Back Clinic Whiplash Chiropractic Physical Therapy Team. Whiplash is a collective term used to describe injuries to the cervical spine (neck). This condition often results from an automobile crash, which suddenly forces the neck and head to whip back and forth (hyperflexion/hyperextension). Almost 3 million Americans are hurt and suffer from whiplash annually. Most of those injuries come from auto accidents, but there are other ways to endure a whiplash injury.
The symptoms of whiplash may include neck pain, tenderness and stiffness, headache, dizziness, nausea, shoulder or arm pain, paresthesias (numbness/tingling), blurred vision, and in rare instances difficulty swallowing. Soon after it happens at the acute phase the chiropractor will focus on reducing neck inflammation utilizing various therapy modalities (eg, ultrasound).
They might also use gentle stretching and manual therapy techniques (eg, muscle energy therapy, a type of stretching). A chiropractor may also recommend you apply an ice pack in your neck and/or light neck support to use for a short time period. As your neck gets less inflamed and the pain diminishes, your chiropractor will execute spinal manipulation or other techniques to restore normal movement to your neck’s spinal joints.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) can have many causes. The way a person’s injury affects them can differ depending on the origin of SCI. SCI can generally be described as being ‘traumatic’ or due to a trauma, or ‘non-traumatic’ being due to other causes.
Spinal cord injuries occur in an assortment of ways. In adults, damage to the spinal column is usually involved and the cord is affected, bruised, stretched or compacted due to movement or an external force. Wear and tear on the spinal column, can lead to narrowing of the canal called stenosis. This results in pressure on the spinal nerves and the spinal cord, causing loss of function. In children, a spinal cord injury occurs by an over-stretching of the spinal cord.
Automobile accidents involving pedestrians or occupants, falls, sport-related accidents and diving into shallow water are considered to be the most common cause of traumatic SCI.
Spinal cord damage can be caused by the following kinds of injuries:
Flexion Injuries
Flexion injuries occur when there is a forcible forward movement of the head. This results in injury to the vertebrae in the neck (cervical) area of the spinal column. The vertebrae then impact on the spinal cord, causing damage. Spinal ligaments are often torn. These types of injuries occur in auto accidents.
Rotation Injuries
Rotation injuries occur alongside an injury, often where there is rotation of the spinal column. This leads to an associated injury of the spinal cord. Ligaments are often torn where the side rotation injuries happen in automobile accidents. They can also occur with people in motorcycle accidents, and wearing lap seat belts.
Compression Injuries
Compression injuries occur in diving accidents, where the force is transmitted through the head; or falls from a height, where the force is transmitted through the base of the spine or limbs. Impact causes the vertebrae commonly in the cervical or lower thoracic and lumbar region, to fracture into pieces and protrude into the spinal canal, damaging the spinal cord. The discs may be displaced and protrude into the spinal canal.
Hyperextension Injuries
Hyperextension injuries occur during an incident, such as a fall, where the neck is extended in a backward direction, stretching the cord. The spinal cord is damaged by the opening up of the discs and stretching of the ligaments if there’s minimal damage to the spinal column. This injury is often seen in people, and those injured in assaults and auto accidents. Hyperextension of the neck is the way children damage their spinal cords. The force of the trauma causes stretching of the spinal cord, although there’s often no or little damage to the spinal column.
Penetrating Injuries
Penetrating injuries occur when the spinal cord is penetrated by an object such as a knife or bullet. This type of injury can occur at any level of the spinal column and is often not associated with column damage.
Whether an injury is caused by events that are traumatic or non-traumatic, a person with a SCI has the ability to benefit from a variety of treatment options and rehabilitation, performed by a qualified and experienced healthcare professional. Research has indicated that the outcomes for people with a SCI are better if they have rehabilitation in a specialist unit as opposed to a general rehabilitation unit.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
The cervical spine is C shaped, with its curve facing towards the rear of neck. The upper part of the spine in the neck is called the cervical spine and it’s composed of 7 cervical vertebra. A healthy cervical spine has a lordotic curve and it is anatomically important to bear the head’s weight.
