Yorba Linda & Anaheim Hills
Firstly if you have been involved in a car accident, we hope you are ok, that your family is ok and that the process of recovery is working in your favor. Car accidents or any accidents for that matter is simply terrible. Is your neck in pain? Lean more about whiplash injury in this article.
Whiplash Injury
When you’re involved in a car accident, whiplash is one of the most common injuries—and it can be serious. Approximately two-thirds of people involved in motor vehicle accidents develop symptoms of whiplash. Whiplash is a neck injury due to forceful, rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck, like the cracking of a whip. Whiplash most often occurs during a rear-end auto accident, but the injury can also result from a sports accident, physical abuse or other trauma.
Unfortunately, whiplash is also an injury that many people don’t seek out treatment for because they feel little or no pain after the accident; the symptoms usually do not develop until two to 48 hours after the injury. However, serious injury may have occurred and symptoms could get substantially worse in the time following the accident. Many people who have just been involved in a car accident don’t even realize they have sustained injuries until their neck, head or back pain grows worse by which time they may have already developed complications or aggravated the injury. That’s why it’s very important to know what steps to take immediately following an accident to take care of yourself.
Gentle Chiropractic Care for Whiplash Injuries
The most important thing you can do is to take your whiplash seriously and treat it as a medical condition that requires a professional. Dr. Sawhney and the spine specialists at Divine Spine Yorba Linda will perform a thorough examination and develop a comprehensive individualized treatment plan based on the findings of that exam. To diagnose whiplash, in addition to a thorough history of the injury, we will also ask about your previous medical history because pre-existing conditions, such as arthritis, may increase the severity of the whiplash. A proper diagnosis from a spine specialist will ensure you help your body recover quickly and completely.
The body is incredible and it does what it can to minimize pain. This means that seconds after a car accident, your body releases both adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that help prevent pain. As these hormones wear off, over the course of the first day or so, you may experience more pain and swelling to the injured areas. Many whiplash injuries involve delicate soft tissue like muscles and ligaments. If you don’t treat those injuries immediately, day-to-day activity could irritate it and make it worse.
Patients with whiplash injury may complain of pain and stiffness in the neck, extending into the shoulders and arms, upper and lower back and even the upper chest. Unfortunately, many of these symptoms can last long term; according to some studies 45-85% of people who suffer a whiplash injury have symptoms five years after the accident.
At Divine Spine Yorba Linda, we will help by getting to the root cause of the pain you’re experiencing. We don’t just treat symptoms; we strive to find and address the source of your discomfort. We then use an Electronic Vertebral Alignment (EVA) system to treat pain. Our EVA treatment is a non-invasive procedure consisting of a precise directed movement to help relieve pain and discomfort and restore range of motion in the spine – neck, and back. Treating the effects of whiplash early with EVA and specific exercises can lead to both immediate and long-term improvement, as well as significantly minimize the risk of symptoms growing worse with time as they would if left untreated.
Orange County Chiropractic Care
Divine Spine serves the communities of Orange County – Yorba Linda, Brea, Fullerton, Anaheim Hills, Placentia, Orange, Tustin, Irvine, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Newport Beach – and, Chino Hills, Corona, Ontario, and the Inland Empire. Schedule an appointment with Divine Spine Yorba Linda here now.
