound: By raising blood circulation, an ultrasound helps reduce muscle spasms, cramping, swelling, stiffness, and pain. It will this by developing a gentle heat that improves circulation, sending sound waves into your muscle tissues and healing.
Active Treatments for Whiplash
In the active portion of physical therapy, your therapist will teach you various exercises to work on your own strength and range of movement (how easily your joints move). Your physical therapy program is individualized, taking into account your wellbeing and history. Your exercises may not be acceptable for another individual with whiplash and neck pain.
If necessary, you’ll learn how to correct your posture and integrate ergonomic principles into your daily actions. This pose work must help you since youwill have the ability to prevent other types of neck pain that grow from daily living, even once you recover from whiplash.
Overall, the purpose of physical therapy for whiplash patients will be to help increase blood circulation, reduce muscle spasms, and encourage healing of the neck tissues.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
Conservative treatment for whiplash includes immobilizing the patient’s neck in a well-fitting soft cervical collar; use of pain, anti inflammatory, and muscle relaxant drugs; and physical therapy.
Physical therapy (PT) helps to reduce muscle spasms, increase circulation, and encourage healing. PT can range from the following modalities: damp heat, ice, ultrasound, electric stimulation, and exercise to revive range of movement and build strength. Cervical traction might be included to the treatment strategy if symptoms persist. A cervical traction apparatus that was portable can be used at office or home. Trigger point injections including a local anesthetic may help relieve pain and tenderness.
If symptoms continue for more than 6 weeks, or new symptoms appear the patient’s condition is re evaluated. Extension injuries that are severe can damage the intervertebral discs included. Surgical intervention may in rare cases be required, when an intervertebral disc is influenced.
Surgical Interventions for Whiplash
Rarely does operation is required by the treatment of whiplash. Surgical intervention is considered in acute cases such as scapular, those presenting consistent neck or shoulder pain. The pain may indicate a rip within an intervertebral disc. Certainly one of these procedures could be performed, when intervertebral disc removal is required:
Discectomy is the surgical removal of the entire piquing intervertebral disc or part.
Microdiscectomy incorporates the usage of a microscope to magnify the surgical field during disc removal.
Percutaneous surgical procedures enable disc removal via a small incision in the trunk. All these are generally not used in the cervical spine (neck) but have been used in the low back. Automated Percutaneous Discectomy is done under radiologic control while a cannula (hollow tube) having a rotating blade breaks up the disk. The disk fragments are subsequently removed by aspiration.
Spinal Instrumentation and Fusion provides long-term stability once the target disk is removed. These processes solidify and join the degree where an intervertebral disc has been damaged or removed. Instrumentation, the employment of medically constructed hardware including rods and screws, can be combined with Spinal fusion (arthrodesis) to permanently join two or more vertebrae.
Whiplash Recovery
Throughout the recovery phase, the aim is really to help the patient resume normal activities at their pre-injury level.
The guidelines set forth by the spinal doctor and/or physical therapist should be followed. A house exercise plan is a key to rebuilding strength and increasing range of movement. It might be essential to continue physical therapy and modalities (e.g. damp heat) for a period of time.
Post operative pain or discomfort should be anticipated. Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) enables the patient to control their pain without hospital staff assist. PCA is eventually replaced by oral drug.
The individual could be encouraged to get up and walk the following day. Activity improves healing and circulation.
Physical therapy is added post-operatively empowering the individual to develop flexibility, strength, and increase range of motion. Physical therapy is generally continued on an outpatient basis for an amount of time. Furthermore, the therapist provides the patient with a customized home exercise program.
Prior to release in the hospital, the patient is given written directions and prescriptions for essential drugs. The individual ‘s care remains during follow-up visits with their spinal surgeon.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
Whiplash, although not technically a medical term, can manifest painful symptoms, usually as a result of neck damage or injury. We call it whiplash because, in an injury, your neck actually can whip back and forth�first backward (hyperextension) and then forward (hyperflexion). Doctors call whiplash a neck sprain or strain. Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues of upper back and your neck occurring when ligaments and your muscles get overstretched from the force of a collision.
What are the Causes of Whiplash?
