Have you recently been in an auto accident? Whether the accident was relatively minor or extremely devastating, deciding to forego medical treatment can be a major misstep, as your spine can sustain injuries in a collision that take days, weeks, or even months to manifest. Dr. Jason Leavitt and the medical team at Ultimate Health Medical Clinic have years of experience helping people correct spinal injury complications following auto accidents. If you are looking for whiplash injury treatment or to see if you have any symptoms of whiplash, please request an appointment online, or call the office in Littleton, Colorado, today to schedule your free, no obligation consultation.

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What are the symptoms of whiplash?

Whiplash is the name given to trauma that affects the cervical spine, or the vertebrae in your neck. Although whiplash can be caused by a serious fall, physical assault, or contact sports, it’s most often the result of a rear-end collision or some other car accident. Whiplash occurs when your head is thrown back and forth, causing the quick, forceful, and uncontrollable backward-and-forward movement of your neck. This causes your spine to move rapidly inside your neck, much like the cracking of a whip. Whiplash injuries typically cause some amount of trauma to the discs, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and surrounding tissues in your neck. Common symptoms of whiplash include:

  • Pain that gets worse when you move
  • Decreased range of motion in your neck
  • Headaches that start at the base of your skull
  • Tenderness through your shoulders or upper back
  • Tingling sensation in your arms
  • Dizziness or blurry vision
  • Fatigue or irritability

What are the symptoms of back trauma?

People who have been in a minor collision may also walk away with hidden trauma to their lumbar spine (lower back) or their thoracic spine (mid- to upper-back). These insidious injuries are also often the result of a rear-end collision, but they can happen in any forceful impact. Although back injury symptoms do usually appear within 24 hours, it’s possible for them to emerge days or weeks after the event. Common signs of back trauma include:

  • Back pain that gets worse when you move
  • Decreased range of motion in your back, shoulders, or arms
  • Ongoing lower back pain
  • Sciatica, or lower back pain that radiates into your leg
  • Shoulder or arm pain

How can chiropractic care help treat and diagnose whiplash? When to seek treatment for whiplash?

If you’ve been in an automobile accident and you experience the initial symptoms of whiplash or any spinal injury soon after, it’s in your best interest to seek chiropractic care as soon as possible. That’s because patients who experience symptoms soon after sustaining trauma are more likely to develop long-term, chronic pain if their injuries go untreated. With a proper diagnosis and prompt treatment from a chiropractic doctor, however, many patients affected by spinal trauma will recover completely in a matter of months. The chiropractic team at Ultimate Health Medical Clinic uses a combination of therapies to address spinal injuries, including gentle chiropractic care, chiropractic massage, and physical therapy, which will include special exercises. Stretching exercises help increase mobility and overall range of motion, while corrective exercises improve strength and posture to help you prevent future injury. Our physical therapy in Littleton will help treat whiplash and other symptoms you may suffer after an auto accident.

If you’ve been in a car accident and think you may be suffering from whiplash, we have emergency chiropractic appointments as well as chiropractor walk-in appointments available. Call us at 303.904.0331 and let our front desk know you need to be seen immediately.

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