Whiplash common in the age of the car’

Press, 19 December 1989, Page 32

Whiplash common in the age of the car’

by

STUART CRAIG

Whiplash injury is common in the age of the car. In the United States about 20 million victims suffer from symptoms of whiplash injury. Because of such a prevalent syndrome, whiplash injuries are quite well researched and understood. Because the head is at the end of a long lever, beginning at the base of the spine, a few degrees of movement in the low back are magnified so that, as the head whips back and then forward it experiences an acceleration force as much as two to five times that of the striking vehicle. In experiments dummies have sustained forces of 11 times the force of gravity. Nature did not design the neck for this. The primary defence forces are the muscles, ligaments and capsules, and

these are the most common components of the resulting soft-tissue injury. Others include disc rupture, direct trauma to nerve roots, fractures and dislocation. Because the neck anatomy is so complex, whiplash injury is one of the most difficult injuries to analyse. Treatment is based on sound management which includes adequate diagnosis of bony, muscular ligamentous and joint disorders that are sources of symptoms, and X-rays must be taken of the neck to exclude any serious trauma to the bony components of the neck. Once this is established, spinal adjustment with mobilisation and softtissue technique to restore joint function, and relieve muscle spasm and pain, and promote optimum healing of damaged soft

tissues, should be used early. The chiropractic adjustive techniques used are light, small and precise, and medical practitioners experienced in spinal manipulation agree that treatment of joint dysfunction by manipulation is essential to effective management of whiplash soft-tissue injuries.

It is now understood that rest, immobilisation and symptom suppressant medication may lead to delayed and impaired healing, and early spinal manipulation may be more advantageous to the patient’s recovery. Most important, both chiropractors and medical physicians must be careful not to underestimate the difficulties in assessing whiplash injuries and must display careful diagnosis and proper management from the outset.