The most common reason for whiplash is car accidents. Nevertheless, you can even get whiplash from a fall or a sports injury. It is also possible to get whiplash when you’re punched or shaken.
Non-Surgical Treatment for Whiplash
Time is among the greatest non surgical treatment choices for whiplash. Most cases of whiplash heal by themselves to a couple months in several weeks. Your physician may also suggest: wearing a cervical collar, cervical traction, chiropractic adjustment, physical therapy, and pain medicine, as you heal.
Is Surgery Necessary for Whiplash
Patients with whiplash very, very rarely need surgery. If, nevertheless, you’ve been through wide-ranging non-surgical treatments and also you still have pain, you might consider operation. There are several types of operation used for whiplash
Corpectomy: Sometimes whiplash induces the spinal canal to narrow because of how a soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, and tendons) and bones moved during the initial injury. By removing part of the vertebra and the intervertebral disc using a corpectomy, the surgeon is striving to make more room.
Discectomy: The surgeon will remove section of the intervertebral disc, which may be pressing on your own spinal cord or alternative nerves and causing pain. Sometimes, the surgeon will have to execute a spinal fusion at exactly the same time as the discectomy. The fusion plans to permanently stabilize that region of your back, but not everyone who has a discectomy will desire a fusion.
Foraminotomy: As with a corpectomy, a surgeon uses a foraminotomy to make more room for your own nerves that’ll have gotten compressed and pinched throughout the harm. In this process, the foramina (the area where the nerve roots leave the spinal canal) is removed to boost the size of the nerve pathway.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
When you get whiplash, you’ll understand what caused it. But you may not sense the indications of it until later. Symptoms can appear as soon following your auto accident or other injury as two hours, but you may experience symptoms that begin slightly and gradually become worse. Symptoms can sometimes grow days, weeks, or even months after the first injury.
The primary symptom of whiplash is neck or upper back pain. It’s also possible to experience other symptoms, like:
Shoulder and arm pain
Tenderness or stiffness
Numbness and/or tingling
Headaches
Dizziness
Nausea
Blurry vision
Most just described, whiplash is caused by a movement or force that makes your neck move beyond its normal range of motion. Cervical spine, or your neck, has an incredible range of movement. It is the moveable part of your spine, but still, the neck to go beyond its normal range can be caused by whiplash.
What Causes Whiplash Associated Diseases?
There is one major cause of whiplash that most everyone thinks of instantly: car accidents. Even rates as low as 15 miles per hour can create enough energy to cause whiplash�whether or not you’re wearing a seatbelt. (Nevertheless, if you’re not properly held along with your seatbelt, your head may strike the steering wheel or windshield, causing a concussion in addition to whiplash. You should definitely always wear your seatbelt.)
A 8 miles per hour car crash generates two times the force of gravity (or a 2-G) deceleration of the car, and a 5-G deceleration of the head. This unnatural and forceful movement impacts the muscles and ligaments in the neck, stretching and possibly ripping them. The discs involving the vertebrae can bulge, tear, or rupture, and vertebrae can be forced from their normal location, lowering your range of movement. The spinal cord and nerve roots could get extended, irritated, and “choked.”
Athletic actions, falls, roller coasters can also causes whiplash, or from shaken or being punched.
Aging also makes us more susceptible to whiplash. People who have neck issues like arthritis, and mature individuals, may experience whiplash that is more serious than the usual younger man. As people get older, their movement is more limited, their muscles lose flexibility and strength, and their disks and ligaments aren’t elastic (stretchy). Thus, when their neck whips back and forth, it’s more potential for damage.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
Say “whiplash” and most of us immediately think about car accident. You are rear ended as you sit at a stop sign, and your head flies forwards, then backwards. It certainly does whip back and forth, so even though “whiplash” isn’t technically a medical term, it is a quite precise description of what occurs�and what can cause so much pain.
Doctors call whiplash a neck sprain or strain. Other technical medical terms related to whiplash are hyperflexion and hyperextension. When your neck whips back hyperextension is; hyperflexion is when it goes forwards.
What is Whiplash?
