Whiplash Billings, MT
“Whiplash” is a term that originated in 1928 to describe an injury resulting from sudden hyperextension of the neck immediately followed by hyperflexion. This quick succession in movement damages the surrounding muscles, ligaments, and tendons, especially those supporting the head.
Nowadays, we take a different view in that we remove the “hyper” part, which refers to extension and flexion beyond normal physiological limits. Whiplash now refers to an extremely rapid extension and flexion that cause injury. It is the sudden movement that causes the damage, not necessarily movement beyond what we can generally manage.
Whiplash injuries are often far from straightforward as they involve an unpredictable combination of insults to any or all of the nervous system, the muscles, the joints, and the connective tissues. These are frequently both difficult to diagnose and treat. In addition, long-term effects can be even more distressing and mysterious. To better understand why whiplash can be so problematic, we need to look at the mechanics of how the injury occurs.
The Four Phases of Whiplash
Whiplash is not confined to the world of rear-ended automobiles but can occur in a fall or while playing a sport. First, however, we’ll look at what typically occurs in an automobile collision – the most common cause of whiplash injury.
As a vehicle hits the rear of your car, your body goes through rapid and violent acceleration and deceleration, and all four of the phases described below happen in less than half a second. Each phase involves a different force acting upon your body, contributing to the overall injury. Injuries that can relate to the spinal vertebrae, nerves, spinal discs, muscles, and ligaments.
Phase 1 – Your car is shunted at great speed from underneath you. Your mid-back is flattened against the back of the seat, creating an upward force in your cervical spine (neck) which compresses your discs and joints. As your momentum continues forward with the car, your head flies backward, and this whips violently at your neck. Only a well-adjusted head restraint can help minimize the damage this causes, lessening the backward travel of your head. However, the majority of damage to the spine will already have occurred before your head hits the restraint, and studies reveal that head restraints only reduce injury by 11% to 20%.
Phase 2 – Your torso reaches its peak acceleration of up to twice as fast as the vehicle, but your head is still moving backward. Your cervical spine is forced into an abnormal S-curve as your seat back springs forward, increasing the speed of your torso even further. The forward and backward motion of the head then meets in one of the most damaging moments of a whiplash sequence, in which the neck bears the brunt. At this moment, it is when the primary injury damage to bone, joint, nerve, and disc happens.
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Phase 3 – Your torso is now settling back down in your seat, and your head and neck are both accelerating forward at their peak speed. This happens as the car is slowing anyway, but this deceleration is aided by your foot planting itself firmly on the brake pedal after possibly lifting off at the moment of impact. This sudden braking severely increases the flexion injury of your neck. Assuming a seat belt is being worn, it now takes the strain of your forward movement.
Phase 4 – The most damaging part of the whiplash sequence now occurs. The seat belt stops your torso, but your head continues forward. The neck bends violently with force, straining muscles and ligaments, tearing fibers in the spinal discs, and forcing vertebrae out of position. Your spinal cord and nerve roots are stretched and damaged, and your brain hits your skull, potentially causing mild to moderate brain injury. When a seat belt is not used, your head can move forward and strike the steering wheel, dash, or windshield, causing even more severe brain injuries.
Injuries from Whiplash Trauma
There are so many variables involved in how an accident occurs, as there are with the individual victim, so it is impossible to predict an exact pattern of symptoms. It may also be the case that injuries are felt within an hour of the accident or not until weeks or months later. Generally, though, there is an array of conditions that is very often seen after whiplash, including:
Neck Pain
This is the single most common complaint, reported by over 90% of people. Pain often radiates into the shoulders, between the shoulder blades, and into the head. All the tissues in the neck tend to be affected by whiplash, including the muscles, ligaments, nerves, facet joints, and discs between the vertebrae.
Injury to the facet joints is the most common cause of neck pain following a car accident. Facet joint pain is commonly felt on the back of the neck, either side of the center, where it’s tender to the touch, but it doesn’t show on x-rays or MRIs. So only physical palpation of that area can point to a diagnosis.
Neck pain that becomes chronic following a whiplash injury is usually caused by damage to the disc. The bundles of fibers that make up the disc’s outer wall can be torn during a whiplash trauma, resulting in the disc herniating or degenerating. This causes irritation or compression of the nerves that run through the area, triggering pain to radiate into the arms, shoulders, and upper back. Muscle weakness is also reported as a common symptom.
During the first few weeks after a whiplash injury, the most significant pain is caused by damage to the muscles and ligaments in the neck and upper back. This causes people to become stiff and less mobile, and this abnormal movement and instability often remain once the initial pain has subsided.
Headaches
Headaches follow neck pain as the second most common complaint, affecting over 80% of people. Although headaches can occasionally result from direct brain injury, most are triggered by injured muscles, ligaments, and facet joints in the cervical spine, sending referred pain into the head. It is, therefore, vital to treat the supporting structures of your neck to combat any headaches.
TMJ problems
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) is a less common disorder that follows a whiplash injury but can be debilitating if it happens. TMJ manifests as pain and clicking, often with popping noises in the jaw when moved. Left untreated, TMJ can worsen and cause headaches, facial pain, ear pain, and difficulty eating.
Dizziness
Dizziness following a whiplash is usually temporary and can be improved with chiropractic care. It results from injury to the facet joints of the cervical spine. If it is more serious, such as brain or brain stem damage, you will be referred for medical intervention.
Low Back Pain
Despite the neck bearing the brunt of the damage, whiplash can also easily injure your lower back. Low back injuries are reported by over 50% of those involved in rear-impact collisions and nearly 75% of those in side-impact crashes. Although the low back does not suffer the exact extent of flexion-extension injury as the neck, it still experiences immense compression during the first two phases of the whiplash process.
Recovery from Whiplash
Mild whiplash injuries treated correctly usually heal within six to nine months. However, 20% of victims will still be suffering pain, weakness, or restricted movement two years after their accident, and some degree of disability or pain will likely afflict these people for many years more, if not for life.
Whiplash injuries should be treated by specially trained professionals who know and understand the condition. The most effective treatment combines chiropractic care with rehabilitation of the soft tissues and a self-care routine.
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care involves manually adjusting the spine to restore normal movement and position to the vertebrae. This is the most important and effective treatment to minimize whiplash damage. Your chiropractor may also use trigger point therapy, massage therapy, exercise rehabilitation, and other soft tissue rehabilitation treatments.
Physical Rehabilitation
‘Soft tissue’ refers to anything in the body that’s not bone, including muscles, ligaments, tendons, the nervous system, spinal discs, and internal organs. These soft tissues are damaged most by whiplash, with the muscles, ligaments, and discs taking the majority of the impact. Unless the correct therapies are used to stimulate healing, the result may be permanent impairment and disability. Treatments include:
- Trigger point therapy.
- Massage therapy.
- Electro-Stimulation.Stretching.
- Specific Exercises to Boost Strength and Range of Motion.
Supporting Care From Home
How you behave outside the chiropractor’s office will significantly enhance or detract from the treatment given inside it. Your daily home and work routines must be guided by your recovery plan so that the treatment sessions have maximum benefit. You should:
- Apply ice packs.
- Carefully Limit Daily Activities, Stretch, and Exercise.
- Supplement Nutritionally.
- Get Plenty of Rest.
Medical Intervention
Severe whiplash may require the input of a physician to complement your overall treatment.
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