Auto Accident Injuries
//Denver auto accident chiropractor
What is a Whiplash Injury?
Studies show that nearly half of accident victims—especially those with whiplash—continue to experience symptoms years after settling their claims. Because some injuries take weeks or months to appear, it’s easy to underestimate their severity. Even if you’re not in pain right away, untreated injuries can lead to lasting damage. If you’ve been in an accident, take it seriously and seek care as soon as possible.
The term “whiplash” was first used in 1928 to describe a rapid back-and-forth motion of the neck that damages the muscles, ligaments, and supporting tissues. Today, it’s understood that whiplash is usually caused not by extreme movement, but by the speed and force of the motion itself. Because whiplash can affect the nervous system, joints, muscles, and connective tissues in complex ways—and often doesn’t show clearly on imaging—it remains one of the most challenging and debated injuries to diagnose and treat. Understanding how whiplash occurs is key to effective care.
//Car accident chiropractor
The Four Phases of a Whiplash Injury
During a rear-end automobile collision, your body goes through an extremely rapid and intense acceleration and deceleration. In fact, all four phases of a whiplash injury occur in less than one-half of a second! At each phase, there is a different force acting on the body that contributes to the overall injury, and with such a sudden and forceful movement, damage to the vertebrae, nerves, discs, muscles, and ligaments of your neck and spine can be substantial.
//chiropractic care for whiplash
Injuries Resulting from Whiplash Trauma
Whiplash can cause a wide range of symptoms, including neck pain, headaches, fatigue, shoulder or back pain, and even cognitive changes. Because each injury is influenced by factors like impact force, direction, and individual health, symptoms vary from person to person and often appear weeks or months later. However, certain conditions are commonly seen after whiplash trauma.
Neck Pain
Neck pain is the most common symptom of whiplash, affecting over 90% of patients, and often radiates to the shoulders, head, and upper back. Whiplash can injure facet joints, discs, muscles, ligaments, and nerves in the neck. Facet joint and disc injuries are frequent causes of ongoing or chronic pain, sometimes leading to nerve irritation and radiating arm or shoulder pain. Early stiffness and limited motion usually come from muscle and ligament damage, which can also contribute to long-term instability if not properly addressed.
Headaches
After neck pain, headaches are the most prevalent complaint among those suffering from whiplash injury, affecting more than 80 percent 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
Mild to moderate brain injury can occur with whiplash due to the brain being jolted inside the skull. While some people experience a brief loss of consciousness, many only notice confusion or disorientation after the accident. Over time, this type of injury may lead to trouble concentrating, sleep issues, memory problems, mood changes, or emotional instability. In some cases, senses such as smell, taste, or vision can also be affected.
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 with chiropractic treatment.
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.