Blog Layout

SCREECH! BANG! CRASH! The deceiving nature of WHIPLASH!

May 08, 2023

The traffic light is red. Your vehicle is completely stopped … and then B-A-N-G! Your vehicle is thrust forward, your spine lengthens and rises in the seat, your head snaps rearward, your body bounces off the seat-back into the harness system, the harness restrains your torso, your head and neck now rebound shifting forward, (this all happens in less than 600 mili-seconds) you’re dazed! Then the realization …. You were just smashed from behind! Was it an accident? NO! Accidents are when you trip, spill milk, or drop things. This is a MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH (MVC). (1)


When your vehicle is rear-ended, the neck and head bear the brunt of the forces. Nerves, ligaments and muscles are stretched beyond their natural limits due to abnormal motion in the lower neck vertebra which differs from normal motion. Injuries also happen in normal ranges of motion. (2) It’s the transfer of energy in less than ½ a second that causes the damage. Whiplash Injuries often occur at speeds less than 2-5 mph as well because vehicles bounce instead of crushing which increases the forces to the occupants of the vehicle. In fact there is no known minimal threshold for injury!


Despite possibly feeling fine afterward, you may have just received a common yet serious whiplash injury. Dr. Leatherman and Dr. Bak will tell you that it’s a deceiving injury, because whiplash is NOT a diagnosis, it is a mechanism. Pain may come on quickly or you may not develop symptoms for hours, weeks, or months. Your neck (cervical spine) contains muscles, ligaments, tendons, discs, joints and nerves confined to a relatively small area. Whiplash mechanism can injure all these body components. 


Although it happens most frequently in rear-impact crashes, whiplash can occur in other crash directions: side-impact, frontal-impact, and offset angular impacts. 


Besides the head, neck and upper back, pain from a whiplash Injury often extend into other areas of the body, such as the shoulders, arms, as well as the low back, hips, legs, knees and feet. You may also suffer muscle stiffness, spasms, burning or tingling sensations as well as headaches and numbness. Even if you don’t have any immediate whiplash symptoms, you should visit a chiropractor who has been trained in MVC injury as soon as possible.

Most common symptoms after a crash According to the Spine Research Institute of San Diego (3)

Neck Pain               92%

Headache              57%

Fatigue                   56%

Shoulder pain        49%

Anxiety                    44%

Inter-scapular pain     42%

Low back pain              39%

Sleep disturbance              39%

Upper limb paresthesia     30%

Sensitivity to Noise              29%

Impaired concentration    26%

Blurred vision                       21%

Irritability                              21%

Difficulty swallowing          16%

Dizziness                              15%

Forgetfulness                      15%

Upper limb pain                 12%

Upper limb weakness        6%

Ringing in the ears             4%

Jaw/Facial pain                  4%

What Can Affect Whiplash Injury Recovery?

The severity of whiplash injury and recovery depends on many risk factors. Age, sex, physical condition, posture and prior medical history can have a major effect on the acuteness and length of symptoms.

  • As you age, you lose flexibility, strength and hydration in your neck joints, discs and ligaments. Older adults may require more extensive rehabilitation for this injury.
  • Women are injured in whiplash mechanism crashes 2x more than men. Experts believe this could be because men have stronger neck muscles, women have smaller bone structures and due to hormonal differences between the sexes. Kids are at 2/3 the risk of an adult.
  • Health conditions like disc degeneration, arthritis and prior injuries can play a role.
  • If you're a smoker, obese or don't exercise, your chances of healing quickly are reduced.
  • Poor posture, poor seat position and unawareness of impact at the time of MVC can worsen the whiplash mechanism injury.
  • If your driver seat’s head restraint is too low, you may endure a more intense injury.

In Fact, regarded as one of the best prognostic indicators by multiple research publications, is risk factor analysis. Risk factors are factors or conditions that when present may impact the health of an individual involved in a motor vehicle collision (MVC). There are 17 factors that increase initial injury risk and 30 factors that contribute to chronic injury after a crash. (4)


Those 47 risk factors should not be regarded as all encompassing, but they have been studied and reported in the clinical literature, with enough validity to be considered real and accurate measures.

How Does Integrity Chiropractic Treat Whiplash Injuries?

At Integrity Chiropractic, both Dr. Leatherman and Dr. Bak combined have taken over 500 hours of advanced coursework in MVC and whiplash injury. Our doctors will conduct a specific physical exam to determine the extent of any injuries, will obtain the proper x-rays, and may order MRI’s, CT’s or diagnostic ultrasound to document specific tissue damage.