Reduction of cervical lordosis can result in straightening of the cervical spine or in severe cases it may reverse the curve. The condition is also known as kyphosis. Loss of cervical lordosis may lead to stiffness and pain in the neck. It may also lead to referred pain in the hand, vertigo and many other symptoms.
Improper posture and muscular spasm are two important causes for reduction of cervical curvature. The problem is usually detected on X-rays of the cervical spine and it should be treated soon to prevent further deterioration and complications in the future.
Causes of Loss of Cervical Lordosis
Loss of cervical curvature usually occurs in adults. Children suffer from this issue as well although it is rare. Both women and men are equally affected. The condition is associated with long standing spasms of muscles in the neck.
Poor neck posture is often the only cause in young individuals. Working on a computer for long periods or doing desk work for long time without taking break can strain the muscles of the neck. The muscles cause a pull on the cervical vertebra. Prolonged pull will automatically disturb the normal alignment of the cervical spine. Injury to cervical spine may also lead to loss of cervical lordosis. A whiplash injury from automobile accident trauma on the neck can contribute to muscle strain and loss of curvature of the cervical spine.
Osteoporosis is another important factor that might cause abnormality in cervical spine curvature. It is mostly seen among elderly individuals. In osteoporosis the bone density of the vertebrae is lost. The weight of normal wear and tear may put pressure on the spine. Obesity and hereditary skeletal disorders, such as achondroplacia, can also change the curvature of the spine. Other less common causes of loss of cervical lordosis include tumor of cervical spine, systemic disease such as ankylosing spondylitis etc.. Radiotherapy for cancer between can also cause loss of spine curvature.
Loss Of Cervical Lordosis Symptoms
Loss of cervical lordosis involves an ongoing gradual procedure. It is a phenomenon. In its start phase the condition remains silent. This means there are no symptoms. And it’s detected accidentally on X-ray meant for some other purpose. After months or years, the individual may present complaints such as pain and stiffness in the neck.
A normal cervical lordosis has a 30 to 40 degree curve. Once the curve gets lesser than 20 degrees, the patient may complain about neck pain. It may lead to tingling in hands and fingers and may lead to cervical disc degeneration. These symptoms aren’t exactly those from compression of cervical vertebra, but because of pinched nerve because of loss of lordosis.
Loss of cervical lordosis also results in tension in the spinal cord and carotid blood vessels which supply blood to the head. Improper blood flow in the brain can result in dizziness, headaches, confusion, tinnitus etc..
Treatment for Loss of Cervical Lordosis
Loss of cervical lordosis may be detected on physical examination from diagnostic tests such as X-ray and MRI of the cervical spine. These evaluations are important to know the magnitude of loss of lordosis and nerve damage.
Medical treatment is only required when pain and stiffness are present. Muscle relaxants and pain killers will help to reduce spasms and pain of neck muscles. This increase the variety of motion of neck and will alleviate the distress.
Once first acute symptoms are relieved patient should start physiotherapy exercises aimed at strengthening the neck muscles and improvement of posture. A simple neck exercise is to bend the head forward and backward. Second exercise is to turn the neck and head sideways five to six times in a day. Severe case of loss of cervical lordosis may require the individual to wear a neck brace during day time and support pillows while sleeping. Both will help to restore the altered curvature of the spine.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
The normal cervical lordosis is the natural curve of the neck when viewed from the side, the convexity is on the front and the concavity is on the back.
This curve starts to form as early as 10 months of development and is cemented during adolescence and infancy. Holding a child’s head in extension is quite important for infants as it encourages the normal curvature of the neck. Loss of lordosis can begin in early childhood, however, whiplash from automobile accidents, stress, injuries from falls and sports injuries can cause this issue in adulthood. Unfortunately, many of our “normal” daily tasks may also decrease the cervical lordosis, like viewing low lying computer screens (below eye level), sleeping with two pillows, as well as sitting in a recliner.
