Are you feeling a bit of a pain in the neck lately? Does your neck feel stiff, painful, tender, or are you not able to turn it and move around as much as you used to? You may be victim to whiplash. Whiplash is most associated with traumatic events involving sudden acceleration-deceleration forces mainly on the neck. Whiplash can affect a variety of issues pertaining toyour muscles, joints, bones, ligaments, discs, and nerves. Whiplash is mostly associated with car accidents, but other causes may include roller-coasters, bungee jumping or a sports-related condition. Symptoms and severity of whiplash can vary significantly between people. The most common reported symptom is neck pain or stiffness. This can occur anywhere from immediately after the injury to several days after.
Symptoms may include:
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Headache
- Shoulder pain, arm pain, or upper back pain
- Dizziness
- Altered sensation
- Weakness
- Visual disturbances
- Hearing difficulties
- Difficulty speaking or swallowing
- Difficulty swallowing
Fortunately, most people recover from the pain and stiffness associate with whiplash in a matter of weeks, but some cases require longer recovery time and treatment from a physiotherapist. Healing time varies with the level of tissue damage and promptness of treatment.Most whiplash patients will start to feel better within a few weeks of the injury from physiotherapy treatment. At Triangle, our physiotherapists will aim to:
- Reduce neck pain, headaches, and inflammation
- Normalise joint range of motion
- Gain strength in your neck
- Strengthen your upper back muscles
- Improve neck posture
- Normalise your muscles lengths and resting muscle tension
- Resolve any deficit in neural tissue extensibility
- Improve neck proprioception, fine motor control and balance
- Improve your ability to cope with everyday activities
- Minimise your chance of future neck pain or disability
Whiplash injuries can take from a few days to several months to rehabilitate. Just as the symptoms and severity of whiplash can vary from person to person, so can the recovery time. The large majority of whiplash sufferers do recover with actively guided treatment. Depression and trauma-related anxiety may impact the healing process of whiplash. Please consult with a qualified health professional to give yourself the best chance of recovery.
For more advice or any questions, please contact one of our physiotherapists at Triangle Physiotherapy at: https://www.trianglephysiotherapy.com/mail/mail.html
