WHIPLASH FACTS

An estimated 80 million Americans have been in auto accidents. Less than 10 million ever go to a doctor for treatment.

 In a town of 65,000 people there are 325 car accidents every week.

Over 90 of auto accident victims will experience loss of neck motion, neurological involvement and associated symptoms.

Over 60 million headache sufferers can be linked to “minor fender benders”.

“Whiplash” injuries are serious and if improperly treated will lead to spinal degeneration an arthritis with all the trimmings, i.e. pain, stiffness, after numbness, tingling and recurrent headaches. To heal these traumatic injuries effectively, ligaments, tendons, muscles, joint capsules and nerves must be addressed in the treatment process. Each separate tissue type heals at a different pace, for example, ligaments heal much slower than muscles due to their indirect blood supply.

Our clinic has treated over 5,000 auto collision patients in 29 years. We include chiropractic manipulation, massage, physical therapy, cold laser, non needle acupuncture and rehab exercise to complete the healing process.

There is no “cookie cutter” approach to post trauma care management. Every collision is unique, and the injuries presented require a customized plan to meet three goals:

1) Get the patient out of pain as quickly a possible.

2) Stabilize the symptoms so pain won’t recur during daily activities at work, home or recreationally.

3) Include an exercise program to maximize strength and flexibility of all damaged areas that can be performed at home to maintain the gains made in the treatment program.

In difficult cases, Dr. Halverson works with local medical specialists to ensure complete diagnostic and treatment protocols are used.

Dr. Ruth Jackson, The Cervical Syndrome, (page 87). “Sprains of the ligaments and capsules heal within six to eight weeks by the formation of scar tissue, which is less elastic and less functional than normal tissue. Varying degrees of residual alteration of their functional capacity is inevitable.”

Dr. Rene Calliet, Neck and Arm Pain (page 37). “As the sympathetic chain ascends, it sends off branches that ascend with the vertebral artery, called the vertebral nerve or vertebral sympathetic plexux. Any irritation to the vertebral artery will irritate these nerves.”

Dr. Ian McNab, The Spine Volume II (page 648). “Acceleration depends on the force applied and the inertia of the vehicle that has been struck. The force is dependent upon the weight and speed of the striking vehicle, so that a street car traveling at 3 mph can apply as much force and initiate the same degree of accelerating as a compact car traveling at 40 mph. The inertia of the car that has been struck will depend not only on its weight, but also on factors that will allow it to roll easily; for example, slippery road conditions, whether the brakes were on, automatic or standard transmission. A car that is moving slowly will accelerate more rapidly than one that is stationary.”

Drs. MacKenzie and Williams, The Dynamic Behavior of Head and Cervical Spine During “Whiplash” (page 477). “Therefore, resulting in Rebound “Compressive” Hyperflexion during rebound hyperflexion, the head will reach an acceleration greater that the acceleration of the vehicle, usually 2-2.5 times greater, thereby creating a unique injuring principle, called “MAGNIFICATION OF ACCELERATIONS which is what makes these injuries as damaging to people, as can be seen under magnitudes and injuring factors.

Dr Saletz, Whiplash Injuries (page 1751). “The disabling and persistent symptomatology in the vast majority of (whiplash) cases is due to involvement of the delicate and vital nerves and blood vessels about the cervical spine.”

Dr. John Mennel, Back Pain (page 209). “The most innocuous pathology of the whiplash in the neck, then, is a joint lock at any of the synovial joints . . . . The symptoms of a simple joint lock are limitation of some involuntary movement and pain at the limit of motion.

Drs. White and Panjabi, Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine (page 318). “If all groups are combined, the manipulative therapy is significantly better. The study certainly supports the efficacy of spinal manipulative therapy in comparison with heat, massage, and exercises. The results (80-95 % satisfactory) are impressive in comparison with any form of therapy.”