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SouthGASpineAndJoint-A Drug Free Way to Treat Headaches Chiropractic Care

A Drug-Free Way to Treat Headaches: Chiropractic Care

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More Americans complain about headaches than any other health condition, including back pain; in fact, approximately 45 million Americans say they suffer headaches each year.

That’s one in every six people or more than 16 percent of the population. More than 8 million Americans visit their doctor seeking relief for symptoms of headaches each year. Unfortunately, the most popular treatment is over-the-counter pain relievers or prescription medication.

There is some good news when it comes to headaches. There are safe and effective natural solutions available to help reduce or eliminate the symptoms of various headache types. For example, chiropractic treatment is a highly sought-after alternative treatment for the debilitating effects associated with headaches. Let’s learn about that headache you may be suffering from and how chiropractic can help you get rid of it.

Headaches 101

Tension headaches: The most common type of headache is the tension headache. It is estimated that 80-90 percent of the U.S. population suffers from tension headaches at some point in their lives. There are two primary types of tension headaches:

  • Episodic: Headaches appear occasionally, usually less than 15 times per month.
  • Chronic: Headaches occur more than 15 times per month or on a consistent basis.

Tension headaches are intimately connected to abnormal posture, muscular tightness, joint stiffness, and restricted range of motion in the body. To obtain optimum health and function, it is important to remember that everything is connected and everything matters. Dysfunctional patterns of movement and posture affect how much tension and stress your body holds. The body must compensate for these dysfunctional patterns by any means necessary, and it accomplishes this by altering tension points.

Muscles attach to anchor points on bone and act as primary movers and stabilizers for your body. Mover muscles are used get you from point A to point B, such as a getting up out of a chair. Stabilizer muscles control that movement so you don’t fall down while standing up. Abnormal posture and altered tension points on bone anchors puts too much wear and tear on muscles and joints. Your brain and nervous system must compensate for this dysfunction by altering blood flow, muscle movement patterns and breathing. These alterations often lead to tension headaches.

Migraines: The second most common type of headache is the migraine headache. Approximately 16-17 percent of the population complains of migraines. These headaches are far more debilitating than the tension-type headaches. More women than men suffer from migraine headaches, leading researchers to believe there may be a hormonal component to migraines. The majority of migraine sufferers report some sort of trigger that kicks of their headaches (food, drink, smell, etc).

How Chiropractic Can Help

Chiropractic care can help alleviate the symptoms of tension and migraine headaches by improving and restoring normal postural patterns. Chiropractic treatment is aimed at normalizing muscle tension, restoring joint range of motion, and stabilizing the body to reduce abnormal stressors. Optimizing postural control of the head and neck reduces the workload your muscles must apply just to keep your head up during the day. Proper spinal alignment and muscle control helps give the body a fighting chance of avoiding a tension headache.

Proper breathing is essential to relaxation, blood flow, and oxygen supply to the brain and body. Abnormal posture, which can include such dysfunctions as rounded shoulders, neck forward over the shoulders, slouched positions and tightness in the hips from sitting all day, decrease lung capacity. This decreased capacity alters how much you breathe, how often, and from where.

Headache sufferers tend to breathe more from their chest and shoulders as opposed to their diaphragm. This leads to repeated elevation of the shoulders and upper back muscles hundreds of times a day, leading to increased tension in the head and neck. Chiropractic restores function to the spine, ribs, and hips to maximize breathing and good postural control. Better breathing equals better health.

If you’re suffering from headaches and are tired of taking pain-relieving medication day after day, your doctor of chiropractic will work closely with you to determine likely triggers for your headaches and make subtle changes in your activities of daily living to empower you to take back control of your life.

