A whiplash injury occurs when your body remains in a stable position while your head is quickly thrust forward or backward due to the force of a collision. It’s common in athletics and in rear-end car crashes, and one of the more unique aspects of this type of injury is that symptoms don’t always appear right away. It’s not uncommon for your body to release hormones during moments of intense stress to block out pain sensations, so you may not experience whiplash symptoms for days, weeks or even months after your injury.
Because symptoms can sometimes be slow to present, people oftentimes assume they are just dealing with a sore neck that will eventually heal on its own. However, symptoms can linger if you don’t take proactive steps. So what can you do if you’re still dealing with the aftermath of whiplash symptoms months after your initial injury because you didn’t treat it correctly when the injury occurred? In today’s blog, we share some tips for treating an old whiplash injury that never fully resolved.
Treating An Old Whiplash Injury
If you’re dealing with new or chronic neck pain that you believe is tied to an old injury, there are some specific steps you’ll want to take in order to make it easier for your body to finally recover. Here’s how you’ll want to treat a lingering whiplash injury.
- Connect With A Doctor – For starters, you’ll want to consult with a medical professional to ensure that you are actually dealing with the effects of whiplash and not a more serious condition like a spinal fracture or displaced disc. They’ll be able to give you some individualized advice based on your specific injuries, but don’t be surprised if they recommend a number of the treatments on this list.
- Physical Therapy – Odds are your discomfort is due to damage in the soft tissues that help to support your head and neck. These muscles and ligaments have been injured as a result of your whiplash injury, and they can only make so much of a recovery with rest alone. You need to work to proactively strengthen them so that they can better stabilize your neck region and perform certain movements with ease, and the best way to do that is with targeted physical therapy. PT exercises help to gradually improve function in these tissues without exposing them to too much stress at once.
- Posture Improvement – You’ll want to become more cognizant of your posture throughout the day and strive to make changes to help keep your neck in a healthy alignment. If you’re regularly hunched forward or you’re often craning your neck forward to look at your phone in your lap, you’re going to put excessive strain on the soft tissues in your neck region, and if they are already weakened as a result of a previous whiplash injury, symptoms and pain can develop sooner and linger for an extended period. Really make it a point to monitor your seated and standing posture throughout the day and make adjustments when you notice you are out of alignment.
- Activity Modification – We’re hesitant to say that rest is the best way to overcome an old whiplash injury, but we do want you to be smart about the activities you partake in. If you are involved in athletics or job duties that put a lot of strain on your neck, the area may not be getting enough protection to recover from the initial whiplash injury. Take stock of your daily activities and cut back on activities that are overly stressful on the neck area while you’re working to recover.
- Recovery Aids – Finally, use different recovery aids to your advantage to limit discomfort after a long day or a hard physical therapy session. Some common recovery aids include: over-the-counter medications, heat pads, ice packs, and neck pillows.
Don’t use these recovery aids as your only form of treatment, but they can certainly be a helpful compliment to other proactive methods listed above.
For more information about overcoming a lingering whiplash injury, or to talk with a specialist about a different neck issue you’re experiencing, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.
