Car accidents can be a very traumatic experience for anyone to go through.
There are not only physical injuries to deal with, but often psychological injuries as well.
Even though the amount of damage to the vehicle involved in an automobile accident may seem minor, an accident can cause significant damage to the soft tissues of the spinal column.
There are massive forces involved with the sudden deceleration that occurs in an automobile collision.
If you compare the head to a bowling ball perched atop a spring you get some idea of the action of the head atop the neck in a collision.
In a rear-end collision, the torso gets thrown forward because of the impact and the head lags behind because of inertia.
The head reaches full extension (and often hyper-extension) then is snapped forward in a rebound effect.
This causes the neck to reach full flexion (often hyper-flexion) and injures the muscles and ligaments of the neck.
This injury is commonly called 'whiplash' and is called a cervical hyperflexion/hyperextension injury in clinical terms.
Chiropractic care has been demonstrated to be the most effective course of treatment for this type of injury.
After a thorough examination, which will include a physical examination and often x-rays, a chiropractor will begin treatment.
The aim of chiropractic treatment is to re-align the vertebrae that have been subluxated (slightly dislocated) by the forces involved in the collision.
It is important to re-align the cervical vertebrae and maintain this alignment while the soft tissues around the spinal column heal.
If the vertebrae are not properly aligned through chiropractic adjustments, the soft tissues (muscles and ligaments) will heal with the vertebrae misaligned and this can lead to a variety of physical problems.
In addition to chiropractic adjustments, your chiropractor will often utilize therapeutic massage and physical therapy modalities to increase blood flow and promote healing.
Since a 'whiplash' injury is essentially a sprain/strain of the ligaments and muscles, it needs time to heal.
Complete healing may take up to 6 to 12 months.
It often takes this long for ligaments to regain their full strength.
That is why it is important to follow your chiropractor's treatment program until you are completely healed.
That doesn't mean that you will be in pain for that long, just that it takes that long to recover completely.
Even after complete recovery, the tissues may not have full strength or mobility.
There are not only physical injuries to deal with, but often psychological injuries as well.
Even though the amount of damage to the vehicle involved in an automobile accident may seem minor, an accident can cause significant damage to the soft tissues of the spinal column.
There are massive forces involved with the sudden deceleration that occurs in an automobile collision.
If you compare the head to a bowling ball perched atop a spring you get some idea of the action of the head atop the neck in a collision.
In a rear-end collision, the torso gets thrown forward because of the impact and the head lags behind because of inertia.
The head reaches full extension (and often hyper-extension) then is snapped forward in a rebound effect.
This causes the neck to reach full flexion (often hyper-flexion) and injures the muscles and ligaments of the neck.
This injury is commonly called 'whiplash' and is called a cervical hyperflexion/hyperextension injury in clinical terms.
Chiropractic care has been demonstrated to be the most effective course of treatment for this type of injury.
After a thorough examination, which will include a physical examination and often x-rays, a chiropractor will begin treatment.
The aim of chiropractic treatment is to re-align the vertebrae that have been subluxated (slightly dislocated) by the forces involved in the collision.
It is important to re-align the cervical vertebrae and maintain this alignment while the soft tissues around the spinal column heal.
If the vertebrae are not properly aligned through chiropractic adjustments, the soft tissues (muscles and ligaments) will heal with the vertebrae misaligned and this can lead to a variety of physical problems.
In addition to chiropractic adjustments, your chiropractor will often utilize therapeutic massage and physical therapy modalities to increase blood flow and promote healing.
Since a 'whiplash' injury is essentially a sprain/strain of the ligaments and muscles, it needs time to heal.
Complete healing may take up to 6 to 12 months.
It often takes this long for ligaments to regain their full strength.
That is why it is important to follow your chiropractor's treatment program until you are completely healed.
That doesn't mean that you will be in pain for that long, just that it takes that long to recover completely.
Even after complete recovery, the tissues may not have full strength or mobility.
Source...