Did you know that the term “whiplash” doesn’t just refer to an injury of the neck?

In fact, a whiplash injury from a car accident can cause neck pain, dizziness, nausea, headache, shoulder pain, upper and lower back pain, sciatica and many other symptoms.

However, the most common whiplash symptoms I see in my office are back pain, neck pain and headaches.

When the muscles, ligaments, joints, and disks of the neck and/or back are injured, the inflammation that results can irritate the adjacent spinal nerves that control pain sensation and muscle contraction.

When it comes to treating these injured areas, chiropractic treatment can help address the cause of the pain, and not just eliminate the symptoms.

This results in localized muscle spasm and nerve pain in the head, neck, arms, back, and legs.

When it comes to treating these injured areas, chiropractic treatment can help address the cause of the pain, and not just eliminate the symptoms.

Using headaches as an example, a 2010 study published in The Spine Journal compared “actual” chiropractic treatment to “sham” chiropractic treatment (sham treatment is when the patient thinks they received a chiropractic treatment even though they actually did not) in 80 patients with chronic cervicogenic headache.

In regards to neck pain, headache, shoulder, upper and lower back pain, sciatica, and many other symptoms that a patient may experience after a whiplash injury, performing stretches and specific exercises is also a crucial component of a full recovery.

Compared to the sham treatment, the actual chiropractic treatment patients were significantly more likely to achieve at least a 50 per cent reduction in pain. They also reported using 33 per cent less pain medication than at the start of the study.

In regards to neck pain, headache, shoulder, upper and lower back pain, sciatica, and many other symptoms that a patient may experience after a whiplash injury, performing stretches and specific exercises is also a crucial component of a full recovery.

To fulfill this need, we have a physical rehabilitation program, utilizing Kinesiologist Kim Penner.

For each patient that enters our rehabilitation program, Kim and I design an exercise program that is specific to his or her injuries.

Then, Kim supervises the patient while they perform the actual exercises.

If you have any questions about how chiropractic, rehabilitation, or even spinal traction can help you recover from a whiplash injury, let your chiropractor know.

Dr. Colin Gage was born and raised in Merritt. He’s been helping patients from his clinic at Nicola Valley Chiropractic since 1996