Whiplash often seems like a minor inconvenience at first, but when left untreated, it can cause chronic pain and lead to more serious health conditions in the future.
Fortunately, a chiropractor can help you find relief from whiplash symptoms, whether they’re from a recent car accident or from an old injury.
In many cases, whiplash symptoms can be eliminated or reduced with a combination of things like physical therapy, gentle spinal manipulation, hot and cold therapies, and other treatments that chiropractors are uniquely equipped to provide.
If you’re experiencing neck pain, headaches, stiffness or other whiplash symptoms and live in the Pembroke Pines area, Rush Chiropractic has a variety of great treatment options available.
What Causes Whiplash?
Most people associate whiplash with car accidents, but did you know that it can actually occur in many different settings?
Rear-end collisions are the most common cause of whiplash, but it can also happen because of contact sports, amusement park rides, falls, and other situations that place sudden force on the neck. If you’re older or have pre-existing neck issues, you may also be more susceptible to whiplash.
Whiplash is also known as a flexion/extension cervical injury, because it’s caused by a sudden extension (backward motion) of the head and neck, followed by a flexion (forward motion).
Whiplash is often difficult to diagnose without an X-Ray and a professional opinion, because it can be caused by even minor accidents, like a rear-end collision with a car going only 5 to 10 miles per hour.
Also, whiplash symptoms don’t always present themselves right after the incident, so people sometimes have trouble connecting their problems to the root cause if they start experiencing pain days or weeks after an accident.
How to Know if You’re Suffering from Whiplash
The most common symptoms of whiplash are neck pain and stiffness, but it can also cause other problems, including:
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Headaches, especially at the base of your skull
- Limited range of motion in your neck and shoulders
In more severe cases, whiplash symptoms can also include:
- Blurred vision
- Emotional issues like increased depression or anxiety
- Lower quality of sleep
- Memory or concentration difficulties
- Pain when you move your head
- Numbness or weakness in your shoulders and arms
- Ringing in your ears
If you’re experiencing any of these more serious symptoms, be sure to visit a medical professional right away.
When Should You Seek Medical Attention for Whiplash?
If you think you’re experiencing whiplash, it’s always best to get medical help as soon as you’re able to.Even though whiplash is relatively common and often mild, its symptoms can linger for months or years, and sometimes they’ll get more severe over time if they aren’t treated. Untreated whiplash can also put you at a higher risk for future injuries to the neck and spine.
Plus, whiplash mimics the symptoms of other neck and spine injuries that can happen in a car accident, collision, or fall, so it’s important to have a comprehensive exam done to make sure that you don’t have a more serious condition.
If you’re experiencing numbness or weakness in your arms and shoulders, or if it’s painful to move your head, be sure to see a doctor right away. But even when your symptoms are less severe, you can still find relief faster and also reduce your risk of future injuries by visiting a chiropractor.
Why Chiropractors are a Great Option for Treating Whiplash
A general practitioner may be able to offer you some relief when you’re dealing with whiplash, but a chiropractor has many more tools at their disposal to help you heal.
A general practitioner will often prescribe over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications or muscle relaxants. While these can help reduce swelling, decrease your pain in the short-term, or temporarily improve your range of motion, they won’t address the root cause of the injury.
Over time, your symptoms may come back more severely, or the injury can linger unnoticed and cause problems for years to come.
A chiropractor, on the other hand, can not only diagnose your whiplash, but also use treatments like spinal manipulation and electrical muscle stimulation to help you heal.
What to Expect When Visiting a Pembroke Pines Chiropractic
If you live in the Pembroke Pines area and are dealing with neck pain after a car accident or other traumatic event, Rush Chiropractic can diagnose the problem and develop a customized treatment plan for your specific set of injuries and concerns.
We’ll start by doing a complete consultation and comprehensive examination to better understand the injuries you’re experiencing and rule in or rule out certain important conditions. We’ll also take pictures of your spine to make sure you don’t have any fractures, dislocations, or anterior or posterior translations of the spine.
Once we’ve ruled out more severe neck and spine injuries, we have a wide range of treatments we can use to help reduce your pain and equip your body to heal more quickly. These include:
- Electrical Muscle Stimulation
- Mechanical Traction
- Cold Therapy
Additionally, one of the main techniques we use to treat whiplash is called Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation stretching. With PNF stretching, we help you both stretch and contract a targeted muscle group in order to help increase your range of motion.
Since whiplash typically involves a restriction of the neck region, we believe this is one of the best ways to help restore your neck’s normal function and decrease your pain.
Don’t Wait to Start Your Recovery Process
Whether you just started experiencing the symptoms of whiplash or you’ve been dealing with chronic whiplash symptoms for years, there’s no time like the present for getting help!
Rush Chiropractic is ready and able to help you start feeling better, and Dr. Rush is equipped with years of expertise in helping patients recover from spine and neck injuries.
Give us a call today at 954-432-5006 to schedule a consultation.
Dr. Rush is a 1994 graduate of the University of Florida where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Sports Science and Wellness.
Dr. Rush earned his Doctor of Chiropractic Degree at Life University in 2000 where he was honored with magna cum laude. Dr. Rush was born and raised in South Florida where he returned after graduation. He currently practices in Pembroke Pines, Florida where he owns and operates Rush Chiropractic and Rehab at Pembroke Pines FL.
