"Dealing with Whiplash"
Publisher: The Better Health Medical Journal
Source: http://www.betterhealthmedicalcener.com
Date: Feburary 2008
Chiropractic has been a blessing to millions of people who have
had whiplash injuries. What exactly is a whiplash injury and how does chiropractic
help?
What is Whiplash?
Whiplash is not a disease but a description of how any injury occurred. The spine, usually the head and neck,
was unexpectedly thrown very quickly in one direction. The head was whipped around on the neck usually front to back,
but it can also happen from a side-to-side motion of the neck as well.
Where’s the Damage?
The vast Majority of whiplash suffers have misaligned spinal bones and nerve,
joint, ligament, tendon, muscle and disc stress, irritation or damage. Chiropractors have a special
name to describe this type of condition a vertebral subluxation, the most common source of pain
and discomfort from whiplash injuries.
What is a vertebral subluxation?
A whiplash injury is a dramatic example of the one type of vertebral subluxation the kind produced by accident
or trauma. Subluxation may also be caused by emotional stress and tension that slowly build up day-to-day micro
trauma. Other causes of subluxation are poor posture, bad sleeping positions, weak muscles, poor diet and even
dental work. A chiropractic examination often includes a discussion of your personal habits and any injuries,
falls, accidents or situations which may contribute to subluxations. Chiropractors are the only professionals
specially trained to locate and correct your subluxations
Psychological Changes
Whiplash sufferers sometimes have memory, thinking, vision and psychological problems even if there is no head
or brain injury. How could that be? Research has revealed that a neck subluxation can cause decreased blow flow
to the brain!
Immediately After the Accident
An individual who has been in an accident should first make sure that there are no life-threatening
emergency-broken bones, bleeding or hemorrhages, internal organ damage, serious contusions or abrasions, shock or other damage.
This is the specialty of emergency medicine. Yet too many patients are released from medical care after an injury even though
they are still not well. Although the X-rays, MRI, or CT scans and other tests may have found "nothing", the patient's spine
has not been analyzed for subluxations. They may develop arthritis and disc problems years after the accident
(and the legal settlements) because a chiropractor was not consulted right away. After the patient's condition has stabilized,
it is essential that the accident victim's spine be checked by a doctor of chiropractic for vertebral subluxations.
No amount of drugs or therapies will give the patient what the doctor of chiropractic can give:
the spinal adjustment which realigns the spinal column safely and easily, without drugs or surgery.
Its Never too late to check!
Any accident may cause the vertebral subluxation complex where the vertebrae(spinal bones) are out of proper alignment
and irritating or damaging spinal nerves. If you/ve ever been involved in an accident, whiplash or otherwise,
no matter how long ago, please see your doctor of chiropractic to ensure that you
have really healed as completely as possible. Trauma or injury from many years ago may be repsonsible
for seemingly unrelated health problems suffered today.