Many studies are demonstrating a clear causal connection between loss of lordosis and neck complaints, including neck stiffness and pain, headaches, premature degeneration, disc herniation, and numbness/tingling or weakness in the arms. A study from 1974 showed that a sharp reversal of the curve would lead to degenerative changes in 60 percent of patients. Literally, a reversed curve causes arthritis in the neck. A study from 2005 in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics found:
“The odds that a patient with cervical pain had a lordosis of 0 degrees or less was 18 times greater than for a patient having a non-cervical complaint. Patients with cervical pain had less lordosis and this was consistent over all age ranges” The authors of this study went so far as to recommend “Maintenance of a lordosis could be a clinical goal for chiropractic treatment”
Effects of Loss of Cervical Lordosis
But why neck pain? What does loss of the curve do to cause pain? Tingling? Numbness? Headaches? It’s actually very simple. Where they would not bear weight weight bearing stress is placed by A lack of lordosis onto joints at the neck. This causes muscle spasm, stiffness, and inflammation to stabilize the region. Muscles in the upper part of the neck then irritate nerves that travel up and over your head into the scalp. Supporting ligaments in the back of the neck stretch and those in front contract, working to further stabilize the neck in this unnatural posture, as time progresses. Weight is born mainly on the lower segments of the neck (C5-7), which then typically degenerate first. Arthritic spurring progresses in these dysfunctional segments, which could then impinge the exiting nerve roots and cause symptoms in the arms and hands like tingling, numbness, electrical shocks, and fatigue.
Tension After Auto Accident
As the curve becomes kyphotic, other neurologic complaints can attest. The spinal cord is tethered at the top by its attachment to the brain, and in the bottom by the lumbar nerve roots and meningeal attachment to your tailbone. The spinal cord is tractioned and forced against the back of the bodies of the vertebrae in the neck when the ordinary throat curve is reversed. This can cause sensory difficulties anywhere in the body as the pathways for sensation are located in the rear of the cord, and thus are affected by traction. The motor pathways are in the front of the cord and are compressed rather than stretched. Compression of a nerve is never a good thing, particularly when it’s the cord.
What many folks do not know is that most nerve fibers are insulated by a fatty layer called “myelin.” This layer works to allow the signal the nerve creates to travel at faster speeds than it could. Compression of a nerve may result in the death of those cells which maintain this layer; causing the signal the nerve carries to be permanently slower and thus not produce its intended effect. An animal study from 2005 hunted to replicate demyelination (a common diagnostic criteria for Multiple Sclerosis) via cervical kyphosis in Japanese small game fowls. That study’s results were startling. The authors concluded:
“Progressive kyphosis of the cervical spine resulted in demyelination of nerve fibers in the funiculi and neuronal loss in the anterior horn due to chronic compression of the spinal cord. These histologic changes seem to be associated with both continuous mechanical compression and vascular changes in the spinal cord.”
Treatment for Loss of Cervical Lordosis
In short, the reversed curve caused changes in the spinal cord indicative of progressive neurologic conditions. The cervical kyphosis was obtained using methods, but like any symptom of a cause, there are levels of dysfunction. The mechanical methods would hold true, although the methods used in this trial prevent duplication in humans as a result of obvious implications. It’s a fascinating area of research and one I hope continues to grow. To reiterate, the researchers showed that a cervical kyphosis (loss of cervical curve) causes changes in the spinal cord that lead to progressive neurologic degeneration. As Chiropractors, we’ve argued this for generations.
Chiropractic focuses on alignment of the spine so that the nervous system can function optimally. Research is showing a lack of adequate cervical lordosis is a element in a broad variety of conditions, some of which are severe.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms–headache, stiff neck, neck pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness of your hands, or you’d like to get yourself or your family checked, make sure to seek help from a qualified and experienced healthcare professional to fix the cause.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
Whiplash has been difficult to study because its pathoanatomy has remained poorly known, however, the facet joints have been recently isolated as a site of pain in many people that are whiplash-injured.
In a typical rear-end collision, the occupant’s pelvis, chest, and head are hastened forward in rapid succession. The massive inertia of the head leads to a horizontal translation (retraction) of the initially stationary head relative to the forward-accelerating torso, and this movement induces compression, shear, and ultimately tension in the cervical spine.
Recent studies have localized the chronic pain of several whiplash patients to the facet joints. Subsequent experiments involving both human subjects and cadaveric cells have demonstrated that harm to the capsular ligaments may play a part in the pathoanatomy of whiplash injury.
