Whiplash is a specific kind of neck injury that typically occurs due to a sudden, violent, and forceful thrust of the head forward and back. Severities range, but even when slight, whiplash discomfort can disrupt your day.
After an accident that causes whiplash, it’s best to visit your local chiropractor; however, if you’re suffering from whiplash symptoms and need relief now, this post gives three excellent and chiropractor-approved tips to manage your discomfort and contribute to the healing process.
Tips to Alleviate Whiplash Pain Now
When in pain, you want effective results as quickly as possible. But all too often, that comes from a medicine bottle. We have three tips to try that will not only get you fast whiplash pain relief, but they’re all natural and can further promote the body’s natural healing response.
Apply ice and heat to the neck, shoulders, and upper back
After the accident that caused whiplash, apply ice to the neck, shoulders, and upper back as soon as possible. This application will dissuade the body’s innate reaction to supply an abundance of healthy blood circulation, which is vital to healing but can initially contribute to inflammation, heightening pain, stiffness, and loss of range of motion.
Apply the ice pack for 10- to 15-minute sessions every three or four hours.
After 24 hours of icing the injury, start applying heat. Heat offers soothing and relaxing properties as pressure and tension are removed from the affected muscles and other soft tissues.
Stick with the same schedule as when icing the affected area, but switch between ice and heat with each session.
Stretch and massage the shoulders and neck
Gently manipulating the neck’s soft tissues can remove restrictions and tension, encourage circulation, and promote flexibility and proper movement patterns. Both stretches and massage can benefit you physically and mentally after an accident.
Try these stretches to reduce discomfort associated with whiplash:
- Drop your chin to your chest and trace a line straight back up with your nose; repeat
- Turn the head from side to side and hold for a beat on each
- Drop the ear over the corresponding shoulder and hold
- Drop the chin and circle the head to the side, back, other side, and front
Be gentle while stretching; too much force can create more pain.
Massage will also help reduce discomfort and promote relaxation within the soft tissues as anxiety and mental stress decrease. This is important because a common symptom of stress is neck pain, so minimizing that is imperative with an already vulnerable neck.
Massage is a great way to achieve more overall balance in both body and mind.
Rest and support the neck
Give your neck adequate rest and support while injured. Rest is essential to the healing and recovery process. Putting too much pressure on the injury can create more symptoms and dysfunctions.
Whether you sit at a desk all day or are involved in high-impact sports (or both), you want to keep your neck protected during the activity. Try a U-shaped pillow to take pressure off the cervical spine and soft tissues, and use a firm pillow when you sleep at night to enhance proper alignment.
Discontinue activities that make your neck pain worse.
Get Whiplash Relief with Chiropractic Care at Whitefish Chiropractic
These tips may help with pain related to whiplash, but it’s important to get lasting results by treating the injury itself. Our whiplash chiropractor has the services to assess the body and learn where all imbalances are so you get the optimal treatment strategy.
Utilizing safe, non-invasive chiropractic solutions, you’ll get care that works with the body to stimulate heightened organic healing. After an accident that causes whiplash, putting your body through further trauma using aggressive treatments can lead to more downtime, a reliance on pain medication, and even contribute to further harm due to sedentary behavior.
Let our team support your healing and create a plan unique to your needs.
Common chiropractic services and techniques to treat whiplash include:
- Chiropractic adjustments
- Active Release Technique (ART)
- Graston Technique
- Kinesio taping
- Dry needling
- And others
Our Whitefish Chiropractic clinics are located in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell for your convenience. Schedule your appointment today and get the effective whiplash pain relief you deserve.
