In the united states whiplash is the most common injury associated with car accidents. It affects up to 83% of the population and costs patients $3.9 billion annually in medical bills. However, if you total the litigation fees, it totals up to $29 billion.
Today we are reviewing a paper that was published in 2008 titled “Whiplash: Diagnosis, treatment, and associated injuries.” in the journal Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine. This study is a review of 485 articles on Whiplash and Whiplash associated disorders.
In 1995 The Quebec Task Force met and created a grading and classification system to Whiplash injuries:
Grade 0: No complaint about the neck. No physical signs of injury.
Grade 1: Neck complaint of pain stiffness or tenderness only. No physical signs.
Grade 2: Neck complaint and Musculoskeletal signs including decreased range of motion and pain or tenderness.
Grade 3: Neck complaint and neurological signs including decreased or absent Deep Tendon Reflex’s weakness and sensory deficits.
Grade 4: Neck complaint and fracture or dislocation.
There are some controversies in how to diagnose, treat, and give a prognosis for whiplash injuries. Patients also report their injuries in a wide variety of ways, and in many cases it can be hard to find diagnostic criteria to prove the problem. The diagnosis of whiplash associated disorders is grounded in the clinical findings of Headache, Neck pain or stiffness, arm pain and numbness or tingling, TMJ pain, Visual disturbances, memory and concentration problems and psychological distress. Patients may also experience Psycho-social symptoms like depression, fear, anger, hypochondriasis, and anxiety.
There will often be findings from imaging, such as xrays, that accompany whiplash injuries like preexisting degenerative disc or joint disease in the cervical spine or a loss of the normal cervical curve, known as the lordotic curve. Some studies suggest that part of the problem with whiplash is the joints in the cervical spine are actually misaligned and become hypomobile, or stuck out of place and that early mobilization or correction of the alignment can improve motion and help to speed recovery.
The paper described factors that may delay recovery like: age, sex, and preexisting cervical spine conditions. We see that whiplash associated disorders appear more in patients that are older in age, more females than men (due to the physical size of the neck and the structures in it), and those without the proper curve in their neck, before the accident.
Some of the studies suggest that symptoms persist in 25-40% of patients after one year. Another study showed that 7 years post injury, 40% of patients were still suffering from Whiplash Associated Disorder symptoms.
Click the link below to see the paper discussed here. And feel free to watch Dr. Evans’ from our partners, Arete Chiropractic, Facebook live video, too!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684148/
Arete Chiropractic is hosting a Dinner with Doc on Whiplash on September 27th at 6:30 at the Atlantic Grill in Rye, NH. This would be a great opportunity to meet the doctors and to hear about Whiplash injuries and recovery, and to learn more about Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care. Dinner is free! If you or someone you know are suffering from whiplash associated disorders or symptoms like: neck pain, headache, numbness or tingling, loss of range of motion in the neck and jaw pain, Upper Cervical chiropractic care may be an option to help recover. Check out the EVENT on Facebook or call 603.380.9184 to reserve your seat today!