Who knew a fun day at the amusement park may lead to a whiplash injury?

When people hear the word, “whiplash,” the general public instantly imagines a motor vehicle accident, usually a rear end accident. However, unfortunately, there are many other ways that a whiplash injury can occur. Some examples include:

• Assault – such as being punched or shaken
• Roller coaster rides
• Sports – such as boxing, or football
• Falls

A whiplash injury happens once the neck (cervical spine) is stretched further then its normal range of motion, either forward (flexion), backward (extension) or a sideways movement.

The discs between the vertebrae, and all of their associated muscles, tendons and ligaments may be stretched or torn due to this trauma, leading to symptoms such as:

• Neck pain
• Stiffness or tenderness
• Headaches
• Numbness or tingling
• Muscle spasms
• Irritability
• Blurred vision
• Ringing within the ears

How Chiropractic Care Can Help

These symptoms and connected pain will show up instantly or up to 72 hours after the impact that caused the whiplash injury. Unfortunately the pain and symptoms can last months, or even years.

People usually down play the extent of their injuries after an accident. However this may cause serious issues afterward as most of the injury is to the disc and facet joints.

The goal of chiropractic care is to return the neck joints suffering from whiplash to their traditional position and to alleviate stress on affected nerves and strain on affected muscles. If you know someone who suffers from whiplash, get them checked ASAP!