Neck Pain
As a chiropractor here in Hickory Grove specializing in the care of motor vehicle accident victims, we see our fair share of people suffering from whiplash related neck pain. We utilize in office x-rays to determine fracture, instability of the joints, dislocation and positioning with respect to the proper curvature of the spine. Whiplash is a term used for car accident victims suffering from neck pain caused by the acceleration/deceleration forces imposed on the neck as a result of the head rapidly being snapped back then forward after the victims car has been hit from behind.
Common causes of whiplash in addition to auto accidents are contact sports injuries, physical abuse or any other type of trauma causing a person’s head to quickly accelerate and decelerate in a forward and backwards action. Whiplash can cause problems with the muscle, the bones alignment, joints and the brains ability to communicate with the rest of the body. The brain is the master computer of our bodies and the way the brain communicates with the body is through the spinal cord and the spinal nerves that come out of each level of the spine. Inflammation in the joints caused by whiplash can cause prolonged pain, weakness, and limited function in your neck. Inflammation builds and can compress nerves by decreasing the space where the nerves exit the spine. Compressed nerves are commonly referred to as pinched nerves; the chiropractic term for pinched nerves is subluxation.
A subluxation complex resulting from a motor vehicle accident is a compressed nerve as a result of a dysfunction involving the muscle, joint and bone. Subluxations put pressure on spinal nerves resulting in problems with the brains ability to communicate with the body’s organ systems, the upper extremities, and or lower extremities. Pinched nerves can be extremely uncomfortable and cause pain to shoot down a person’s arms and or legs.
Pinched nerves can also cause numbness, pins and needles, loss of reflexes and loss of muscle strength. After a motor vehicle accident a nerve can be pinched immediately from shifting bones compressing the nerves or a disc injury compressing them. Pinched nerves can occur over a more gradual period consisting of hours or days as inflammation expands in the joint space. Pinched nerves as a result of a car accident can also occur over a period of months or years if the individual was not properly rehabilitated and scar tissue formed as a result. Whiplash almost always involves a tearing of ligaments, ligaments attach bone to bone. Whiplash also involves tendons, tendons attach muscle to bone.