Your Backpack Is Putting Major Stress on Your Spine

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When we think about who wears a backpack, we often think first of students and members of the military. But these days, backpack wearers increasingly transcend age and occupational categories. Who wears a backpack? The businessman who wants to avoid checking a bag at the airport. The mom preparing for a family day at the park. The senior staying active by hiking. The list goes on and on…

Backpacks serve a valuable purpose, but they’re also risky when worn incorrectly or overpacked – particularly risky to the spine. In fact, according to recent research, a backpack can exert stress forces on the spine ranging from seven to 11-plus times the weight of the backpack, depending on whether the backpack is worn with the spine in a neutral position or 20 degrees of forward flexion (tilted-forward posture, as is often the case when carrying a heavy backpack – otherwise you would fall backward).

According to the study, published in Surgical Technology International, adding 1-100 lbs to backpacks in 25-lb increments revealed that with incremental weight increases, stress forces on the spine increased incrementally as well (again, from seven to 11-plus times the additional weight). Total stress forces were identical whether wearing the backpack with one or two straps, although it is important to note that using a single strap will distribute the force unequally to one side of the body, potentially causing postural and other compensations / injuries.

Previous research links backpack use to back pain, spinal disc compression, neck pain, altered posture and walking mechanics, and even foot pressure. It’s easy to understand why, considering the magnitude of force delivered to the spine and the fact that spinal health – for better or worse – influences the health of the entire body. Your doctor can tell you more about spinal health, backpack safety, and the appropriate weight and position (e.g., single- vs. double-strap, etc.) that will minimize injury risk when wearing a backpack.

Time to Visit Your Chiropractor – Even When You’re Not in Pain

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Why visit your doctor of chiropractic periodically – even when you’re not experiencing pain or other symptoms? Here’s why. The latest study on maintenance care for low back health suggests receiving chiropractic care periodically dramatically reduces the number of days you’ll experience “bothersome” low back pain over the course of a year.

Published in the multidisciplinary open-access journal PLOS One, the study included 328 patients ages 18-65 with nonspecific low back pain who experienced a favorable response to chiropractic care during their initial course of treatment. Patients were then randomly allocated to one of two groups for one year: a maintenance care group that received periodic chiropractic care or a control group that returned to their chiropractor only when LBP symptoms were present. Every week, researchers assessed subjects’ low back pain with a single question: “On how many days during the past week were you bothered by your lower back (i.e., it affected your daily activities or routines)?”

During the 12-month tracking period, members of the maintenance care (MC) group made an average of 6.7 visits to the chiropractor, compared with 4.8 visits by members of the control group. Those additional visits correlated with 12.8 fewer days of bothersome low back pain, on average, for the MC group compared to the control group.

calendar event - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark

How important is 12.8 fewer days of bothersome LBP a year? We’re sure you agree it’s worth a few additional visits to your chiropractor! And that’s the beauty of chiropractic care – it helps minimize the chances your pain will occur / recur, rather than treating it with medication once you’re already in pain. If you’re smart, you don’t wait until your car breaks down to take it to the mechanic, and you don’t wait until your teeth fall out to visit the dentist; so why wait until you’re in pain before going to your chiropractor?

As we mentioned at the beginning, this isn’t the first study – and likely won’t be the last – to suggest maintenance chiropractic care is more effective than symptom-guided care for low back pain. Click here to read our summary of a study published in 2017.

P Stands for Perfect Your Posture

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Posture is a buzzword these days, and not for the right reasons: With an increasingly slumped, slouched, ergonomically disadvantaged lifestyle in which we’re controlled by our phones and other gadgets, posture and our overall health is suffering – big time.

While lifestyle changes can definitely help (read our article on that topic by clicking here), the following exercises can also be valuable in preventing poor posture and the health consequences that can result. Here are four simple exercises / stretches to get you started on your path to perfect posture:

1. Thoracic Rotation: Kneel down, place your right hand behind your head, and point your elbow out to the side. Brace your core and rotate your right shoulder toward your left arm. Follow your elbow with your eyes as you reverse the movement until your right elbow points toward the ceiling. That’s one repetition. Complete 20 total repetitions on each side.

