Whiplash

A whiplash neck sprain occurs when a person’s head is suddenly jolted backwards and forwards in a whip-like movement.  This commonly occurs when a car is hit by another car causing the passenger to be flung forward and back involuntarily resulting in the neck muscles and ligaments being over-stretched. When muscles or ligaments are over-stretched they tear (at a micro-level). The tearing leads to muscles contracting dramatically and inflammation collecting around the neck giving the patient a feeling of stiffness and pain. The patient may experience headaches or referred pain into either of the arms.  Nausea is a common feature since the neck contains sensitive structures that are connected to the stomach.  The back functions as a unit, each section being directly influenced by the other.  It is understandable therefore that low back pain may develop too. 

The symptoms from whiplash may take several hours to appear. Patients often complain of having difficulty lifting their head off the pillow the morning following a whiplash injury.

Osteopaths develop a unique sense of touch (palpation) that gives them the ability to gather information from what they feel.  Whiplash is a perfect example of where theses skills can be utilised.  Often very little is seen on any type of modern day imaging (X-ray, MRI, CT) but the osteopath has the skill to palpate the quality of the tissues underneath his fingers.  As well as being useful in diagnosis it also means that treatment can be focused, gentle and therefore effective, without causing pain or doing damage; something that no modern day machine can achieve.