Whiplash is a painful injury that can result from any severe incident that causes force or trauma to the neck. The most important outcome to a whiplash injury is to ensure that the area heals correctly. An incorrectly healed whiplash injury can cause problems years in the future, so it is important to work with quality professionals who can ensure that the injured muscles, misaligned neck, and compressed nerves are treated effectively and the area is healed completely. If you suspect you are suffering from a whiplash injury and are looking for some type of whiplash treatment in Ashburn, then contact RxWellness Spine & Health and schedule your consultation today.
What is Whiplash
Whiplash is the painful and forceful jerking of the neck, forward then backward. This can be caused by an auto accident like a rear-end collision (most common cause of whiplash), a kick or punch to the head, a fall, forceful shaking, or anything that causes the neck to be forcibly jerked forward then backward.
What Are Some Symptoms of Whiplash
The symptoms of whiplash usually become apparent a few hours or a few days after the initial impact, and can range from mild to severe. In mild cases, pain symptoms may go away on their own, but in severe cases, pain symptoms can last up to a few months or a few years.
Mild symptoms include:
- Neck Pain
- Stiffness
- Loss of range of motion
- Headache starting at the base of the skill
Severe symptoms include:
- Blurred vision
- Memory problems
- Difficulty concentrating
- Ringing in the ear
However, even if pain symptoms resolve on their own, you still want to schedule a consultation with a chiropractic professional and get the area x-rayed. It is more important to ensure that the area heals correctly . This is because if the spine heals incorrectly, you may have a momentary relief from pain symptoms, but the misalignment can contribute to future problems that could have been prevented.
Treatment for Whiplash
It is always a good idea to get yourself examined by a chiropractic professional if you are ever involved in any type of accident that causes severe impact or trauma to the body. The best way to heal from a whiplash injury is to work with a qualified professional who can gather detailed information about the serenity of your injury and recommend a recovery plan most suited to your specific needs. However, while you are waiting for your appointment at RxWellness Spine & Health, you can manage pain at home by following a few of the below suggestions:
- Ice the neck for 15 min every 3-4 hours for 2-3 days.
- Use heat after any swelling has gone down. This could mean applying a warm damp cloth to the area or taking a warm bath.
Whiplash Treatment in Ashburn
Chiropractic Care for whiplash is when the chiropractor examines the muscles and joints of the affected areas and utilizes hands-on manipulation techniques to realign the area to facilitate healing. These techniques can include the flexion-distraction technique, instrument assisted manipulations, and spinal manipulation. The goal of the adjustment is to promote movement in the joints and reduce any compression of the nerves to allow for better neural communication and healing.
At RxWellness Spine & Health, our massage therapist and chiropractors work as a team to provide the best possible healing outcome for the patient. Massage therapy is a very useful and effective treatment for whiplash because it targets the muscles injured from the impact. The massage relaxes the injured muscles, allows for increased oxygen to flow to injured tissue, and improves the effectiveness of the chiropractic adjustments.
Whiplash Treatment in Ashburn with RxWellness Spine & Health
Whiplash can be a very painful injury, so it is important to work with a chiropractic professional who can take important steps to understand the severity of your injury. When you work with the professionals at RxWellness Spine & Health, we will take x-rays to examine the alignment of the spine, so we can target the areas that will provide the most benefit. In addition to X-rays, we can also utilize ultrasound technology to help us see the severity of damage to the muscles. All this information will help us understand your injury, and allow us to create a recovery plan that is the most beneficial. The overall goal is to heal the deeper issues with the muscles, realign the spine, improve neural communication, and prevent future complications. At RxWellness Spine & Health, we attempt to achieve this through these three phases of recovery: relief care, corrective care, and wellness care. They are outlined below in more detail:
- Relief care
- In this phase, our primary concern is to relieve discomfort. The chiropractor will try to get you to a point where you are no longer in constant pain.
- Corrective care
- This is often the longest stage, and usually when patients stop coming. In this stage, you are no longer in chronic pain, however, the underlying issues are not resolved and the muscles are still healing.
- Wellness care
- In this stage, the pain has subsided and the problem is healed, however, it is recommended that you routinely see a chiropractor realign the spine and free up the nerves.
If you want the best results from your care plan, it is important that you stick with it until its predetermined end and let the doctor determine when it is appropriate to stop receiving treatment. Unfortunately, most people cut the plan short and stop going when they start to feel better, however, since the injury is not completely healed, the discomfort often returns. When you work with RxWellness Spine & Health, we take images at the start of your treatment that helps us create your recovery plan; in addition to taking x-rays at the beginning of care, we also take images at the end of your treatment to help us determine if your injury is completely healed, so you can safely end treatment.
Contact Us
If you were involved in any type of incident that caused severe impact to the body, specifically the neck, it is extremely important that you schedule your consultation with RxWellness Spine & Health and get yourself examined by a trained medical professional. If you suspect you might have a whiplash injury and are searching for some type of whiplash treatment in Ashburn, schedule your consultation with RxWellness Spine & Health and let us help you heal correctly. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation, give us a call at 1-(703) 904 9666 or book an appointment online. We are located at 43780 Central Station Dr. Suite 100 Ashburn, VA 20147.