How Do You Get Whiplash?
It can happen to anybody at anytime.You might be in your car, driving somewhere when suddenly you come to a red light. You come to a stop, but the person behind you wasn’t paying attention – and they hit your car from behind. Your car jolts forward and forces your head to suddenly jolt forward with it – but the scary moment is over in a flash, and you find yourself otherwise unscathed, eventually heading home with nothing other than shaken nerves and a slightly sore neck.Or perhaps you were snowboarding or skiing, when suddenly you hit a patch of ice and you fell backwards. Other than sustaining a few bruises, you’re okay – except that you end up with a dull headache or some lingering neck and back pain that just won’t go away. What do you do? And how do you know if you really sustained whiplash, or if your pain is just general soreness that will go away in a few days?
What are the Symptoms of Whiplash?
Whiplash occurs when the head and neck are suddenly forced backward and then forward, putting extreme stress on the cervical spine. If you’re unsure whether or not you have whiplash, know this: even a minor 5 mph accident can cause whiplash. In fact, nearly 300,000 whiplash injuries occur each year, many of them at low speeds. When these accidents occur, the ligaments around the neck sustain small tears and the cervical spine may be forced out of place. Initially, a victim may not experience any painful symptoms, but as the micro-tears begin to swell hours, days, or even weeks after the accident, the victim may experience one or more of the following symptoms of whiplash:
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Feelings of vertigo
- Neck, back, and/or shoulder pain or tightness
- Blurred vision
- Tingling or numbness in the arms or fingers
- Reduced ability to concentrate
- Trouble sleeping
How to Get Rid of Whiplash Fast
If you think you may have sustained whiplash, don’t wait until the symptoms set in to seek help – if left too late, the degeneration of ligaments, tendons, muscles, and discs could start to become irreversible. If you wait to seek help, your neck may begin to heal – but it might be healing in the wrong position and leave you with chronic neck problems. Since whiplash can move the cervical spine out of place, it is not uncommon for untreated cases of whiplash to heal incorrectly, causing numerous issues months or even years down the road due to a spinal misalignment. The only way to truly know if you sustained whiplash is by reviewing very low dose x-rays taken of your spine. A Chiropractic BioPhysics (CBP) chiropractor is certified to take and review x-rays to see if the spine may have become misaligned during an accident. If they discover that it has shifted out of place, they can take immediate action to help restore it to its normal position before it begins to solidify its place in an improper alignment. You may be able to reverse the damage done by a whiplash accident in only several sessions with a CBP chiropractor. Many people believe that physical therapy and/or medications are the only treatments, but expensive medications will only mask the pain (and will therefore need to be taken indefinitely), and while physical therapy may temporarily alleviate the pain, it unfortunately cannot restore your spine to where it needs to be – setting you up for a return of pain and health problems down the road. Fortunately, it can take as few as several short sessions of chiropractic care (including a full review of x-rays) to restore your spine and permanently alleviate your whiplash pain, and most car insurance covers visits to our office 100%!
Affordable Whiplash Treatment in Boulder, Colorado
To find out if you have whiplash – whether from a car accident, snowboarding, skiing, soccer, a bad fall, or any other potential cause – and to reverse the effects of it, give us a call today at 303-440-0500 or click here to schedule a comprehensive exam and adjustment for just $34. You can also call your car insurance company and ask if your medical pay is covered – if so, they will pay for your care. If you don’t live in the Boulder area, you can find a CBP certified chiropractor near you by clicking here. Don’t wait until all the symptoms set in – come in today to save yourself years of pain!