Every year, almost 2 million Americans are injured and suffer from whiplash. Plenty of those injuries do come from automobile accidents, but you will find different methods for getting whiplash. You can get whiplash from:
A sports injury
A fall
Being hit or shaken
Whiplash can take days, weeks, and even months to develop. You may think that you simply are all right after having fall, a car accident, or alternative first injury. Nevertheless, slowly, the typical symptoms (neck pain and stiffness, tightness in the shoulders, etc�you will find out more about the symptoms in this article) may grow.
Thus�even should you not have pain immediately following a neck injury, you should make an appointment to see your doctor. Whiplash may have long term effects on your spinal health, and in the long term, it could be associated with other spinal conditions like osteoarthritis (bone and joint pain) and premature disk degeneration (faster aging of the back).
Your neck is one of your most vulnerable places, when your body is involved in trauma. Whiplash, the hard and fast forward-backward motion of the neck, can cause pain that could last well after other injuries have healed. It helps you to be aware of the anatomy included to understand your neck is so sore.
Anatomy of the Cervical Spine
As the physician attempts to figure out just which portions of the spinal column have been affected, whiplash could be a complex investigation. And there are a lot of complex parts to your own cervical back�the specialized name for the neck. The cervical spine begins in the base of the skull. It contains seven small vertebrae (bones), which doctors tag C1 to C7 (the ‘C’ means cervical). The numbers 1 to 7 suggest the amount of the vertebrae. C1 is closest to the skull, while C7 is closest to the torso.
In between each vertebra are rough fibrous shock-absorbing pads called the intervertebral discs. Each disc is composed of a tire-like a gel and outer band -like interior substance. The outer band is called the annulus fibrosus; the interior part is known as the nucleus pulposus.
In addition to bones and disks, your cervical spine additionally contains the upper region of the spinal cord, eight nerve roots, an elaborate system of veins and arteries, 32 muscles for strength, and numerous ligaments. For this kind of tiny area, there is certainly a whole lot to your own neck. Meaning that there are a lot of parts that can be injured when you have whiplash.
Strength, Flexibiity and Mobility of the Neck
Remarkably, the cervical spine supports the entire weight of your head, which will be generally about 8 pounds� yet no other area of the spinal column has such freedom of movement. The cervical spine can move 180� of side to side movement: 90� of forward motion, 90� of backward movement, your face in virtually every direction, and virtually 120� of tilt to either shoulder.
Unfortunately, this flexibility makes the neck very prone to injury and pain, including whiplash. Those 15 pounds are drastically chucked frontwards afterward back� that’s one important reason to wear seatbelts correctly and use airbags whenever feasible.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
Whiplash is a common injury, affecting about 2 million individuals in the United States annually. Ordinarily a consequence of an automobile accident, whiplash may also result from falling, participating in sports, or from other causes, including being shaken or hit.
Whiplash is the common term for a neck sprain or strain resulting from hyperextension (see picture below) and hyperflexion (see image below). It often doesn’t cause symptoms that are immediate: in fact, it could grow over time. Since whiplash may cause long lasting effects on the spinal column, it is essential to determine your doctor for those who have been injured, even in the event you don�t have pain immediately later.
The cervical spine (neck) is a complex structure composed of vertebrae (spinal bones), intervertebral discs (act as shock absorbers), muscles, ligaments, and nerves. The neck is is flexible and may transfer it different ways (nod, rotate) while supporting the entire weight of the head. However, that flexibility can make the neck exposed to injury. Within a whiplash event, your neck goes quickly and powerfully forward and backward. Pain can continue even following the injury itself has recovered.
Whiplash can lead to possibly high medical expenses, reduced productivity, and temporary impairment.
Symptoms of Whiplash
The primary complaint of a person who has whiplash is neck and upper back pain. Other symptoms may include:
Tenderness
Stiffness
Pain in the arm and shoulder that may radiate down into the hand(s).
Paresthesias (like numbness or tingling) and weakness that will extend into the hand(s).
Headache
You might even experience dizziness, nausea, ringing in the ears, fatigue, jaw pain, or blurred vision.
