Sources Of Whiplash Pain And How Chiropractic Care Can Help

When your neck is subjected to whiplash, there are several problems that can occur in the spinal disks, nerves and surrounding muscles, resulting in neck strain, limited range of motion and incredible pain. Chiropractors are typically trained to deal with neck injuries by applying specific treatments to various issues such as disk derangement and muscle/joint dysfunction so as to help you recover from chronic whiplash pain. Read on to learn the main sources of whiplash pain, and how your chiropractor may be able to help.

Joint dysfunction

Whiplash injuries place an incredible amount of force on your neck and back, often causing your neck joints to become unstable and lose their resiliency and shock absorption. This can in turn cause the affected neck area to lose its usual range of motion and tense up, causing a lot of pain.

Chiropractors can diagnose joint dysfunction by moving affected areas of the neck in various directions so as to assess the joint play of each disk and detect the ones with motion or resiliency issues.

Treating joint dysfunction often calls for chiropractic manipulation, a technique which uses light hand pressure to improve range of motion and loosen up tensed up muscles around the affected neck joint. The chiropractor will usually manipulate the neck joints using his fingers so as to improve range of motion. The treatment also soothes irritated nerves and soft tissue while allowing for more blood flow to affected neck joints so as to stimulate healing and relieve pain.

Muscle dysfunction

When you suffer a whiplash injury, your neck muscles are often affected. The jerking of the head forward and backwards can cause muscle imbalance where some muscles tense up while others become inhibited, resulting in irritation of the affected joints and neck stiffness. Injured muscles can also trap toxins due to limited blood flow to the damaged soft tissue, leading to inflammation and pain.

Chiropractic whiplash treatment can help with muscle dysfunction. Your chiropractor can perform several stabilization and muscle relaxation neck exercises to gently stretch and loosen muscles that are excessively stressed and constrict muscles that are inhibited.

By gently moving the neck in different directions and applying finger pressure on injured muscles, the chiropractor can improve range of motion and help reduce inflammation. Furthermore, neck exercises can also allow for nitrogen and carbon dioxide that is trapped in the injured muscles to escape, which releases joint pressure and reduces irritation of nerves within the injured soft tissue. Contact a chiropractor, like North Star Chiropractic Center, for more information.


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