Automobile collisions are notorious for creating cervical sprain/strain or whiplash injuries. This is a severe medical problem. While people generally heal from neck pain in a month or two, more than 15 million Americans currently complain of chronic whiplash symptoms. It is common for whiplash symptoms to be mild initially and then intensify or the course of several days.

How can you tell if I have a cervical sprain/strain?
Because x-rays are meant to reveal problems with bones, diagnosis is primarily based on the patient history. The most accurate exam test for whiplash is the patients inability to to hold their head up to an applied load in the neutral and lateral rotated positions.

What’s the most common complaint after a whiplash-type injury?
Neck and upper back pain with associated decreased range of motion, headaches, shoulder pain, dizziness, arm paresthesias, as well as visual and auditory disturbances - which may indicate concussion type brain injury.

Soft tissues like the sternocleidomastoid and scalenes are disrupted followede by deeper muscles including the longus capitus and lngus colli.

Cervical sprain/strain injuries are rated at follows:

• Grade 0: Patient has no subjective complaints and no objective signs.
• Grade 1: Patient complains of neck pain only, but has no objective signs.
• Grade 2A: There is neck pain with objective anterior and posterior point tenderness on palpation and no neurological findings
• Grade 2B: Neck pain with objective point tenderness AND decreased range of cervical motion, without neurological findings.
• Grade 3: Here the patient has neck pain, objective point tenderness, decreased range of motion and any of the following: absent deep tendon reflexes, sesnory deficit, and/or objective weakness on motor-proprioceptive testing.
• Grade 4: Has an associated fracture/dislocation

What are the consequences of having this kind of injury?
Whiplash injured patients have 3 times the incidence of neck and/or shoulder pain 7 years POST-accident compared to a normal population.

An amazing 84% of patients who sustained a second whiplash injury reported recurrence and/or worseing of previously resolved neck and arm symptoms. Of those patients reporting a recurrence, 97% were symptom-free before the second accident.

When patients complain of headaches along with their neck and shoulder pain it indicates injury to the C2-C3 facet joint more than 1/2 the time.

In cases with severe acute symptoms of numbness and tingling, including increased dermatomal pain and weakness there is an increased likelyhood of damage to C3-4 through C6-7. The increased nerve injury and symptom severity such as pain and paresthesias in the periclavicular region, anterior and posterior neck, deltoid and trapezius muscles, as well as the dorsal arm, forearm, and hand make for a worse clinical prognosis.

What condition make a Cervical Sprain/Strain injury worse?
Any rotation of the head or neck at the time of impact increases the forces imparted to the cervical facet joints and capsular structures which increases pain that leads to degenerative changes and a poor prognosis for recovery.

Patients who were surprised by the collision, who didn’t see or hear it coming, are particularly vulnerable for damage to critical ligaments and membranes.

Front end impacts cause injury to the upper cervical ligaments and membranes and are now included in the definition of whiplash trauma, along with rear-end and side impact collisions.

Indicators that you might have had a concussion; even if you didn’t blackout
There’s a good chance that you suffered from a concussion if you develop chronic headaches, have blurred vision, ringing in the ears, dizziness and vertigo-balance disturbances.

Increased ligament laxity and decreased muscle strength are both associated with the presence of relaxin.

When we receive traumatic car injuries, such as those sustained in a rear end car accident, the body releases relaxin which binds to ligaments increasing the amount and rate of ligament movement. This is a protective measure the body employs, but it creates a condition known as ligament laxity which actually slows the healing process. There is some evidence that excess ligament laxity may predispose a joint to osteoarthritis.

Relaxin binds to injured ligaments and does so more in females than it does in males. This is likely due to the fact that relaxin is also a primary hormone released during pregnancy that enables the female pelvis to widen in order to accommodate passage of the child through the birth canal.

So why does the body release relaxin when it causes ligament laxity?

The answer is actually simple. Relaxin improves the functional healing and recovery of muscles subjected to a traumatic injury, thus speeding the healing process. Relaxin enhances muscle regeneration and improves injured muscle strength while at the same time decreasing the formation of fibrosis thus reducing potential scarring.

However, an injured muscle often does not fully recover its strength because complete muscle regeneration is hindered by the development of fibrosis.

At Edmond Chiropractic Therapy Clinic I employ a Sensory-Motor integration approach to someone suffering from auto-injury. The application of percussive therapy I employ instantly strengthens week muscles, it increases the blood flow and helps relaxin do its job even more effectively.

I also recommend that my patients get started on the Neuromuscular Trauma Kit. It contains three vitamin supplements, only available through doctors, that calm the nerves, chill-out the pain of inflammation, and reset those overly stressed adrenal glands

No matter where you live. If you’ve been in a Car Accident
Get Your Neuromuscular Trauma Kit Today!