Kinematics of Whiplash Injuries
Biomechanical studies of whiplash injury have used human subjects, animals, cadavers, and mathematical models to investigate possible mechanisms of whiplash injury. Researcher ignorance of the tissues responsible for the pain has often limited the insights. Recent studies, however, has identified a candidate tissue for whiplash injury, and it has provided a focus for research into the mechanics of whiplash injury.
The comprehension of injury mechanics begins with an appreciation of how individuals respond to the kinds of perturbations that create whiplash injury. Rear-end collisions, where an occupant’s vehicle is struck from behind and hastened forward, have been associated with an increased risk of whiplash injury and a higher frequency of symptoms compared to other crash directions. As a result, perturbations that simulate a collision have been used by most biomechanical experiments conducted to investigate whiplash injury. Many research groups have studied subjects exposed to whiplash perturbations, and despite differences in subjects, vehicles, seats, and the crashes used with these groups, a stereotyped reaction has been observed in normally seated subjects.
The pelvis is hastened forward, due to a combination of occupant posture and seat compliance, acceleration of the torso lags behind acceleration of the pelvis. This difference in motion between the pelvis and upper torso produces a small rotation of the torso and leads to an initial flexion of the neck, despite the fact that the head is still effectively stationary at this stage in the induced kinematic response. As the torso accelerates forward relative to the head, a horizontal translation develops between the base of the head and the spine, causing the lower vertebrae of the spine to extend. The horizontal shear stiffness of the upright spine is inadequate to overcome the rotational and transitional inertia of the head, and because of this, the upper cervical segments bend. The changing configuration of the vertebrae results in the cervical spine being better able to encourage horizontal forces, and these forces both accelerate the bottom of the skull forward and establish a rearward rotation (expansion) of the head.
In the presence of a properly positioned head restraint, both the head extension angle and the horizontal translation between the torso and head (retraction) are arrested and reversed by the combination of an external force applied to the head from the head restraint and inner forces developed by both the ligamentous cervical spine and the reflex contraction of the cervical muscles.
Larger extension and retraction motions occur, and head motion could be arrested and reversed by inner ligamentous and muscle forces if no head restraint is present or if there exists a gap between the back of the head and the head restraint. The positions of the head and head restraint at effect can therefore have a substantial influence on the magnitude of the head and neck kinematics, and ultimately on the size of the loads applied to the tissues of the cervical spine.
After the interaction with the seat back and head restraint, the head and chest rebound forward. Forward torso motion could be limited by a seatbelt, whereas forward motion of the mind seems to be controlled by sustained activation of the posterior neck muscles.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
Many accident victims report neck pain in the days after a car accident. This neck pain is due to whiplash. Whiplash pain may not surface following a car accident till a day or two. The pain does not happen until a week or even longer.
Whiplash is an injury to the neck muscles out of rapid forward and backward motion of the neck brought on by a trauma (eg, a car accident). It can cause acute (short-term) neck pain as well as restricted movement on your neck. This is the reason why it is extremely important to get medical care from a chiropractor if you do not have pain or any visible injuries.
Your spine is evaluated by the chiropractor as a whole. He or she’ll examine the entire spine because other regions of the spine may be affected (not your neck).
Chiropractic Evaluations for Whiplash
The healthcare professional or chiropractor will identify any areas of spinal injury, muscle strain, and joint movement. They may use a technique called motion and static palpation. Your chiropractor will feel for tenderness and make sure your spinal joints move.
He or she will examine how you walk, and take note of your posture and spinal alignment. These details will help the chiropractor understand that your body’s mechanisms and your spine works, assisting with the identification process.
Mechanism of Injury: MRI Scan
Besides the chiropractor’s test of your spine, he or she may order an MRI of your backbone to evaluate any changes which might have existed before your whiplash injury or an x ray. Your neurological and own physical evaluation’s diagnostic pictures and results are compared to create the treatment plan.
Before and After X-Rays
Whiplash CT Scan
Soon after whiplash occurs, the chiropractor will work on reducing neck inflammation using various therapy modalities (eg, ultrasound). They may also use gentle stretching and manual treatment techniques (eg, muscle energy therapy, a type of extending). Chiropractors promote recovery in the affected regions, and can assist in relieving pain, by using different therapy methods.