Causes of Whiplash
The most common reason for whiplash is an automobile accident when the man�s vehicle (typically stopped) is rear-ended by another car or truck. As a consequence of the impact, the cervical back�s lower vertebrae of the neck are forced into a position that is hyperextended, while the upper vertebrae are bend, resulting in an unusual S shaped curve. This chain of events often damages the soft tissues (ligaments, tendons, muscles) of the neck.
Understanding Whiplash
Your doctor carefully reviews your medical history and performs a physical and neurological examination. Since xrays don�t reveal injuries to soft tissues, a CT (computerized tomography) scan or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) may be performed.
What are the Treatments for Whiplash?
Treatment depends upon degree and the severity of the whiplash, and thought is provided to general health and your age. Initial treatment may include:
Short-term rest (a day or two)
Ice, for two* or the very first day; then alternative heat and ice
Gentle range-of-motion exercises
Anti inflammatory medications (over the counter or prescription)
Muscle relaxants
*When using ice, make sure that the cold source is wrapped in a towel to protect the skin place. Don’t apply ice.
If your pain does not go away within a fair period of time, or when it is serious, your physician may recommend trigger point injections, physical therapy, chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, and/or use of a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device.
Soft collars, although once widely used for whiplash, are not used so frequently since the muscles can be weakened by immobilizing the neck to get a long time and delay healing.
Operation is seldom warranted by whiplash. If your pain persists even once you have gotten nonsurgical treatment, surgery may be recommended by your healthcare provider, depending on how severe the harm is and what constructions have been injured. It’s important to understand that risks are consistently carried by surgery. Therefore, you need to truly have a comprehensive talk with your doctor.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Neck Pain and Auto Injury
After being involved in an automobile accident, the sheer force of the impact can often cause whiplash, a common type of neck injury resulting from the sudden, back-and-forth motion of the head against the body due to a car wreck, or other incident. Because of this, many of the complex structures found within the neck, including the spine, ligaments and muscles, can be stretched beyond their normal range, causing injury and painful symptoms.
Chiropractor, Dr. Alexander Jimenez gives insights into the most common questions about whiplash.
What Is Whiplash?
Whiplash, although not technically a medical term, can be quite painful and is quite serious. We call it whiplash because, within an accident, your neck actually can whip back and forth�first backward (hyperextension) and then forwards (hyperflexion). Doctors call whiplash a neck sprain or strain. Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues of your neck and upper back that occurs when ligaments and your muscles get overstretched in the strength of an accident.
What Causes Whiplash?
The most common source of whiplash is car accidents. Nonetheless, you can even get whiplash from a sports injury or a fall. It’s also possible to get whiplash when you are hit or shaken.
What Are Some Non-Surgical Ways To Take Care Of Whiplash?
Time is just one of the greatest non surgical treatment options for whiplash. Most instances of whiplash recover by themselves to some months in several weeks. Your doctor may also indicate: wearing a cervical collar, cervical traction, chiropractic adjustment, physical therapy, and pain drugs as you heal.
Will I Need Surgery?
Patients with whiplash quite, very rarely need surgery. If, nevertheless, you’ve been through wide-ranging non-operative treatments and also you have pain, surgery may be considered by you. There are several kinds of surgery useful for whiplash
Corpectomy:
Sometimes whiplash induces the spinal canal to narrow because of how a soft tissues (muscles, ligaments, and tendons) and bones moved throughout the first injury. By removing area of the vertebra and the intervertebral disc using a corpectomy, the surgeon is wanting to make more room in your spinal canal.
Discectomy:
The surgeon will remove section of the intervertebral disc, which may be pressing on your own spinal cord or alternative nerves and causing pain. Sometimes, the surgeon will have to do a spinal fusion at the same time as the discectomy. The fusion plans to permanently stabilize that region of your spine, although not everyone who has a discectomy will need a fusion.
Foraminotomy:
As with a corpectomy, a surgeon uses a foraminotomy to make more room for your nerves that could have gotten pinched and compressed throughout the harm. In this process, the foramina (the place where the nerve roots leave the spinal canal) is removed to boost the size of the nerve pathway.
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What Causes Whiplash?
