Whiplash Injury

This is a term that we all have heard and understand but it is not a medical term.  The term whiplash comes from the movement action of a whip as someone snaps it to make a loud cracking sound.  Ouch!  Luckily in the context of a whiplash injury there is no crack in our neck.  Not so lucky is how severe a whiplash can be.

A whiplash injury in medical terms is a cervical (neck) strain or sprain.  A sprain is an injury to the ligaments that attach bone to bone and a strain is an injury to the muscles and the tendons that attach the muscles to the bone such as to a vertebra or to the occipital bone at the base of the skull.

When the head is sent forward and back during whiplash it pulls the muscles, tendons and ligaments beyond their normal range of motion.  In many cases the head moves back and forth in this severe range multiple times before it stops.  This may account for the severity of some whiplash injuries.

This is considered just a soft tissue injury but anyone who has ever had one knows you should never put just in front of soft tissue injury.  It seems to qualify it as something incidental and not important.  One of the problems with understanding the severity of a soft tissue injury like whiplash is that it does not show up on any diagnostic test.

The majority of whiplash injuries occur in motor vehicle accidents.  When there is the sudden stop by impacting another vehicle or stationary object or being thrust forward by a rear end impact, whiplash usually occurs.  Whiplash can be mild and just last a few days or it can be severe with years of chronic pain.

There are other ways that a whiplash can occur; roller coaster rides, sports such as football or skiing, even shaking such as shaken baby syndrome or getting hit on the back of the head by a soccer ball during recess.

Some of the symptoms people suffer from when they have a whiplash are: neck pain, stiff neck, shoulder pain, headaches, dizziness, back pain, sensory disturbance (pins and needles), numbness or tingling in arms, sleep disturbance, fatigue, restricted range of motion in neck or shoulder or back, jaw pain, face pain and muscle spasms.  This is not meant to be a conclusive list.

The effects of whiplash may not be apparent at first but start within 24 to 72 hours.  Usually the symptoms will lessen everyday and are gone in a few weeks.

Unfortunately, there are many people whose symptoms do not go away within a few weeks.  The standard anti-inflammatory medication, pain medication, rest and ice do not help.  They are referred to exercise based physical therapy and they stop because it is not helping and it is causing them more pain.   They are referred to a specialist but nothing shows up on any tests (no surprise here).  With negative test results, they are now told that there is nothing that can be done.  SO NOT TRUE.

There is a problem causing you to be Still In Pain and we can resolve that problem.  We do not need a test to know how to treat difficult soft tissue injuries. With the ReCAPS System™ you don’t have to live with it, you get better.  You get your life back.

We are constantly told, ‘I wish I had found you sooner, before years of pain and frustration’.  Well, you have found us now, don’t wait for years.