2. Band Diagonal Raises: Attach a band or handle to the low pulley of a cable station. Standing with your left side toward the pulley, grab the handle with your right hand in front of your left hip and bend your elbow slightly. Pull the handle up and across your body until your hand is over your head and your thumb is pointing up (a Statue of Liberty pose). Return to the starting position. Complete 15-20 repetitions and then repeat with your left arm.

3. The Open Book Exercise: Lie on your side with your knees bent and your arms straight out in front of you, palms together. Keeping your knees on the ground, take your top arm and rotate your upper body all the way in the opposite direction, following your hand with your eyes. Hold for 2-3 seconds; return to starting position. Repeat on the other side. Do five repetitions on each side.

4. The Wing Stretch: Place the palm of the hand on the outside upper gluteal (buttock) region so your elbow sticks out to the side. This is the shoulder to be stretched. Grab the elbow with your other hand and pull it forward, simultaneously resisting the pull by stabilizing your shoulder girdle backward on the stretching shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds; repeat with opposite shoulder.

Talk to your doctor about other ways to improve your posture, from adjusting your chair height at work and in your car to gym exercises you should – and shouldn’t – do, and more. P stands for perfect posture; now go out and get it!

Raise Your Hand If You Have Back Pain

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As adults, we get used to a variety of daily or near-daily aches and pains, particularly as we age. But what about our children? Don’t they seem immune to many, if not all, of the pain complaints we have – despite the fact that for the most part, they’re exponentially more active?

Maybe not. A study of schoolchildren ages 12-15 revealed a startling statistic: More than half (57 percent) reported experiencing back pain in the past year. As you might expect, “remaining seated at school” was a primary pain trigger, particularly for back pain lasting up to seven days.

These findings not only point to the universality of back pain – and the need for it to be addressed by qualified healthcare professionals such as doctors of chiropractic; but also the need to recognize and avoid situations that may increase the risk of experiencing an episode of back pain.

back pain - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark

For example, evidence implicates ergonomic flaws both in the school and workplace (desk / chair height, etc.) in back pain, not to mention carpal tunnel syndrome, neck pain, and other conditions. What’s more, the act of sitting alone creates undue stress on the spinal column and encourages poor posture whether at school, work or home, a major initiator of back pain and related conditions.

If anyone in your family is suffering from back pain, do something about it. Talk to your doctor about the potential causes and solutions.

Free Adjustments to All Area Linemen & Utility Workers

We APPRECIATE all the hard work, long hours and sacrifice of the hundreds of linemen in Southwest Georgia who are working so tirelessly to restore everyone’s power.

That’s why during the next two weeks, South Georgia Spine, Joint and Rehab is offering FREE ADJUSTMENTS to all area linemen and utility workers who call one of our three offices in Thomasville, Cairo or Bainbridge for an appointment.

It’s just a small way we can say THANK YOU to the men and women who are doing so much for all of us!

5 Common Causes of Neck Pain (and How Chiropractic Can Help)

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Neck pain can be acute (short-term) or chronic (recurring or persisting for months and even years), but regardless, when you’re in pain, relief is the first thing on your mind. Just as important as relief, of course, is finding the cause and ensuring you avoid the behavior/action that brought the pain on in the first place.

Here are five common causes of neck pain – and why doctors of chiropractic are well-suited to relieve the pain and determine the underlying cause.

1. Poor Posture: Leaning over a desk all day or slouching in your office chair? You’re bound to develop neck pain eventually if you haven’t already. Do this quick test: In an upright or seated position, round your shoulders and back (poor posture). Does it impact your neck as well? Exactly!

2. Monitor Madness: Staring at the computer screen for hours at a time? That’s not good for your health (or sanity), but from a neck pain perspective, it’s madness, particularly if the screen height forces you to crane your neck up (too high) or extend it down (too low).

3. Sleep Issues: Ideally, we spend a third of our day sleeping, so your sleep habits – for better or worse – can have a dramatic effect on your health. With regard to neck pain, anytime you sleep in an uncomfortable position, particularly one that stresses your neck musculature (think about side-sleeping while grabbing your pillow tightly, sleeping on your stomach with your arms out in front of you, or even sleeping on your back, but with a pillow that doesn’t adequately support your neck), you risk neck pain.

