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Treatment of Whiplash

Treatment of whiplash depends on the wide variety of symptoms present. Unfortunately, most treatments of whiplash have not been well tested to determine their effectiveness.

The most important issue in the management of whiplash is optimal education of the patient about their injury. This includes information on the cause, potential treatments, and likely outcomes. Patients should understand that this is a real injury, but that nearly all patients have the ability to fully recover. Patients that do not receive this information are much more likely to develop the more chronic "whiplash associated disorder."

Often the initial treatment recommended by a MD or hospital will be the use of a soft cervical collar. This can be a sign of a physician who does not fully understand the condition. The goal of the collar is to reduce the range of motion of the neck and to prevent any additional injuries. While this may be useful in some rare instances, more recent studies have shown that prolonged periods of immobilization actually slows the healing process.

It seems that excessive rest and immobilization have been shown to have greater chances of chronic symptoms. This is explained by loss of range of motion leading to increased pain and stiffness. Immobilization also causes muscle atrophy (muscle wasting) and decreased blood flow and healing of damaged muscles.

Patients who seek appropriate care early after the MVC tend to fair better than those who do not. The reasons being:

1. A rational therapeutic intervention, during the initial two weeks (after the injury), can greatly reduce the likelihood of long-term symptoms.
2. Practitioners can have the greatest impact on inflammation.
3. It is important to monitor the nervous system, should the patient’s condition worsen.
4. Practitioner must make every effort to minimize the patient's pain as quickly as possible.
5. Early implementation of treatment helps to speed recovery and minimize scar tissue formation.
6. There is much to communicate to patients (e.g., information about activities of daily living).

As we will discuss: appropriate forms of care include:

• A complete and thorough examination with tests performed by a doctor well trained to understand the mechanisms of injury, the nature of the injury, and the most effective types of care for the injury.
• The types of tests include; Structural analysis, postural analysis, a palpatory exam of the spine, neurological tests, orthopedic tests, kinesiological tests (muscle strength), and a series of x-rays to assess for abnormal findings. Some doctors use a painless stress test for the muscles of the spine called a surface electromyography scan, or sEMG for short. This is different from a needle EMG in as it uses little pads, not needles, to measure the tension of the muscles of the spine. Or in other words, to measure the hyperactivity of irritated or injured tissues.
• Types of care include; Chiropractic, ROM exercises, Acupuncture and proper nutrition.
• The focus of these types of care is to:
  • Alleviate pain
  • Restore normal joint movement
  • Provide appropriate nutrients for repair
  • And to strengthen and stabilize the spine.

If the patient begins to develop psychological symptoms including anger, anxiety or depression following an injury, prompt treatment of the emotional condition is recommended. This can help the patient better understand the good chances for successful recovery and reduce the chances of chronic symptoms.