What is whiplash?
Whiplash occurs when the soft tissues of the neck and
spine — the tendons, ligaments and muscles — are
stretched and torn after a sudden movement or forceful
jolt to the head or body.
During a
road accident, for example, if the
brakes have been applied suddenly or the car has been
involved in a collision with another vehicle, the sudden
jerk or jolt causes the head to move away from the body
and the neck muscles are over extended.
This can occur if the vehicle is hit from the front
or side as well as
from the rear
and even if the car is
hit by a vehicle travelling at a slow speed.
What are the symptoms of whiplash?
Common symptoms of whiplash are restricted neck
movement and neck pain, lower back pain and headaches.
These can often be accompanied by tingling sensations or
‘pins and needles’ and heaviness in the limbs, pain in
the arms and shoulders, muscle spasms, dizziness,
blurred vision, memory loss, lack of concentration,
tinnitus, sleep loss and depression.
Symptoms usually develop within hours and may
continue to get worse in the days after the accident. As
whiplash is a strain injury it is not unusual for the
symptoms to last for a couple of months. Research from
the United States using hospital studies suggests that
three quarters of patients have recovered from their
symptoms within six months of their accident but that a
small number between 5 and 10% are still experiencing
symptoms a year later and have not yet returned to work.
For some individuals symptoms can last for a number
of years and stiffness in the neck and pain that comes
and goes can be long term effects of the injury.
What is the best initial treatment for whiplash?
Traditionally patients with whiplash were advised by
medical experts to rest for several weeks and to wear a
supportive collar. Current medical advice from GPs
however, suggests that keeping you neck moving as
normally as possible, returning to your normal routine
as soon as possible and taking advice from a GP or
physiotherapist about how to move you neck and about
gentle exercises for the neck area can mean that your
recovery time is shorter. So applying an ice
pack, taking painkillers regularly and resting your neck
for the first day or so but then exercising the neck
gently and continuing with normal activities as far as
possible is thought to be the most appropriate course of
action.
Can complementary therapies help whiplash symptoms?
Although recent studies by the University of Toronto
claim that complementary therapies may actually be
prolonging the symptoms of whiplash as patients come to
rely upon the medical assistance that they are
receiving, many patients experiencing the symptoms of
whiplash feel considerable physical benefit from
receiving complementary therapies such as those provided
by a physiotherapist or an osteopath.
Many physiotherapists operate within the NHS rather
than in private practice and focus in particular on the
issue of ‘mobility’. They can provide helpful advice for
whiplash sufferers on remedial exercises and pain relief
and many offer facilities for supervised exercise as
part of a wellness programme. Osteopaths follow a
holistic approach preferring to diagnose the person as a
whole rather than just the affected area. They function
on the basic premise that any changes or disturbances to
the skeleton or spinal segments interfere with the
surrounding nerves and blood vessels.
A technique called Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
is used to provide manual therapy through gentle
manipulation and massage. Local doctors can advise as
to whether or not a complementary therapy is available
on the NHS in the local area but a GP referral is not
necessary. If you are pursuing a claim for
compensation for whiplash following a car accident,
treatment by a complementary therapist may be considered
an appropriate way of mitigating pain and suffering and
it is likely that the cost of such treatment will be
included in any subsequent award of damages.
|
