Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2016 | Page 95

Fashion, health & beauty

WHAT IS WHIPLASH?
By Dr Ian Nothling DC (USA) FRCC
(animal), Cowes Chiropractic Clinic

According to the Association of British
Insurers, 1,500 whiplash injury claims
are made in the UK every single day at
a cost of £2 billion a year. 
Whiplash injuries commonly occur in motor vehicle
accidents, but can also occur from a number of
accidents such as falling, running and a variety of
activities where the neck is accelerated.
 Mild whiplash injuries usually settle after a few days
or weeks, but those that don’t may last for years or
even a lifetime. In some cases symptoms may take up
to two weeks to manifest. I feel it’s always best to get
seen after any whiplash injury to ensure proper care
as the initial treatment can have a lasting effect on
how well the person recovers.
 The injuries sustained from a whiplash can be
multi-faceted and involve more than just the neck. In
fact it can involve all three regions of the spine, along
with injuries to surrounding tissue. Even injury to 
the jaw has been implicated in a myriad of whiplash
symptoms. The connective tissue such as muscles,
tendons and ligaments are vulnerable to tears and in
many cases trauma to neural tissue is seen. This can
lead to a collection of symptoms, abbreviated as WAD.

This term, whiplash-associated disorders (WAD),
describes the complex condition with varied
disturbances in motor, sensorimotor, and sensory
functions and psychological distress. When treating
these there is no generic formula but instead each
case needs to be tailored according to the type of
injuries sustained. I will describe the treatment of
the injuries sustained to tissue and its repair without
going into the associated disorders separately,
due to its complexity.  But having said that, I have
found that most of these symptoms resolve with
chiropractic treatment.
 The chiropractor would typically take a detailed
history before performing an examination to
determine the extent of the injury. This would entail
orthopaedic testing and usually a neurological
examination. If the chiropractic suspects a more
serious trauma he may request an x-ray or MRI. 
From these specific tests and the history, he would
come up with a working diagnosis of the injury. If
the chiropractor comes to suspect a more serious
injury that falls out of his/her scope of care, the
patient would then be referred out to the appropriate
specialist.
Contact Cowes Chiropractic clinic on 01983 282810
or visit www.coweschiropracticclinic.co.uk.

www.visitilife.com

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