4. Technology Overload: We may spend a third of our day sleeping, but we increasingly spend the other 16 hours typing, texting, tapping and otherwise interacting with our smartphones, tablets, etc. Bottom line: bad for your neck. One doctor has even coined the phrase, “text neck,”to describe the neck pain that can result from this constant technology interaction.

5. The Wrong Movement: Twisting, turning, stretching and stressing your neck is an easy way to cause neck pain. While the muscles in the neck are strong, they can be strained, sprained and even torn, just like any other muscle.

It’s important to note that beyond these common causes, various other health issues can also contribute to or directly cause neck pain, including fibromyalgia, cervical arthritis or spondylosis (essentially spinal arthritis), spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), infection of the spine, and even cancer. The good news is that a doctor of chiropractic can help identify which of these or the above causes is to blame.

When neck pain strikes, most people turn to a temporary solution first: pain-relieving medication. But that’s not a permanent solution, of course, and it doesn’t address the cause of the pain at all, which could be something relatively minor – or more serious. What’s more, research suggests chiropractic spinal manipulation is actually more effective than over-the-counter and prescription medication for relieving both acute and subacute neck pain.

Suffering from neck pain? Then give your doctor of chiropractic a call. They’ll help you relieve your pain and determine the cause so it doesn’t return.

Three Reasons to Choose Chiropractic

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When you’re suffering low back pain, shoulder pain or any number of similar musculoskeletal conditions, who gets the call: your medical doctor or your doctor of chiropractic? Your choice of health care provider in those situations could make a big difference, and research is continuing to prove it.

According to the latest study, chiropractic care is at least as effective as medical care for certain musculoskeletal conditions, while reducing health care costs and leaving patients more satisfied with the results.

The authors of the study, published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics(JMPT), went so far as to state that for certain musculoskeletal conditions, visiting an MD first instead of a DC may actually be a mistake:

“The findings of this study support first-contact care provided by DCs as an alternative to first-contact care provided by MDs for a select number of musculoskeletal conditions. Restrictive models of care in which patients are required to contact a medical provider before consulting a chiropractic provider may be counterproductive for patients experiencing the musculoskeletal conditions investigated and possibly others.”

The study sample included 403 patients who saw medical doctors and 316 patients who saw doctors of chiropractic as the initial health care providers for their spinal, hip or shoulder pain complaint. Four months following the care, all patients completed a questionnaire that evaluated pain on that day and four months earlier (11-point scale); satisfaction with care received and the results of that care (5-point scale from “very satisfied” to “very unsatisfied”); and other variables. The researchers evaluated related costs of care by reviewing an insurance claims database.

“Patients initially consulting MDs had significantly less reduction in their numerical pain rating score and were significantly less likely to be satisfied with the care received and the outcome of care.” What’re more average per-patient costs over the four-month period were significantly lower in patients who initially consulted DCs ($368 difference compared to MD care)?

JMPT Editor-in-Chief Claire Johnson, DC, MEd, emphasized the importance of the latest findings: “Comparative studies – in other words, research that compares the outcomes between two different providers or modalities – are rare for chiropractic care,” she said. “Thus, this study … is especially important if payers and policy-makers are to better understand the ‘triple aim’ as it relates to chiropractic. Specifically, this study helps us better understand what type of care provides better patient satisfaction, is more cost-effective, and improves population health.”

The answer, suggests an increasing body of research, is chiropractic care.

Keep Your Spine in Shape

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Your spine is the backbone of your entire body – literally and figuratively. That means poor spine health can negatively impact you from head to toe. How can you keep your spine in shape? Let’s learn more about this critical anatomical structure and take a look at some of the simple strategies you can employ to ensure a healthy spine and a healthy body.

