Physical therapy

Physical therapy can be used after a whiplash injury to reduce pain, relax muscles and stimulate the metabolism of the tissue. Directly after the trauma, short-term cold therapy with cool packs or ice can help to relieve the pain. It is important not to cool for too long in order to avoid cold damage to the skin or reduced blood circulation in the tissue. If there are no more open wounds, heat therapy in the form of a mud pack, a hot roll or a hot bath can follow. The use of interference current or ultrasound therapy to reduce pain is also possible.

Further therapeutic measures

Other measures to reduce symptoms and promote muscle relaxation include fascial techniques, heat applications, electrotherapy or measures from manual therapy, such as cervical traction or gentle passive mobilizations. Once the structures can be moved again without pain, gentle stretching exercises can be started.

The importance of fine coordination and implementation in physiotherapy

Typical symptoms of whiplash injury are tension and irritated nerves:

Swindle
Nausea
Partial balance insecurity, which is noticeable when walking and standing
Tension pain in neck and head
Visual disorders
Concentration disorders
Depending on how the nerves are affected Sensitivity disorders

Anatomy of the cervical spine

In order to better understand the injury mechanism, the structure of the cervical spine is discussed below. The cervical spine, which forms the upper part of the spine, consists of seven vertebral bodies. The first and second vertebrae have a special structure: to provide the head with greater mobility and flexibility, the second cervical vertebra (axis) has a “tooth” with which the first cervical vertebra (atlas) articulates.

The skull is located above the atlas. As in the entire spine, the vertebral bodies are divided by intervertebral discs which cushion and evenly distribute loads. Here, too, there is a special feature of the cervical spine: the intervertebral discs themselves show small interruptions at their sides, which also leads to greater mobility.

However, greater mobility also always means a greater risk of instability and injury. Stability is ensured by various ligaments (passive) and the surrounding musculature (active). If the ligament and muscle apparatus is suddenly overstretched in a whiplash injury, the stability can no longer be sufficiently guaranteed. For a long time, neck braces were prescribed for this reason. However, if the neck is kept only passive for a long time, the musculature continues to deteriorate, the mobility decreases and the instability and with it the mentioned symptoms run the risk of becoming chronic.