Your treatment plan depends on the seriousness of your whiplash injury. The most common technique is spinal manipulation. Some manipulation methods utilized are:
Chiropractic Adjustment: By performing spinal manipulation, via movements or thrusts, chiropractors can move the involved joint. This helps create flexibility, strength and promotes recovery.
Muscle Comfort and Muscle Stimulation: Using calm gentle stretches to the muscles that are affected, tension can be relieved. These stretches can also be combined with ‘finger pressure techniques’ on certain pressure points to alleviate pain.
Exercises: A variety of stretches and exercises can help decrease the symptoms associated with whiplash and neck pain. Chiropractors can recommend several of these to patients to perform at home on their own. This provides the patient a bit more control in the healing procedure.
The chiropractor might also recommend you apply an ice pack on your neck or a mild neck support to use for a period of time. The pain decreases and as your neck becomes inflamed, your chiropractor will execute other methods or gentle spinal manipulation to restore normal motion.
Using these techniques, a chiropractor will allow you to increase your daily activities. He or she’ll work hard to tackle any mechanical (the way the backbone goes) or neurological (nerve-related) causes of the own miscarriage.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
Unfortunately, many people can relate to having been involved in a car crash or motor vehicle crash (MVC) at a certain point in their lives. Whether it was a major accident or a little one, MVC’s are no fun and can cause a variety of injuries. These injuries can often be whiplash injuries.
The implications of a motor vehicle crash, in addition to interruption of your daily routine because of whiplash, can often lead to injuries or conditions which may take years to recover from.
With much more distracted drivers texting and speaking on their telephones, MVC’s are on the rise, making for even more dangerous roadways. While other people’s behaviors can not be controlled by us, we can drive more cautiously and defensively to avoid being in an auto accident. Because MVC’s can occur, however, having a plan in mind and being prepared is vital to getting up on our feet and recovering fast.
More serious automobile accidents mean more critical injuries, ranging from wounds and cuts to broken bones or fractures, brain damage, and even death. At first, less serious motor vehicle crashes may not look like a major deal, with sufferers walking away without a scratch, believing they’ve escaped the collision unscathed. Others may just complain of a small headache, neck pain, and/or a stiff neck, resorting to carrying over the counter pain killers, or even wearing a neck brace to assist with their healing — something that’s far from treating the source of the injury.
Cervical Lordosis in Whiplash Prevention
What many people don’t realize though is the extent to which the cervical lordosis, or curvature in your neck as seen from the side, can play an essential role in both: the extent of the initial injury to the occupant(s) and; the long term pain and suffering from whiplash injury to the occupants. Furthermore, the MVC itself will affect the cervical lordosis.
Concerning the degree of initial injury, researchers have found that a well maintained cervical lordosis actually prevents neck tissue damage to the sensitive cervical spine and its structures, in the case of an automobile accident. In the figure on top, the right hand picture demonstrates what a typical curve looks like when seen from�the side and the person is facing to the right. In contrast, the same researchers identified that straightened cervical curves and worse yet, reversed (kyphotic) cervical curves predisposed to more severe cervical spine tissue injuries due to more extreme forces acting on the neck during the exact same MVC circumstances. The x-rays above at the far left and the middle show abnormal neck curves where more severe injury to the person is likely to result should they be involved in an MVC.
Therefore, if you already have an abnormal cervical curvature prior to a MVC, it’s in your best interest to rehabilitate the form and volume of your cervical lordosis. You’re in a higher risk of having significant injuries should you be involved in an automobile collision or other type of accident.
Concerning long term pain and distress, many research studies have identified the patients who undergo long-term whiplash injuries and suffering are in fact the ones who have abnormal cervical lordosis. Straightened, abnormal s-curves and reversed cervical curvatures have been found to pre-dispose after MVC to the following conditions:
Neck pain and stiffness,
Headaches,
Arm pain,
Thoracic outlet symptoms,
Dizziness,
Lack of concentration,
Degenerative arthritis in the cervical spine,
Disc herinations.
