Accidents & Personal Injury

Whiplash can be described as a sudden strain to the muscles, bones and nerves in the neck. Excessive extension and flexion that occurs in a motor vehicle accidents can cause a wide range of injuries including sprains/strains, facet joint damage, disc herniations, and mild traumatic brain injuries.

Whiplash is a modern problem, and due to the general trend of stiffer vehicles and other factors associated with vehicle manufacturing, the incidence of whiplash continues to rise. Injuries associated with whiplash require a complex treatment strategy that attempts to limit inflammation, regain range of motion, break scar tissue and other fibrotic adhesions that get formed on damaged tissues, and regain proper biomechanics and strength of the spine. In order to accomplish this most effectively, the doctors at the Holistic Center at Bristol Square provide a comprehensive treatment approach that combines soft tissue therapy, physiotherapy modalities including cold laser, spinal adjustments, exercise therapy and nutritional support.

The doctors at the Holistic Center at Bristol Square are trained to treat a wide range of injuries and pain syndromes along with mild traumatic brain injuries. They treat injuries of the neck, back as well as the extremities. Acute injuries such as sprains and strains, as well as chronic, degenerative conditions can be effectively treated conservatively at the Holistic Center at Bristol Square. Some conditions require additional medical treatment, and the doctors at the Holistic Center at Bristol Square work closely with specialists in all areas of medicine and help patients get to the right provider when a referral is indicated. Additionally, many orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons refer patients to the Holistic Center at Bristol Square when surgery is not indicated or for post-operative rehabilitation.

If you’ve been in a car accident, whiplash injuries need to be taken very seriously.  Because symptoms may take weeks to months to manifest, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that you are not as injured as you really are.  Too often following a car accident if you don’t experience pain immediately, you may think that you are fine.  That can be a big mistake on your behalf.  

By far, the most common injury to the neck and back is a whiplash injury. Whiplash is caused by a sudden movement of the head, either backward, forward, or sideways, that results in the damage to the supporting muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues in the neck, upper back and low back.

Unfortunately, by the time more serious complications develop, some of the damage from the injury may have become permanent .Numerous studies have shown that years after whiplash victims settle their insurance claims, roughly half of them state that they still suffer with symptoms from their injuries. If you have been in a motor vehicle or any other kind of accident, don't assume that you escaped injury if you are not currently in pain. 

As we discussed briefly in the introduction, whiplash injuries can manifest in a wide variety of ways, including neck pain, headaches, fatigue, upper back and shoulder pain, cognitive changes and low back pain.  Due to the fact that numerous factors play into the overall whiplash trauma, such as direction of impact, speed of the vehicles involved, as well as sex, age and physical condition, it is impossible to predict the pattern of symptoms that each individual will suffer.  Additionally, whiplash symptoms commonly have a delayed onset, often taking weeks or months to present.  There are, however, a number of conditions that are very common among those who have suffered from whiplash trauma.

Injuries Resulting From Whiplash Trauma

Neck Pain

It is the single most common complaint in whiplash trauma, being reported by over 90% of patients.  Often this pain radiates across the shoulders, up into the head, and down between the shoulder blades.  Whiplash injuries tend to affect all of the tissues in the neck, including the facet joints and discs between the vertebrae, as well as all of the muscles, ligaments and nerves.

Facet joint pain is the most common cause of neck pain following a car accident.  Facet joint pain is usually felt on the back of the neck, just to the right or left of center, and is usually tender to the touch.  Facet joint pain cannot be visualized on x-rays or MRIs.  It can only be diagnosed by physical palpation of the area.

Disc injury is also a common cause of neck pain; especially chronic pain.  The outer wall of the disc (called the annulus) is made up of bundles of fibers that can be torn during a whiplash trauma.  These tears, then, can lead to disc degeneration or herniation, resulting in irritation or compression of the nerves running through the area.  This compression or irritation commonly leads to radiating pain into the arms, shoulders and upper back, and may result in muscle weakness.

Damage to the muscles and ligaments in the neck and upper back are the major cause of the pain experienced in the first few weeks following a whiplash injury, and is the main reason why you experience stiffness and restricted range of motion.  But as the muscles have a chance to heal, they typically don’t cause as much actual pain as they contribute to abnormal movement.  Damage to the ligaments often results in abnormal movement and instability.

Headaches

After neck pain, headaches are the most prevalent complaint among those suffering from whiplash injury, affecting more than 80% of all people.  While some headaches are actually the result of direct brain injury, most are related to injury of the muscles, ligaments and facet joints of the cervical spine, which refer pain to the head.  Because of this, it is important to treat the supporting structures of your neck in order to help alleviate your headaches.

TMJ Problems

A less common, but very debilitating disorder that results from whiplash is temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ).  TMJ usually begins as pain, clicking and popping noises in the jaw during movement.  If not properly evaluated and treated, TMJ problems can continue to worsen and lead to headaches, facial pain, ear pain and difficulty eating.  Many chiropractors are specially trained to treat TMJ problems, or can refer you to a TMJ specialist.