Exercises (to Do and Not to Do): Since we’re talking shape here, let’s start with a few exercises that help promote spinal health in the form of proper posture – along with a few that promote poor posture and put the spine at risk. First, a strong core supports the spine, whereas a weak core can lead to pain and injury. To build the core, think planks, bent-leg knee raises, stability ball exercises, ab curls, medicine ball slams and other exercises that strengthen the core muscles (remembering to keep your spine protected at all times by avoiding rounding the back/neck). On the other hand, avoid exercises/movements that unduly stress the spine: slumping while sitting and bending forward immediately after sitting come to mind, as do exercises that make you prone to rounding your back (traditional sit-ups, toe-touches, etc.).

Sleep Matters: Your sleep position and the overall quality of your sleep play a big role in spinal health. The ideal position for the spine during sleep places you on your back with a pillow between your legs. As you might imagine, lying on your stomach is the worse position. Your pillow and mattress also matter, so make sure you choose the right ones for you, or your spine will let you know with neck and/or back pain. (Talk to your chiropractor for suggestions.)

Nutrition Essentials: Believe it or not, certain foods promote a healthy spine (and vice versa). For example, adequate water intake is necessary to nourish not only the body’s cells but also the spinal intervertebral discs, which consist primarily of water at birth. As you might imagine, water helps keep the discs (and thus the spine) from getting stiff and subject to injury.  In addition, an anti-inflammatory diet is a key to preventing back pain and other spine problems due to inflammation. Think foods such as omega-3 fish and lean proteins, fresh produce, avocado, olive oil, and various spices while reducing intake of pro-inflammatory foods (most fast foods and processed foods, sugar-laden sweets, etc.).

Chiropractic Care: No conversation about spine health would be complete without mentioning chiropractic, an entire healthcare profession founded on the principle that a healthy, properly aligned spine has far-reaching effects on the entire body. Research asserts chiropractic’s effectiveness in treating back pain, neck pain, and various other musculoskeletal conditions, and the goal of periodic chiropractic care is to maintain spinal health, optimize the body’s self-healing capacities, and thus prevent pain from returning. If you haven’t been to a chiropractor yet, what are you waiting for? If you’ve visited one, but haven’t returned in a while, remember: your spine – and your entire body – deserve it.

What to Do About Whiplash

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Whiplash is the most common injury associated with motor vehicle accidents, affecting up to 83 percent of those involved in collisions, and is a common cause of chronic disability.

The Quebec Task Force (QTF) on Whiplash-Associated Disorders defines whiplash as “bony or soft tissue injuries” resulting “from rear-end or side impact, predominantly in motor vehicle accidents, and from other mishaps” as a result of “an acceleration-deceleration mechanism of energy transfer to the neck.” It is estimated that as many as four per 1,000 people may experience a whiplash-related injury and associated pain syndromes. The overall economic burden of whiplash injury, including medical care, disability, and sick leave, is estimated at a staggering $3.9 billion annually in the U.S. alone.

The mechanism of injury suggests that whiplash may occur as a result of hyperextension (excessive backward bending) of the lower cervical spine (neck) in relation to a hyperflexion (excessive forward bending) of the upper cervical vertebrae, producing a force of impact “whipping” through the body. The result is soft-tissue damage, inflammation and muscle spasm.

Whiplash is associated with a wide variety of clinical symptoms including neck pain, neck stiffness, arm pain, jaw pain, headaches and paresthesias (tingling/numbness), problems with memory and concentration, and psychological distress. Symptoms of whiplash may not present until several weeks after the causative incident. Frequently people experience little pain and discomfort in the early stages. However, after several weeks the body begins to manifest symptoms. It is this delayed onset of symptoms and lack of early treatment intervention which may cause the condition to become chronic and debilitating.

Whiplash Prevention

While a whiplash injury may be unavoidable if you’re involved in a crash, there are simple but effective precautions you can take to minimize the risk. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Head restraint: If more than one person uses a car, it is better to adjust the head restraint for each driver and make sure that it’s positioned according to the convenience of each driver. Not adjusting the head restraint for each driver greatly increases the likelihood of injury. The head restraint must be locked when driving. If the head restraint is not locked, it may move during an accident, taking away protective support when needed most and resulting in substantial injuries to the neck.