What many individuals who’ve suffered whiplash injuries don’t see is that a small pain or neck pain is a genuine indication of a more serious injury to your cervical lordosis and inherent neck tissues. Misalignments as a consequence of motor vehicle crashes, or MVC’s, sudden jolt may manifest immediately, or not become evident at all for a period of time. But this doesn’t signify that the spine is healthy or that no harm was sustained.
Discussion
The fact is that MVC�s statistically damage the shape of your cervical lordosis. Researchers from Chiropractic BioPhysics have identified that the average patient exposed to a MVC will lose 10 degrees of their cervical lordosis, develop a mid cervical kyphosis, and have increased forward head posture as a result of the MVC.
A misaligned cervical curvature as a result of an MVC is a severe medical condition. Altered cervical curves will cause nerve interference � hindrance of critical nerve energy that is responsible for every function of our organs, and every movement of our limbs. Ignoring the cervical spinal misalignment can manifest into pain and discomfort, fatigue, sleep disorders, organ dysfunction, depression, and finally disease.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
Definitely, the most frequent injury caused by automobile accidents is whiplash, amounting up to 80 percent of car crash injuries.
Whiplash is a cervical spine, or neck, injury that is caused when the head is jolted either backwards or forward by acceleration or deceleration. The acceleration or deceleration in automobile accidents is typically abrupt, which will cause the head to jerk unexpectedly and be stretched beyond its normal range of motion, straining the neck’s muscles and ligaments. Whiplash can happen at any speed �even when vehicles are traveling as slowly 25 mph.
Severe cases of whiplash can even cause fractures to the neck vertebrae. These accidents might need time off from work and physical activity in order to recover and are painful although a complete recovery is likely.
Level of Damage from Whiplash
Most commonly, whiplash is the result of a rear-end automobile collision, rather than a side impact or head-on collision, though that is possible. In the vehicle, kinetic energy will keep the bodies moving forward in the event of a car accident. Due to restraints like seat belts, the body will be stopped while the head will continue to be thrown backward. This unnatural movement of the neck leads to hypertension injuries. Depending on the seriousness of the impact and how fast the cars were traveling at the time of the incident, the extent of the whiplash will differ.
Traumatic brain injuries will be caused by the whiplash. A healthcare professional will often perform both a physical examination and an X-ray or CT scan to examine the possibility of whiplash in those who were involved in an auto collision. Doctors monitor and might examine brain function to be able to ascertain whether there was damage or injury to the structures surrounding the neck. With acceleration and deceleration injuries, the brain may swell and cause bruising and bleeding. This can be potentially life-threatening.
Cervical acceleration or deceleration injuries result in trauma to the deep anterior neck muscles. When a muscle is torn, it is strained. When a ligament is sprained, it is stretched or torn. As the ligaments in the neck are responsible for maintaining a curve of their neck this can be painful. Neck injuries of this sort will involve micro-tears, but hypertension will result in fractures and larger tears. Many vehicle crash victims after healing, will experience what’s known as myospasm. This symptom involves the sudden contraction of the neck muscles. These spasms can be painful.
Front impact crashes have a greater risk of death and serious injury. Whiplash resulting from a collision can cause injury to the cervical spine and hyperextension. Severe strain of this nature can leave a victim suffering from tension headaches, migraines, and even vision problems for some time even after the neck has healed. The extent of the injuries may depend on which type of vehicle the person traveled in. The size of the vehicles can have a tremendous effect on both severity and the nature of the injuries. Airbags are required in vehicles for safety purposes, but they can actually cause injuries because of their impact when deployed.
If you or a loved one were involved in an auto accident, then you may be suffering from the painful side effects of whiplash and cervical spine injuries. The driver who hit on you may have been cited with a violation, but you might be able to take actions and receive the proper healthcare you deserve.
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: Automobile Accident Injuries
Whiplash, among other automobile accident injuries, are frequently reported by victims of an auto collision, regardless of the severity and grade of the accident. The sheer force of an impact can cause damage or injury to the cervical spine, as well as to the rest of the spine. Whiplash is generally the result of an abrupt, back-and-forth jolt of the head and neck in any direction. Fortunately, a variety of treatments are available to treat automobile accident injuries.
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