What is whiplash injury? It is defined as an extreme fast movement of the neck forward and backwards and most frequently happens during rear end collision. This definition for an Oakland whiplash has been adopted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Whiplash in Oakland California is happening on regular bases due to the high density of freeways that lead to San Francisco and to Sacramento. Many thousands of people commute every day on a freeway. As a result, rear end collisions are reported very often. Many patients that come to my San Leandro Chiropractic Clinic after whiplash complain about muscle pain, joint pain in the neck, headaches, sleeping problems, and difficulties concentrating. These patients also get a psychological trauma after a whiplash. Most of them afraid to drive, and ask their spouses, friends or relatives to drive them to my office for a therapy from Oakland, Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo and different parts of San Leandro. This type of injury is the most common type of car accident related injury and can happen at speeds as low as six to ten miles per hour. Yes, even small fender bender can cause a whiplash.
What Kind Of Symptoms Patient Would Present With This Type Of Injury?
Most of the time the symptoms from a rear end collision appear right away. Sometimes it takes one, two, three days or even a week for pain to resurface. Here is the list of sysptoms that patient would present after motor vehicle collision:
- Headache
- Neck pain
- Stiffness Tenderness
- Swelling Muscle
- Spasms
- Dizziness
- Loss of Range of motion
- Shoulder Pain
Untreated whiplash can have devastating results in the future and lead to a long period of disability that lasts for months and years. Osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease are just a few major symptoms that can alter your life forever.
What Kinds of Treatment are Available?
My San Leandro Chiropractic Clinic offers many different types of modalities and therapies.
- Chiropractic Adjustment – will help to set the misaligned joints back in place and help to reduce the inflammation and increase range of motion.
- Massage Therapy – will work on your injured muscles every single session when you arrive to the clinic
- Electric Stimulation – will help to relax and reduce level of pain
- Erchonia Cold Laser PL 5000 – will help to reduc e inflammation and pain
- Ultrasound – will help to heal the muscle, tendon and ligament as well as help with inflammation
If you got a whiplash injury after hours and you have a great amount of pain make sure you go to local Hospital E.R. for evaluation. Most likely if nothing is broken the will give you a prescription pain medication and advice to use ice.
It is very important to recognize the seriousness of a whiplash injury and to seek medical treatment without delay. Although a whiplash injury does not display outward signs of injury, as a broken bone or laceration would, that does not diminish the seriousness of the injury or the long term consequences if ignored.
