Whiplash

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Symptoms and Treatment of Whiplash

You are sitting calmly at a red light waiting for it to change to green and then all of a sudden someone behind you fails to stop and rear-ends you. The force of the impact throws your head forward, and then like the cracking of a whip, a force quickly brings your head backward. This violent movement of your head, known as whiplash, can cause severe trauma to your neck. The skilled treatment you will receive at Chatham Chiropractic in Chatham, IL will help heal the trauma and relieve the pain you are experiencing.

What Are the Symptoms of Whiplash?

We all experience neck pain from time to time. It could be due to working long hours or how we lay our head when we sleep. But tying neck pain to a recent car accident or some other sudden impact can help you to determine if you have whiplash and need treatment. Even though you may not notice any problems with your neck shortly after an accident, whiplash symptoms usually occur within 24 hours. Here are a few symptoms to keep in mind:

  • The neck becomes stiff and painful
  • Loss of the ability to move your neck in its complete range of motion
  • Headaches that often start at the bottom of your head
  • You feel dizzy
  • Numbness in your arms and pain in your shoulders
  • Blurred vision
  • Problems with concentration

How a Doctor Diagnoses Whiplash

Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and any impacts you have had recently that may explain them. The doctor will check the range of motion of your head and ask you about the pain associated with it. Then they may take a series of X-rays to look for any serious injuries to your neck and damage to your vertebrae. Some advanced types of X-rays, like an MRI, can detect injuries to your soft tissues. 

How Does a Chiropractor Treat Whiplash?

A whiplash incident forces your neck to extend beyond its normal range. This can cause the vertebrae in your neck to go out of alignment as well as cause damage to neck muscles and connective tissue. Your chiropractor will work with the affected joints to help them go back into place. This procedure is called spinal manipulation. Also, using a variety of methods, they will work to relax and repair your muscles. A chiropractor can supply you with a few exercises that will help strengthen and relax your neck muscles. The effect of the combined treatment methods will help your neck to heal. It will improve your neck's range of motion and stability. As your neck recovers, the pain and other symptoms will subside. 

A Full Whiplash Treatment Plan

Even though whiplash cases may have similarities, your whiplash experience will be different from someone else's. A chiropractor will check your whole musculoskeletal system for signs of injury. Then they will devise a personalized non-invasive treatment plan to restore proper neck alignment and promote muscle healing. If you are in the Chatham area and need chiropractic care, call Chatham Chiropractic today to schedule an appointment and let us help relieve your suffering.

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Chatham Chiropractic

Monday:

6:30 am-12:00 pm

3:00 pm-6:00 pm

Tuesday:

6:30 am-10:00 am

3:00 pm-6:00 pm

Wednesday:

6:30 am-12:00 pm

3:00 pm-6:00 pm

Thursday:

6:30 am-10:00 am

3:00 pm-6:00 pm

Friday:

6:30 am-12:00 pm

3:00 pm-6:00 pm

Saturday:

8:00 am-10:00 am

Closed

Sunday:

Closed