Fighting Back Against Office Back Pain

Whiplash is one of the most commonly ignored injuries despite its consequences. The reason is that most people feel fine right after sustaining the injury. However, the neck muscles and ligaments get strained when you get a whiplash injury, making the area sore. Thus, it leads to painful joint restrictions along the clavicle spine. Although whiplash injuries can occur from falls and trips, they are most common in rear-end automotive accidents. Most importantly, you should consider seeing a general chiropractor after sustaining a whiplash injury. Here are the reasons to do so.

Prevent Neck Muscle Stiffness -- Whiplash injuries have various symptoms, the most common being muscle stiffness. Notably, turning around can be painful and difficult when the neck muscles get stiff. It is why most people with whiplash tend to move their whole bodies when they want to look sideways or behind. In most cases, neck muscle stiffness is more severe in older people than younger patients. The reason is that older patients' neck muscles and ligaments are less supple and flexible. Therefore, they are more susceptible to severe stiff necks. A general chiropractor can prevent a stiff neck resulting from a whiplash injury through muscle and ligament manipulation. General chiropractors can also use braces to stabilise the neck during recovery. Most importantly, immediate chiropractic care helps prevent a whiplashed stiff neck.

Prevent and Manage Headaches -- As mentioned earlier, whiplash symptoms often show after a few hours, days, or even weeks. Therefore, you might not feel headaches immediately after an accident, which can be excruciating if related to a whiplash injury. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to tie severe headaches to a whiplash injury if an accident happened weeks ago. It might explain why many patients resort to painkillers as they try to figure out the cause of their headaches. Visiting a general chiropractor immediately you suspect a whiplash injury can help prevent headaches resulting from the condition. Besides, if you have not started experiencing headaches after a whiplash injury, general chiropractic care can help avoid them.

Prevent Muscle Spasms in Shoulders and Arms -- If you think that whiplash injuries only affect the neck region, think again. Sometimes, whiplash injuries can cause compression of nerve roots between vertebral discs, leading to inflammations. It can also cause tingling, weakness, numbness and spasms down the shoulder, arm and fingers. The feelings can prevent you from performing everyday tasks, such as carrying your bag on your shoulders or even cooking. Moreover, numbness in the arms exposes you to other forms of injuries since you cannot feel pain. Through musculoskeletal manipulations, a chiropractor can help avoid various cervical radiculopathy symptoms associated with whiplash injuries.