Getting Rid Of Headaches That Appear Days After An Accident
The minor car accident you had several days ago seemed to shake you up a bit, but you had no noticeable injuries. Now you have severe headaches and neck pain. This is typical with a whiplash injury and is your body's delayed reaction to damage you sustained during the accident. A visit to a chiropractic office will help you get rid of the pain and stiffness. Here is how whiplash injuries occur and the various approaches a chiropractor has to relieve the pain.
Your Body Was Keeping You Safe
When you had the accident, your head was forced backward suddenly, then forward again. This created tiny tears in the soft tissue around your spine in your upper back and neck. The area became inflamed, which cushioned the tissue from further damage. You may have only felt a stiff neck and little pain immediately after the accident.
After a few days, the inflammation goes down and you start to feel the pain from the tissue damage. You'll have pain in your upper back, neck, and shoulders. You can also have severe headaches. The pain will continue as long as the muscles in those areas are tense because of the tissue damage.
Treating a Whiplash Injury
The goal of chiropractic treatment of whiplash is to relax the tense muscles in your upper back and neck, increase circulation, and reduce inflammation. This reduces the pain from the irritation of the nerves in the neck and head area. A chiropractor, such as Wheatcroft David Dr, uses a number of techniques to help reduce your pain.
Active Release Technique - The chiropractor massages the tense muscles in your upper back and neck in the direction that they normally move. When scar tissue is identified in the muscles, pressure is applied during the massage to break it up. This allows the tense muscles to relax and the circulation to improve in the area.
Myofascial Release Technique - When muscles become very tense, they can contract into knots which can be felt under the skin. You may also experience painful muscle spasms in these areas. When the chiropractor finds these knots, they apply steady pressure directly on the area. This causes the muscle to slowly relax and the spasms to go away.
Physical Therapy - The chiropractor may have you start physical therapy and continue it while your neck heals. The chiropractor or physical therapist will move your neck through its full range of motion to keep the muscles from becoming tense. This gets rid of the stiff neck and pain you may experience while the tissue damage is healing.
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