What happens when you have a rapid acceleration deceleration event? This is not just related to a motor vehicle accident, it could be a fall on the ice or sport related trauma. What is whiplash? Whiplash typically occurs when your head is forcefully and quickly moved backward and then forward. This rapid acceleration deceleration event can injure bones in the spine, disks between the bones, ligaments, muscles, nerves and other tissues of the neck.
Symptoms can include
- Neck pain and stiffness/Loss of range of motion in the neck
- Headaches, most often starting at the base of the skull
- Tenderness or pain in the shoulder, upper back or arms
- Tingling or numbness in the arms
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
Some people also have:
- Blurred vision
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Sleep disturbances
- Irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- Memory problems
- Depression
What can we do if we can not see a physiotherapist in person for manual therapy?
General Rule of Thumb for musculoskeletal injuries: it’s better to move with a little increase of pain than to not move at all. With that said it’s important to know what to do, how much and in which direction. It is important to perform a daily general exercise for increased blood flow and healing. This is as simple as a daily walk, not just in the house or doing chores. Fifteen to twenty minutes minimum with continuous movement.
Avoid excessive flexion extension movements of the neck, focus on neck rotation. Place a small squishy ball the size of a softball under the curve of neck and roll your head to one side and back to the middle repeat 10-15x, switch to the other direction. Do not force your neck just let your head roll over the ball. Perform 3-5x daily
Keep technology elevated, avoid looking down at phone or computer, lift up to eye level.
Begin deep neck muscle training. Laying flat with small or no pillow under head, slightly tuck chin in, (do not flex neck/chin coming closer to chest) do not allow chin to jut forward while you slightly lift head off pillow. It should only be 1inch (2.54cm) hold for 5 seconds and do not strain the muscles on the front of your neck. Over a period of 4 weeks you should work up to 1 min. Perform 6×6 repetitions daily.
Take frequent breaks, every 20 minutes when reading, cooking, working at computer.
Use eyes to look up or down, limiting neck flexion and extension movements
DO NOT STRETCH! You have just had a massive stretch event to your neck, do not make it worse
