This is a very serious problem in our society today. We spend billions of dollars each year to treat it. Yet many lawyers, legislators and medical doctors deny it's seriousness. Today, the largest single contributor to chronic neck pain and overall spinal pain is motor vehicle accidents. In the U.S. there are 6 million injuries per year due to motor vehicle accidents. Approximately 3 million are whiplash type injuries. According to American Chiropractor and whiplash expert Dr. Arthur Croft, 500,000 - 900,000 will develop chronic pain. In Canada that would equate to approximately 63,000 - 126,000 people every year! The costs add up very fast. Consider the time away from work, and treatment costs, not to mention their pain and suffering. Despite patient satisfaction, chiropractic whiplash treatment continues to be downplayed. Many patients do not seek chiropractic care or are not referred by other health care providers. Therefore, they simply do not receive the appropriate intervention for their problems. We offer chiropractic treatment for back and neck pain in South Surrey.

The study of whiplash has now become comprehensive and complex. In 1990 researchers in Japan used live volunteers for a study on whiplash. They used low dose cineradiography to study their necks during whiplash accidents. Cineradiography is like taking a move of one's spine. It catches the spine in motion. What they found is that their necks would go into an S curve when looked at from the side view. The lower neck went into hyperextension and the upper into flexion. That means the bottom and top parts of the neck were going in opposite directions forming the letter S. This put great stress on the facet joint capsules and the annulus of the disc. Chiropractors treat facet joint capsules and the disc bio-mechanically when they do spinal adjusting. This is why chiropractic needs to be the first type of treatment applied to the neck after the auto accident. If there is joint trauma, leaving the chiropractor out of the treatment loop would likely lead to more chronic and deep-rooted problems. The use of the Bio-Flex cold laser system is extremely helpful in the management of whiplash.

There are a number of symptoms associated with whiplash. Fibromyalgia is one of them. It is the third most common diagnosis by American Rheumatologists, and as many as 25 percent of diagnosed cases are attributed to an earlier trauma, of which whiplash ranks number one. So, if you hurt all over you need to get your neck checked chiropractically.

We continually receive and review updated information on whiplash. I could go on for pages and pages but instead this time I want to finish by giving you a few tips on how to minimize the pain and disability before, during and after the whiplash.

1. Purchase a safe car. Consider all crash avoidance features; size, weight, structural design, head restraints, seat belts, and airbags.

2. Keep head restraints in up position. Having no head restraint is better than having the restraint in the low position. Sadly 80% are set in the low position.

3. Prepare for a crash. Put your head and back all the way back so you're in contact with the seat back and properly adjusted head restraint. Straight-arm the steering wheel. Put your foot on the brake as hard as you can (assuming you are stopped). Look straight ahead. Put your neck back so your eyes are looking at the top of the windshield. Scrunch your shoulders up to your ears and then brace.

4. Seek treatment with your chiropractor immediately.

5. Remember that injuries are more prevalent within a certain range of crash speeds when there is no damage to the vehicle than when there is damage to the vehicle. The reason is that the energy used up in the crushing of the parts of the car is not transmitted to the occupant of the car.

I am a chiropractor in South Surrey treating the back and neck pain associated with traumatic spinal injuries.