Multiple Studies Confirm Positive Outcomes of Chiropractic Care for Whiplash Injuries!
My name is Dr. Russell Brokstein and as owner of Hometown Family Wellness Center in Freehold, New Jersey, I see many patients every year that have been in car accidents. Some have pain immediately after the auto accident, others don’t experience the pains and problems months to even years down the road.
One thing many people experience is whiplash. According to the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, “Whiplash is defined as an injury to the cervical spine caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, backward or forward, often occurring from rear on-set automobile accidents and amusement rides or the result of falls, accidents and sporting activities.”
It takes just a 3 to 5 miles per hour bumper hit to cause trauma to the spine and cause whiplash. Many times, patients in these instances of low impact trauma don’t know they had damage that occurred until years down the road as the problem progressively got worse.
1 out of 15 adult Americans suffers from the annoying and sometimes debilitating long-term effects of whiplash injury, usually in the form of neck stiffness and pain. Others can develop headaches, migraines, numbness and tingling or even shoulder pain.
Many scientific studies have confirmed the benefits of chiropractic care when treating whiplash injuries. Arthur C. Croft, D.C. of the Spine Research Institute states, “While chiropractic care in the acute stage can often stave off this unpleasant outcome, two of the studies have shown that even in the chronic stage, chiropractic intervention can provide up to 90 percent relief for these sufferers.”
One study in the journal Injury reports: “93 percent of the 28 patients studied retrospectively were found to have a statistically significant improvement following chiropractic care.”
A follow up study in the Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine concluded that, “Whiplash injuries are common. Chiropractic is the only PROVEN effective treatment in chronic cases. Our study enables patients to be classified at initial assessment in order to target those patients who will benefit from such treatment.”
Many things can be done to help prevent cases of whiplash, including driving carefully and wearing proper restraints like seatbelts and positioning your headrest at the right level. Whiplash can also occur during sporting events and other activities and it’s extremely important to wear the correct safety equipment and head gear.
Chiropractic care is a well established and proven effective treatment in providing considerable relief with the highest outcomes in correcting whiplash. Unlike medical treatment which just prescribes pain medications, muscle relaxers and injections that might temporarily cover up symptoms but have many side effects, chiropractic care corrects the cause of the problems. Chiropractic allows the patients to get back to normal daily activities.
It’s important to get checked after any type of trauma to the body. The quicker you get checked, you can prevent progression to a chronic condition. You can have serious consequences down the road even if you do not feel pain right away!
For more information about Dr. Russell Brokstein go to his website by clicking here: www.ChiropractorFreehold.com