Brain Injury

Believe it or not, mild to moderate brain injury is common following a whiplash injury, due to the forces on the brain during the four phases mentioned earlier.  The human brain is a very soft structure, suspended in a watery fluid called cerebrospinal fluid.  When the brain is forced forward and backward in the skull, the brain bounces off the inside of the skull, leading to bruising or bleeding in the brain itself.  In some cases, patients temporarily lose consciousness and have symptoms of a mild concussion. More often, there is no loss of consciousness, but patients complain of mild confusion or disorientation just after the crash.  The long-term consequences of a mild brain injury can include mild confusion, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, irritability, forgetfulness, loss of sex drive, depression and emotional instability.  Although less common, the nerves responsible for your sense of smell, taste and even your vision may be affected as well, resulting in a muted sense of taste, changes in your sensation of smell and visual disturbances.

Dizziness

Dizziness following a whiplash injury usually results from injury to the facet joints of the cervical spine, although in some cases injury to the brain or brain stem may be a factor as well.  Typically, this dizziness is very temporary improves significantly

Low Back Pain

Although most people consider whiplash to be an injury of the neck, the low back is also commonly injured as well.  In fact, low back pain is found in more than half of rear impact-collisions in which injury was reported, and almost three-quarters of all side-impact crashes.  This is mostly due to the fact that the low back still experiences a tremendous compression during the first two phases of a whiplash injury, even though it does not have the degree of flexion-extension injury experienced in the neck.

Recovery from Whiplash

With proper care, many mild whiplash injuries heal within six to nine months.  However, more than 20% of those who suffer from whiplash injuries continue to suffer from pain, weakness or restricted movement two years after their accident.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of these people will continue to suffer from some level of disability or pain for many years after that, if not for the rest of their lives.

Whiplash is a unique condition that requires the expertise of a skilled health professional specially trained to work with these types of injuries.  The most effective treatment for whiplash injuries is a combination of chiropractic care, rehabilitation of the soft tissues and taking care of yourself at home.  

Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care utilizes manual manipulation of the spine and other techniques to restore the normal movement and position of the spinal vertebrae.  It is by far the single-most effective treatment for minimizing the long-term impact of whiplash injuries, especially when coupled with massage therapy, trigger point therapy, exercise rehabilitation and other soft tissue rehabilitation modalities

Soft Tissue Rehabilitation

The term "soft tissue" simply refers to anything that is not bone, such as your muscles, ligaments, tendons, nervous system, spinal discs and internal organs.  During a whiplash injury, the tissues that are affected most are the soft tissues, the muscles, ligaments and discs in particular.  In order to minimize permanent impairment and disability, it is important to use therapies that stimulate the soft tissues to heal correctly.  These include massage therapy, electro-stimulation, trigger point therapy, stretching and specific strength and range of motion exercises.

Home Care

The most effective chiropractic care and soft tissue rehabilitation will be limited in its benefit if what you do at home or at work stresses or re-injures you on a daily basis.  For this reason, it is important that your plan of care extend into the hours and days between your clinic visits to help speed your recovery.  Some of the more common home care therapies are the application of ice packs, limitations on work or daily activities, specific stretches and exercises, taking nutritional supplements and getting plenty of rest

Medical Intervention

In some severe cases of whiplash, it may be necessary to have some medical care as part of your overall treatment plan.  The most common medical treatments include the use of anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxants, trigger point injections and, in some cases, epidural spinal injections.  These therapies should be used for short-term relief of pain, if necessary, and not be the focus of treatment.  After all, a drug cannot restore normal joint movement and stimulate healthy muscle repair.  Fortunately, surgery is only needed in some cases of herniated discs, when the disc is pressing on the spinal cord, and in some cases of spine fractures. Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Bien will determine if medical care is needed in conjunction with chiropractic care. 

Document Your Injury

It’s very important to have your injury documented by a chiropractic physician. Your injury could be permanent or you may have residual pain after treatment is completed. Once an insurance company settles your case, your care is no longer covered. You may need care in the future and this needs to be documented. It's important to pick a doctor with plenty of experience who knows the mechanisms of injury and long term effects. 

According to the Insurance Research Council, nearly 1/3 of all claimants injured in motor vehicle accidents seek treatment from a chiropractor.  That is an impressive number given that the National Safety Council (NSC) has determined that there to be more than 12 million MVA’s annually involving more than 20 million vehicle

The reason individuals like yourself choose chiropractic care for treatment for injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents is simple – chiropractic care is exceptional in treating soft tissue injuries, especially of the spine.  Since the most common injuries associated with MVA’s are sprain’s and strains of the spinal muscles and ligaments, it’s only natural that chiropractic is the treatment of choice.