Be Very Careful With Whiplash Injury Treatment – Serious Injuries And More
Whiplash can be caused by many things. They can be caused by certain amusement park rides, they can be caused by car accidents, and anything else that causes your head and neck to jar so quickly that it causes pain and loss of movement. The first rule when you think you’ve suffered from whiplash is to be very careful about moving your head and neck.
While it’s going to be hard to move your head and neck anyway due to the nature of the injury, you might be tempted to try and crack your neck to try and free up some movement, or someone close to you might be thinking they’re doing good by doing the same. Don’t do this as you’ll need professional whiplash injury treatment if you hope to get your head and neck right once more.
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Car Wreck Injury
The most common reason why someone would need whiplash injury treatment is due to a car wreck. Typically this happens when the person is rear ended. When this happens, it causes their head and neck to whip back, hence the term whiplash. When this happens, the person will usually feel a sharp pain followed by an inability to move the neck or head fully.
If paramedics show up on the scene, they will typically brace your neck so that you can make it to the hospital without any further damage to your head or neck. That’s assuming that the injury was bad. If the injury isn’t so bad, you still need to get yourself to a specialist because a whiplash injury isn’t something that will just work itself out.
Chiropractors
You can see a general practitioner about whiplash, but it’s recommended that you go to a chiropractor. Chiropractors are experts at spinal, neck and head injuries and your chiropractor will know the best type of treatment for your needs. You will go through a complete examination to see if there is any permanent damage.
Usually, whiplash is a minor injury that needs minor adjustment in order to restore the movement of your neck back to normal. However, whiplash can be serious if the injury damaged any vertebrae or nerves in your neck or spine. Only your chiropractor will know for sure, and that’s only after you’ve been examined thoroughly.
Serious Injuries
If your whiplash is serious, you will likely have to make several visits to your chiropractor so that he or she can make sure that your treatment is going along smoothly. If you do require a neck brace, it’s important that you wear it as instructed because your bones could heal incorrectly and that could mean more troubles later on in life. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to the treatment plan you’re given so that your spine, neck and head can heal correctly.
Treatment Plans – Whiplash
Everyone is different and every case of whiplash is different, too. That means your form of treatment may be different that someone else with a similar injury. Typically, when you go get treated for a whiplash type injury, your chiropractor will correct your spinal column and neck bones. This is where he will apply pressure or readjust the bones in your spine and neck until they’re facing the way they should.
Some cases of whiplash are little more than a spraining of the neck, similar to you spraining your ankle, and in these cases the pain and lack of movement will dissipate in just a couple of weeks, as long as you listen to everything your chiropractor says.
However, if you happened to pinch nerves, or crack bones during your whiplash injury, your doctor or chiropractor may prescribe more serious forms of treatment. While surgery for a whiplash injury is rare, it can happen if the injury is serious enough.
Only your chiropractor can make that judgment call, and you should never try to diagnose yourself. If you want your whiplash to heal correctly, it’s important that you listen to all the instructions you’re given, and never take any braces off until the doctor says it’s ok, even if the injury seems as though it’s healed.
Whiplash is Common
If you are ever in a car accident, or your neck jars backwards for any reason, you will likely get whiplash. It’s a very common injury that happens to many people every year. However, it can be serious in some cases and for that reason you need to seek the proper whiplash injury treatment if you hope for the injury to heal properly.