Acupuncture for Whiplash

Whiplash is a complicated and painful condition that should not be ignored.

At The WellBridge Clinic we specialize in gentle, effective acupuncture treatments to get rid of that pain in the neck.

If you have whiplash from a car accident or other injury, we recommend our patients wait before going to a chiropractor.  Chiropractic adjustments can cause further inflammation and muscle spasms at the site of injury. Acupuncture is different because it isn’t necessary to actually work on the injury to heal the neck pain.

Whiplash happens commonly in car accidents and sports injuries.

When someone experiences whiplash, the head and neck change directions quickly. This causes a combination of injury to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

When this happens, there is often cervical spine misalignment. Acupuncture helps the soft tissues relax, increasing circulation, reducing inflammation, and causes the body to release natural hormones that provide pain relief from whiplash.  When the soft tissues are no longer inflamed and in spasm, the cervical spine can then go back into alignment with ease.

A well trained Acupuncturist can help reduce inflammation and pain in the neck by using points on the arms and legs.  That way, the site of the injury is not manipulated, twisted or squeezed.  Most people experience less pain and more movement immediately during the treatment.

There is nothing fun about whiplash pain.

It can spread out to include muscle spasms headaches, jaw pain, back pain, shoulder pain, and insomnia. Our acupuncture specialists work with each individual patient to create a custom plan to treat their injury.

When the muscles, ligaments and tendons are no longer inflamed, it is often helpful to combine acupuncture with chiropractic and massage. We see the best results when patients schedule an acupuncture appointment soon after seeing a chiropractor. That way the chiropractic adjustment can ‘hold’ and the acupuncturist can prevent muscle spasms.

More Reading and Research:

⦁Acupuncture treatment of whiplash injury: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15732514
⦁Acupuncture treatment for balance disorders following whiplash injury: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9051168

John Rybak
Portland Acupuncturist
The WellBridge Clinic
(503) 544-9611
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