Health Condition of the Week: Whiplash

WHIPLASH

It is well-known that chiropractic treatment produces excellent results with whiplash injury conditions, even those conditions which have become chronic.

As a matter of support for that statement, I will provide factual information from the following source, the journal “Injury.”

Woodward, MN, Cook JCH, Gargan MF, Bannister GC.
Chiropractic treatment of chronic ‘whiplash’ injuries.
 Injury. Volume 27, Issue 9, November 1996, Pages 643-645.

In this study, the authors note that 43% of patients will suffer long-term symptoms following ‘whiplash’ injury for which no conventional treatment has proven to be effective.  Therefore, they completed a retrospective study to determine the effects of chiropractic in a group of 28 patients who had been referred with chronic ‘whiplash’ syndrome.  The severity of patients’ symptoms was assessed before and after treatment using the Gargan and Bannister classification.

As an aside, Gargan and Bannister write in a different paper from 2009 that the ’whiplash’ symptoms which have the strongest determination of future problems are, in order of severity:

Neck tenderness < neck stiffness < neurological deficit

These authors also note that if whiplash patients still have symptoms after 3 months then there is almost a 90% chance that they will remain so, and that no conventional treatment has proven to be effective in these established chronic cases.  However, they did not consider chiropractic to be “conventional treatment.”

Prior to chiropractic treatment, the 28 patients had been treated with anti-inflammatories, soft collars, and physiotherapy.

The 28 patient’s were finally treated by a chiropractor at an average of 15.5 months after their initial injury.  The treatment was evaluated by an independent orthopedic surgeon, M. Woodward, who was blinded to the treatment.

Following chiropractic 93% of the patients had improved.  These authors concluded:

“The results of this retrospective study would suggest that benefits can occur in over 90% of patients undergoing chiropractic treatment for chronic whiplash injury.”

Their second chiropractic study is referenced as:

Khan S, Cook JCH, Gargan MF, Bannister GC.
 A symptomatic classification of whiplash injury and the implications for treatment.
The Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine 21 (I) 1999, 22-25.

In this study, the authors retrospectively reviewed 93 consecutive patients seen in a chiropractic clinic for whiplash injuries.  They documented that 74% of the patients being treated by chiropractic improved.  They concluded:

“The results from this study provide further evidence that chiropractic is an effective treatment for chronic whiplash symptoms.”

“Chiropractic is the only proven effective treatment in chronic [whiplash] cases.”

In summary, the studies by Gargan and Bannister indicate that a substantial number of individuals injured in whiplash trauma will develop chronic pain lasting more than a decade; this chronic pain is organic, often involving joint degeneration, and is not related to litigation.  Chiropractic management of these chronic whiplash cases, including specific joint manipulation to reestablish normal joint motion, is often effective in helping these patients, especially when other treatment approaches have failed.

Answer the Call to Action  

Bellingham's Life Chiropractic's gentle ProAdjuster treatment instrument succeeds because it removes nerve and connective tissue pressure from spinal and other joint misalignment's so the body can get on with the process of healing rather than reacting with those disabling superficial symptoms.

So, if you or someone you know is suffering with 'whiplash' symptoms, do someone a favor . . . pick-up the phone and call Bellingham's Life Chiropractic at 734-5433 and be introduced to the gentle, accurate, and effective ProAdjuster chiropractic instrument.  Life Chiropractic could very well be your last stop.