Whiplash injuries need not be the result of car accidents. A slip or fall can give you a whiplash-type injury and sudden movement, especially if repetitive, may cause injury as well. Normally, the joints at the back of your neck glide over each other and are self-lubricated but a whiplash injury forces them together, damaging the surrounding area, which includes nerves, muscles, ligaments and discs.
Damage from a whiplash-type injury can give a variety of symptoms including:
- dizzyness
- light headedness
- neck pain
- headaches
- arm pain
- fatigue
- poor concentration
Your chiropractor will carry out a full examination (which may include an X-ray referal) and take a thorough history before advising an appropriate treatment programme for you. Treatment for these kinds of injuries involves often gentle, specific adjustments to your neck. This will decrease pain and restore normal movement to the area, aiming to ensure that each joint is working at its best. He will use rehabilitation techniques to retrain those receptors that may have been damaged through a whiplash injury, as well as doing supervised neck strengthening exercises.
He will also support the treatment they offer with individual advice about the patient’s lifestyle, work and exercise, in order to help in managing the condition and preventing a recurrence of the problem.