Evidence suggests that being the driver increases the chances of head injury by double and also shows that women suffer from whiplash injuries more than men because they tend to sit more upright and closer to the steering wheel. A study by Brian Stemper, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, found: “Auto head restraints positioned less than 2.4 inches (6 cm) from the back of the head kept ligament stretch within the physiologic range – meaning that no injury would occur. However, as the restraint distance increased beyond 2.4 inches, the ligaments began to exceed failure thresholds, meaning that whiplash injury was more likely to occur.”

Seat belt: Although the seat belt in and of itself will not prevent whiplash, it does help to prevent your body from lurching completely forward during a car crash, even a low-impact crash. The simple act of buckling up is responsible for approximately a 60 percent reduction in accident fatalities. So buckle up to save your life and protect your neck.

Neck exercises: Whiplash affects the neck muscles. The stronger the muscles, the less affected by sudden movement your neck will be. Engage in neck exercises to strengthen the soft tissues of the neck. Exercise won’t prevent whiplash, but it can make you less susceptible to the forcible forward and backward neck jolts. Isometric resistance exercises for the neck are easy to do and highly effective in strengthening the supportive musculature of the neck. Your doctor can provide you with specific neck-strengthening exercises.

Treatment Options

Whiplash injuries are difficult to treat for many reasons. Complex interactions of psychosocial, legal and physical factors make effective treatment highly variable. However, there are many therapeutic options available to help whiplash related injuries. Initial treatment traditionally includes a soft cervical collar to restrict the cervical range of motion and prevent further injury. Overall rest and motion restriction may hinder progress in the long run, so it is best to seek out professional help in resolving symptoms. That’s where your chiropractor comes in.

Chiropractic: Chiropractors are the single largest group of practitioners treating whiplash injuries, and they do it well: For example, one study found chiropractors were effective at relieving whiplash pain more than 90 percent of the time. Chiropractic care focuses on relieving soft- tissue spasm, inflammation and pain by restoring proper motion in the spinal column. Due to the force impact of whiplash, the spinal column can misalign and cause pain. By performing manipulation of the spinal column, chiropractic can help restore normal function and movement to the affected areas.

Depending on their treatment style and your specific case, your chiropractor may decide to utilize additional treatment options in addition to chiropractic, either in their office or via a referral. Here are some of those potential treatments, all with the single goal of relieving your pain and managing your whiplash symptoms in the most effective way possible – and without requiring pain-relief medications, which are perhaps the most common “treatment” option for whiplash sufferers, despite the fact that they provide only short-term relief and may create more problems than solutions in terms of the potential side effects.

Acupuncture: An ancient system of healing developed over thousands of years in Eastern countries such as China, acupuncture is a treatment in which fine needles are applied to specific acupuncture points in order to relieve symptoms of both physical and psychological conditions. Acupuncture has proved to be a particularly effective in relieving the neck pain and other symptoms associated with whiplash injuries. In some cases, acupuncture has helped in the treatment of whiplash patients suffering long-term symptoms where conventional approaches showed little improvement.

Massage Therapy: Massage is one of the most effective therapies for releasing muscle tension and restoring balance to the musculoskeletal system. Massage therapy can help relax the muscles, increase and maintain range of motion, decrease stress and tension, increase circulation, and prevent and break down scar-tissue formation. Ideally, therapy should start as soon as the acute, inflammatory phase is over (about 72 hours after the injury). A massage technique called cross-fiber friction can be used to encourage the body to lay down the connective tissue in the same direction as the originally damaged tissue. This proper alignment causes smaller amounts of the connective tissue to be needed and allows for a fuller range of motion upon recovery.

Physical Therapy: Physical therapy is an effective treatment option for whiplash, especially when combined with other treatments, such as bracing.

