This patient received a chiropractic adjustment to the cervical and thoracic spine. His symptoms were brought on by a fall down the stairs several years ago and he continues to experience ongoing neck pain as a result of this whiplash accident.
A recent study published in The Journal of Pain in February, 2014, revealed that approximately 40% of all chronic neck pain in the United States can be attributed to a prior whiplash injury. These are people who experience neck pain on a regular basis.
There are over 3 million cases of whiplash in the United States every year. Ten percent of these individuals will become disabled.
That’s 300,000 people a year. Some estimate for women who experience a whiplash injury, there is up to a 33% chance of developing chronic neck pain, and up to a 55% chance of developing chronic headaches.
If one does become injured by whiplash or a neck injury, getting evaluated and treated early has been shown to decrease the chances of the injury causing chronic neck pain. I recommend chiropractic care and physical therapy.
The injured soft tissue in the neck need to heal properly so that arthritis does not start in the spine after the injury. Chiropractic and physiotherapies help the joints and muscles heal properly by regaining mobility and decreasing inflammation and stiffness, which can cause neck pain following an injury to become chronic.
What can someone do to help minimize their risk of whiplash?
Driving would be the number one cause of whiplash in the United States. Drive safe out on the roads, and try to limit activities that could predispose you to suffering a neck injury such as jumping on a trampoline or putting yourself in a position where you could have a fall.Adjusting the headrest in your vehicle to the proper position has been shown to decrease the chances of experiencing a neck injury after a car accident.
Most of us don’t check our neck rest in the car. We just jump in and go. This is something no one really thinks about, but it’s a simple thing that everyone can do to ride safer on the roads.
The car companies are making the vehicles much safer these days. You’re much less likely to die in a car accident these days, but you’re much more likely to suffer a neck injury.
Cars are now engineered to be stronger, which it is decreasing the death rates pretty significantly in the United States. But, as those cars get stronger, the forces that go through the vehicle after a crash are going through the bodies now. Bodies are absorbing much of the momentum and force that goes through the vehicles as opposed to the vehicle itself.
You’re less likely to die in a vehicle accident currently, but the injury rates are much higher as the vehicles are engineered stronger and better.
I posted this video blog to bring awareness to the benefits of chiropractic care for neck pain, back pain, injury recover and many other conditions. Some are concerned about the safety of the chiropractic adjustment and hopefully this video will ease any anxiety that one may have regarding seeking chiropractic treatment.
Your Raleigh NC Chiropractor- Dr. Jeffrey Gerdes, D.C.