After an Auto Injury the first thing you want to do is: 1. Calm your nerves; 2. Reduce inflammation and swelling; 3. Relieve Stress. 

The kit costs $67.00 and includes three tried and proven vitamin supplements:

• Vana-chrom: To calm your nervesl

• Total Inflam: Supplies nutrition that reduces the pain of inflammation
  

• DSF-Herbal:  Nourishes your Adrenal Glands to lower your stress

If you’re visiting this site because you’ve been suffering from an auto injury, order the Neuromuscular Trauma Kit today before things move from bad to worse.

No matter what kind of care you end-up choosing these vitamin supplements are going to speed your recovery by accelerating your healing process.

No matter where you live, if suffer from a rear-end auto injury it is essential that you be checked for Post Concussion Syndrome.

If any of the following is true for you  I urge you to come in for a complimentary assessment and evaluation.

When your head was turned at the time of the collision this check-up is imperative. Some of you may have experienced a concussion without any loss of consciousness.

These are some of the questions I ask my cients to assess the likelihood that a post concussion syndrome diagnosis is approriate.

• Dizziness and/or loss of balance
• Any type of change in Vision
  
• An alteration in your Hearing
• Reaching for something and missing
• Impairment of long or short term Memory
• Not being able to read like you used to
  

Brain Injury Trauma
Must be Treated Quickly
Or the Damage can be Long Lasting

Concerned Call Dr. Ted Edwards DC
for answers or advice: 425-776-8657

New Patients are Welcome

Imagine for a moment that 6 months from today, as you awake from a nice restful sleep, you get yourself into a seated position,  take a step out of bed, and all of a sudden you feel a sharp unexpected pain in your upper neck and across your shoulders

You think to yourself, “Did I do something different over the past few days?” “Did I do this carrying the groceries?” “Was it the way I was sleeping?” It then occurs to you. Your ears start ringing. You remember what you heard about car accident victims.

You remember your parents or a close friend telling you that sometimes the slightest fender bender can cause permanent damage to your back, neck or spine, especially if it’s not examined and taken care of right away.

You think about all the time that has gone by. You wonder if it’s too late to get help and fix the problem. The problem has now grown into a bigger situation, one that is haunting you causing ongoing, daily pain and suffering.

My name is Dr. Ted Edwards and I help all types of car accident victims identify and prevent small, unnoticeable injuries from growing into permanent, painful, life altering situations.

Let’s face it you’ve been in a car accident. You’re probably a little shaken up, maybe even seriously injured. You’ve dealt with your car damage, possibly the other cars damage, insurance company’s, maybe hospital bills, maybe even lawyers and prosecuting attorneys.

Maybe you’re even getting ready to settle your case and you’re glad this whole thing is finally about to be over. If I were you, I’d wait a minute before I settled anything. You could have life altering, hidden, soft tissue injuries that according to research may not erupt for months or several years down the road. It’s like a volcano just waiting to explode!

When it does, the pain will come on quick and unfortunately, may take a lot longer to fix due to the chronic damage caused by neglect. The last thing you want to do is let something like this slip by. You must take action to prevent this disaster!

“The Horrific Surprise 50-75% of all Car Accident Victims Experience after it’s Too Late”

Fifty to seventy-five percent of all car accident victims contract “soft tissue injuries”. Your soft tissue injury is something that most x-rays and many doctors cannot detect. This is what makes them so dangerous.

Believe it or not, many people who experience auto accidents have pain and still avoid getting treatment. They think “My pain will go away, I’m okay.” Or, “This medication seems to be helping, there wasn’t that much damage, it was just a fender bender!” Or, “I’m in pretty good shape; I’m fine, I’m just happy I survived!” Don’t make these excuses.

Listen, soft tissue injury is no joke you owe it yourself to be sure. You need to be sure your body has not received a soft tissue injury, even if you’ve gotten an x-ray. Have you felt any of these symptoms recently or after your accident:

• Headaches
• Headaches that feel like eye aches
• Numbness or tingling in any area of the body
• Any back pain or stiffness whatsoever
• Stiff neck
• Squirming in your sleep
• Unable to get sleep sometimes Iinsomnia)
• Irritability
• Fatigue, feeling tired to often
• Mentally depressed
• Confused or unable to concentrate

If you have even one of the symptoms above you could very well have a soft tissue problem that could potentially be damaging to you now and in the future.  I highly recommend you come to my office and get help immediately! I’m trained in helping accident victims like you. I want you to know, that if you have been even in what you think is a minor car accident you need to get checked immediately

To encourage you to see me as soon as possible I’m offering you a FREE Auto Accident Soft Tissue Injury Consultation. You’ll receive a step-by-step examination to detect any soft tissue injuries and identify exactly how severe the problem may be. This is a $175 Value!

To take your first step!

Call (425) 776-8657 to set make an appointment for your

Free Auto Accident Soft Tissue Injury Consultation.