Whiplash is a serious injury that should be treated as soon as it has been diagnosed to prevent further damage down the line. It affects the neck and happens when your head is forcefully moved back and forth and can damage tissue as well as strain the neck. On top of that other issues can occur such as a reduced range of motion in the neck, headaches, fatigue and even numbness in some parts of the body. These can happen during strenuous sports activities or possibly during a car accident when you are rear ended. Either way we want to take care of it as soon as possible and look at whiplash treatment options. The good news is we are your dedicated whiplash therapy in Walsall, fully licensed to handle all your needs with a variety of whiplash treatment options.
Remember that the whiplash treatment options below will be better served when combined with appropriate levels of rest and relaxation. That will ultimately help to improve and speed up the recovery time associated with whiplash. It’s also not a good idea to just go ahead with pain medication as the only option.
What does treatment for whiplash look like?
We can offer support with our physiotherapy service in Walsall in multiple ways. First, we always do an assessment to see what the severity looks like to be able to give a proper whiplash injury treatment plan. From there, we start to implement the procedure slowly and see how the results come out.
Keeping it immobile
Unless you’re doing specific treatments for whiplash, you want to keep it as immobile as possible otherwise. That means wearing a specialised collar that helps to keep your neck in place and not moving so much that it would otherwise possibly aggravate your neck further. These neck collars can typically be obtained via your physical therapist and will also be comfortable enough to wear all day long with minimal issues.
Soft tissue manipulation
One of the best treatment options for whiplash is soft tissue manipulation or massage therapy. It’s meant to have a maximum impact to help relax the muscle tension that’s happening comfortably. It is handled by licensed therapists who understand the multiple muscles and ligaments around the neck area.
Physical therapy
A trained professional will work with your neck via a series of exercises and gentle stretching to work to improve your overall neck mobility. This should also help to start to reduce any pain associated with the whiplash while at the same time assisting with strengthening the neck muscles to help with support and recovery.
Beyond exercise and gentle stretching, it’s also possible to combine this with either heat therapy or ice-cold therapy. Both are meant to soothe the affected muscles in their own way and essentially help to loosen the muscles or reduce the inflammation caused by the whiplash.
With physical therapy as a core whiplash treatment option, your physical therapist will also help to provide you with exercises that can be done safely at home and will promote faster recovery times while continuously working your body to grow stronger and remove that pain.
There are also advanced techniques that can be utilised, such as electrical stimulation for the muscles to gently contract and expand rapidly to promote healing.
Injections
Sometimes referred to as trigger point injections where corticosteroid injections are directly administered into the area with the most pain as a way to have a targeted approach to alleviating that pain and ultimately reducing inflammation as well.
Surgical Spinal decompression
If the whiplash is at an extremely severe level, then surgical spinal decompression may be necessary. This surgery is either a discectomy which is removing a portion of the spinal discs where the pressure is occurring, or a laminotomy which is removing the bone itself that’s causing the stress. Keep in mind that this isn’t as common as many people may think and that the non surgical spinal decompression tactics mentioned above may be enough for the treatment of whiplash injury.
In the end
Whiplash treatment needs to be consistent to be effective. So a mix of therapies and techniques will work best to get your neck back to the best shape possible. Do keep in mind though that you want a professional to handle most of the techniques. They will also come with a lot of educational information that can help you prevent whiplash in the future.
Just remember that treatment for whiplash isn’t a fast option and will take the right amount of time and dedication to handle properly. Make sure to get the proper physiotherapy service that’s possible, and at the same time, always follow the instructions and curated plan your physical therapist designed. Otherwise, your treatment wont be as effective and can delay the healing process.