7-8 million car crashes happen each year. A lot of those patients develop chronic, long lasting pain. There are 3 things to know about treatment that can prevent the vast majority of these chronic problems.
A competent whiplash and car accident specialist will evaluate 3 critical components following a whiplash accident. These three areas are the spinal vertebrae, the ligaments and tendons, and the muscles.
1. The muscles are often evaluated first as they are the easiest to access. the muscles will swell and the skin can appear red and swollen. this leads to restricting the way we move, the way we turn our heads, the way we work. Specific and deliberate movement, exercise, and therapeutic activities are required to restore the muscles to their pre-injury status. A delay or refusal to do these therapeutic activities increases dramatically the chance of chronic, long term pain syndromes.
2. the vertebrae are evaluated next . The chiropractor will have you turn your head up,down, and side to side, to attempt to evaluate the extent of the injury. Left uncorrected, loss of range of motion can lead to early degenerative arthritis and chronic pain. Chiropractic adjustments will help restore proper range of motion.
3. Lastly, and often never evaluated at all, are the ligaments and tendons Because tendons and ligaments have very little blood supply, they take the longest to heal. The chiropractor is an expert in evaluating the damage done to the ligaments and tendons. Be sure to have a chiropractor that is knowledgeable in Whiplash Traumatology perform proper treatments on you. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at 763-251-PAIN. We will help you on the path to healing.