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.
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.
Mr. and Mrs. Dominguez share their wonderful story of health and recovery. After being injured in a car accident, Manuel Dominguez and his wife needed help healing their injuries. That’s when they found Push-as-Rx � and their path to recovery began. With the help of Dr. Jimenez, Mr. and Mrs. Dominguez started the therapies that changed their lives completely and together with the exercises given to them by the trainers at Push as Rx, little by little, they regained back their health. With great gratitude, Mr. and Mrs. Dominguez give their thanks for the magnificent service they received at Push-as-Rx �.
El Sr. y la Sra. Dominguez nos dieron a conocer su maravillosa historia de salud y recuperacion. Despues de salir lastimados en una accidente de auto, Manuel Dominguez y su esposa necesitaban ayuda para curar sus lesiones. Ahi fue cuando encontraron la clinica de Push-as-Rx � y empezaron su camino a la recuperacion. Con la ayuda del Dr. Jimenez, el Sr. y la Sra. Dominguez comenzaron a recibir terapias que cambiaron sus vidas por completo y junto con los ejercicios de los entrenadores de Push as Rx, poco a poco fueron recuperando su salud. Con mucho agradecimiento, el Sr. y la Sra. Dominguez dan las gracias por el magnifico servicio que recibieron en la clinica Push-as-Rx �.
PUSH-as-Rx � is leading the field with laser focus supporting our youth sport programs. The PUSH-as-Rx � System is a sport specific athletic program designed by a strength-agility coach and physiology doctor with a combined 40 years of experience working with extreme athletes. At its core, the program is the multidisciplinary study of reactive agility, body mechanics and extreme motion dynamics. Through continuous and detailed assessments of the athletes in motion and while under direct supervised stress loads, a clear quantitative picture of body dynamics emerges. Exposure to the biomechanical vulnerabilities are presented to our team. Immediately, we adjust our methods for our athletes in order to optimize performance. This highly adaptive system with continual dynamic adjustments has helped many of our athletes come back faster, stronger, and ready post injury while safely minimizing recovery times. Results demonstrate clear improved agility, speed, decreased reaction time with greatly improved postural-torque mechanics. PUSH-as-Rx � offers specialized extreme performance enhancements to our athletes no matter the age.
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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.
It is with utmost respect and great humility for our community that we received this amazing chiropractic award. I thank God, our patients, staff, family, friends, colleagues and many others for this. We feel very bless in being considered. It is an award that we did not expect to receive, nevertheless humbly appreciate and accept. All of us at the office and rehab center share in this commendation. Being considered with these fine peer doctors gives all of us here a great sense of highly respected accomplishment. We will alway remain steadfast and ready to take care of all our patients no matter the complexity of their musculoskeletal issues. For over 25 years we have devoted ourselves to improve the lives of every loving soul walking through our doors. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God Bless… Dr. Alexander D. Jimenez D.C.,C.C.S.T
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Dr. Alexander Jimenez DC
11860 Vista Del Sol, Suite 128
El Paso, TX 79936
Dr. Alexander Jimenez, DC
6440 Gateway East Building B,
El Paso, TX 79905
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A headache is a symptom of pain felt in any region of the head or neck. From a mild and irritating discomfort to a severe and throbbing pain, headaches can be caused by a variety of factors and they may occur temporarily or they can last throughout the day. In a majority of cases, individuals report headaches and other similar symptoms after being involved in an automobile accident, most commonly, if they�ve been diagnosed with whiplash.
Any type of auto collision can lead to whiplash and other injuries, however, whiplash occurs most frequently during rear-end impacts in a car. Whiplash occurs when the head suddenly moves back-and-forth in any given direction as a result of a powerful force, extending the neck beyond its normal range of motion. This type of injury can also be caused by trauma from a sports injury or other type of accident. The neck is a complex structure consisting of joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels and other tissues. When the structures of the neck are subjected to an extreme force, such as that from a car crash, the tissues within the neck can become irritated and inflamed, causing injuries that results in pain, whiplash headaches and other symptoms.
The symptoms of whiplash generally develop immediately after the automobile accident, although occasionally, the pain and discomfort can take up to several days, weeks, or even months to manifest. The pain is often in the form of whiplash headaches.
Dr. Alex Jimenez D.C.,C.C.S.T�s insight:
In the case of an automobile accident, not many people are prepared for the�effects that follow the situation. An auto accident is an unexpected situation that often results in property damage, but most importantly, the impact from the collision can lead to numerous injuries and symptoms, affecting�an individual much more than expected. For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at (915) 850-0900.
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What Causes Whiplash?
