Whiplash injuries occur when your head moves quickly in one direction while your neck and body stay relatively in the same location. When you hear the term whiplash, you probably picture your head jarring backward during a rear end automobile accident or when a football player gets unexpectedly hit by a defender, causing their head to snap in one direction. These types of injuries can range from mild to severe, and there are three main ways whiplash injuries are treated. Below, we take a closer look at these three treatment options for different degrees of whiplash injuries.
Different Types Of Whiplash Treatments
Whiplash is generally cared for with three different types of treatment options, and oftentimes two or all three of the techniques are used in combination with one another. Ultimately, your treatment will depend on the location of your injury, the extent of your injury, and the likelihood that a given treatment option would fully address your issue. Here’s a look at the three main treatment options.
- Passive Pain Care – For minor to mild cases of whiplash, the emphasis may simply be on reducing pain and letting the natural healing process run its course. Over the counter pain relievers, prescription painkillers and muscle relaxers are common passive care options. They may also be paired with other non-opioid passive treatments, like hot or cold therapy or massage therapy. Only minor cases of whiplash tend to proceed with only this treatment option; it’s much more common for passive treatments to be used in conjunction with active treatment options, which brings us to our next point.
- Active Non-Operative Treatments – Active treatment sees the patient take on a more physical role in their treatment plan, but we’re also going to limit this category to non-operative options. Surgery is considered an active treatment option, but we’ll cover that in the final section. Active treatments help to spur recovery when time alone won’t address all issues with your neck. Some common active treatment options include gentle exercise, targeted strength training and physical therapy. Some physicians also include pain injections in this category, and while we believe injections tend to be more of a passive treatment, injections are commonly administered in order to make activities like physical therapy or exercise more bearable, so it should be considered in this category. Non-operative active treatments are typically paired with passive pain care to achieve the best results.
- Surgery – The final type of treatment option for whiplash injuries is surgery. An operation is typically reserved for only severe cases of pain or damage, but they may also be considered for more moderate cases that are not responding well to conservative treatment. Surgery may have a few different purposes, but the ultimate goal will be to provide pain relief. The surgeon may achieve this by removing damaged discs, freeing compressed structures, stabilizing the spinal column or tending to injured spinal nerves. Surgery to address problems caused by whiplash tends to have high success rates, but many surgeons won’t operate until conservative techniques have proven unsuccessful, because avoiding an operation is still the preferred method of care in most instances.
For more information about the best ways to treat whiplash injuries, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office today.