Physical therapy techniques can help restore proper function and movement of damaged tissues. Physical therapy includes both passive and active treatments. Passive treatments help relax you and your body. They’re called passive because you don’t have to actively participate. You’ll probably start with passive treatments as your body heals and/or adjusts to the pain. But the goal of physical therapy is to get into active treatments. These are therapeutic exercises that strengthen your body so that your spine has better support.

Laser Therapy: Laser therapy is a safe, non-invasive and very effective treatment for speeding the healing process of damaged tissue, reducing pain, muscle spasms and inflammation from whiplash injuries of the neck and back. Laser therapy is a bio-stimulator that helps the body heal itself, sending healing photon (light) energy to injured tissue, which in turn creates a series of chemical reactions that accelerate the body’s natural healing mechanisms. Properly administered laser treatments help decrease pain and inflammation, help generate new and healthy cells, improve nerve function, increase the speed, quality and tensile strength of tissue repair, and improve blood circulation to the tissues, all for the treatment of pain.

When it comes to whiplash, be proactive in your prevention strategy and treatment options. Educate yourself about the options available to you and work closely with your healthcare professional to ensure maximum benefits from therapy. Knowing your options is the foundational key to reaching your goal of getting back to health. Whiplash can be a difficult condition to recover from; however, with your chiropractor in your corner and an array of conservative treatment options at their disposal, you’re in the best of hands.

Recovering From Whiplash: Key Action Steps

If you or someone you know is suffering from whiplash, here are some action steps to take:

  • Schedule an appointment with your chiropractor, who can evaluate the severity of your condition and get you on the road to recovery immediately. Your chiropractor will likely recommend some or all of the following:
  • For at least 2-3 weeks, avoid activities that bring on or worsen your pain and stiffness.
  • Don’t lift or carry anything heavy or participate in sports.
  • Do not sit for long periods of time.
  • Use an orthopedic head support pillow while sleeping.
  • If possible, stay active by taking short walks.
  • If you have pain when you move your head or the pain involves your shoulders or arms, your doctor may recommend a soft neck collar or a natural pain reliever.

While recovering and under care, contact your chiropractor if any of the following occurs:

  • Neck pain and stiffness return after they initially went away.
  • Neck pain is so severe that it interferes with your daily activities.
  • The pain spreads to your shoulders or arms.
  • You have numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arms or legs.
  • You have problems with your bladder or bowels.
  • Headaches become severe and do not resolve.

Take the Whiplash Quiz!

While most people are familiar with the term whiplash and generally know that it’s primarily a consequence of motor vehicle accidents, you may be surprised to learn how easily a whiplash injury can occur and how severe the consequences can be. Take this short quiz and then check your answers.

Question 1: Most (80 percent) of whiplash injuries occur with a vehicle collision speed (range) of only:

A 1-5 mph
B 6-12 mph
C 10-25 mph
D 15-30 mph

Question 2: According to early human crash testing (conducted at UCLA) that simulated real-world rear-impact collisions, how does the human head respond to a crash compared to the vehicle?

A The volunteer’s head was subjected to 2 1/2 times the acceleration of the vehicle.
B The volunteer’s head was subjected to about 1/2 the acceleration of the vehicle.
C The volunteer’s acceleration was roughly equivalent to stepping off a curb.
D In low-speed collisions (under 8 mph), no acceleration of the human head can be measured.

Question 3: Regarding the outcome of whiplash injuries, which of the following statements is most accurate?

A The vast majority of whiplash injuries resolve in about six weeks.
B The vast majority of whiplash injuries resolve in 6-12 weeks.
C About 25-50 percent of whiplash injuries fail to resolve completely.
D Whiplash injuries rarely resolve completely.

Question 4: Of the following variables, which is considered to be a risk factor for poor outcome in whiplash trauma?

A Female gender.
B Advanced age.
C Nonawareness of impending impact.
D All the above have been shown to be risk factors for poor outcome.

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