Treating Whiplash With Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Most often associated with car accidents, whiplash is a condition that can be caused by falling down, car accidents, physical assault or sports and physical activities. While it's not an official medical term, it's often used to describe damage to the soft tissue of the neck. Usually this means tears in the muscle, tendons and/or ligaments and sometimes misalignment of the spine. This causes muscle spasms, pain with movement and can be painful to the touch. Common treatments for this condition are pain medications, muscle relaxants and chiropractics, but acupuncture is quickly becoming a chosen treatment because of its natural and effective healing ability.

Whiplash commonly occurs when there is a force on the head that takes the neck out of its normal range of motion. The whipping action the head makes when a person is rear ended in a car or a football player being blind-sided are examples of how this might happen. Sometimes the pain is immediate and the muscles instantly go into spasms. Other times, whiplash can move the cervical vertebrae instantly, without pain, but produce pain weeks later as the spine attempts to move back into alignment.

Acupuncture is a natural and effective way of treating whiplash. Allowing the muscles in the neck to relax helps the vertebrae to move back into its natural alignment. Also, acupuncture improves circulation to the area, which brings blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients, vital to healing. This is important since it aides in the healing process without causing any further damage to the area. Using chiropractics too soon after a neck injury could cause the torn muscles, ligaments and tendons to tear worse.

If you do have an accident or injury to your neck, it's crucial that you get an x-ray and/or MRI to make sure there's no damage or potential of damage to the spinal cord. Then find out what options you have in your area for treatments. Many acupuncturists will take personal injury case and worker compensation covers acupuncture in California, as well as many other states. Also, in the event of an automobile accident, your car insurance policy usually has medical coverage on there called Medpay that will cover medical expenses from car accidents.