If whiplash injury is confirmed, Dr. Leatherman and Dr. Bak will also properly grade the injury according to the published guidelines (5, 6) and formulate an appropriate treatment plan to address each injury. This may include spinal adjustments to allow for proper spinal motion, soft tissue work to alleviate muscle spasms, active stretching to improve range of motion, active therapeutic exercises to aid in stabilization and proper movement, disc decompression to reduce bulges and radiating pain, dynamic spinal traction to restructure the spinal curves and address ligaments, therapeutic ultrasound to aid in pain and inflammation reduction, and home care protocols as well.


Fortunately, research has shown that chiropractic is an extremely effective approach to healing whiplash. In a study published in The Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine, researchers found 74% of those people in the study treated for whiplash with chiropractic care showed improvement. The researchers stated, "The results from this study provide further evidence that chiropractic is an effective treatment for chronic whiplash symptoms." The researchers also noted that other treatments for whiplash were disappointing. They concluded, “Chiropractic is the only proven effective treatment in chronic cases.”(7) Another study published in Injury, found “93% of patients improved following chiropractic.”(8)

Preventing Whiplash Injury Severity

Dr. Leatherman and Dr. Bak are also trained in prevention techniques as there are steps you can take to minimize the risk of whiplash injury. One of the best protectors is understanding head restraint geometry. Make sure your vehicle’s head restraints are correctly positioned. (9) The center back of your head should touch the center of the head restraint (which is a piece of safety equipment).

If you know someone who has suffered a whiplash injury from an MVC, let them know that Integrity chiropractic has been extensively trained in these injuries and that chiropractic may be able to help them recover!

1. Whiplash Injuries: The cervical Acceleration Deceleration. Syndrome. 3rd Edition. Foreman S., Croft AC. Lipincott, Williams & Wilkins (2002)

2. Motion Analysis of Cervical Vertebrae During Whiplash Loading – Kneoka K., Ono K., Hayashi K. Spine: 15 April 1999 - Volume 24 - Issue 8 – pp 763-769.

3. www.srisd.com 

4. Whiplash and Mild traumatic Brain Injuries: A Guide for Patients and Practitioners. Croft AC., Spine Research Institute of San Diego Press (2009)

5. J Chiropr Med. 2016 Jun;15(2):81-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jcm.2016.04.009. Epub 2016 May 26.

Comparing 2 Whiplash Grading Systems to Predict Clinical Outcomes. Croft AC, Bagherian A, Mickelsen PK, Wagner S.

6. https://chiro.org/LINKS/GUIDELINES/ART_CROFT.Chap12.shtml 

7. A symptomatic classification of whiplash injury and the implications for treatment. Khan S, Cook J, Gargan M, Bannister G., Journal of Orthopaedic Medicine 1999;21(1):22-25.

8. Chiropractic treatment of chronic whiplash injuries - Woodward MN, Cook JCH, Gargan MF, Bannister GC. Injury 1996;27:643-645.

9. https://www-esv.nhtsa.dot.gov/Proceedings/22/files/Session%208%20Written.pdf 

08 May, 2023
Otherwise known as a Motor Vehicle Crash (MVC)
08 May, 2023
As a Sports Injury trained Chiropractor, with over 150 post-doctoral training hours with the American Board of Chiropractic Sports Physicians, Dr. Leatherman often has to discuss this topic. When our Integrity docs see someone stretching BEFORE running, cycling, tennis, swimming, or any other sport, they worry that the person doesn't know much about muscles. Integrity docs further know that they are actually INCREASING their injury potentials.
08 May, 2023
Did you make 2020 New Year’s resolutions? Every year, Integrity Chiropractic always sets new goals for excellent patient experiences. A good portion of Americans make resolutions at the start of every year. However did you know that January 17th is known as “Ditch Day.” That is the specific day associated with quitting your New Year’s resolution. So what’s the best way to make your goals achievable? Today on Ditch Day, Integrity Chiropractic shares statistics on New Year’s resolutions and reveals strategies to ensure success. Additionally, we’ll give tips for increasing your overall health and wellness (which should always be one of your top resolutions).
08 May, 2023
Low back pain is an established worldwide problem. At Integrity Chiropractic, we deal with this debilitating issue on a daily basis. It’s estimated that approximately 80% of the North American population will experience significant low back pain at some point in their adult lives. Word wide estimates range between 50–80% of adults experiencing low back pain in their life. (1,2,3) in fact, low back pain (LBP) is the second most common cause of disability in US adults with an estimated 149 million days of work lost per year. (4) It is no surprise that people are increasingly seeking chiropractic care to find relief. The link between low back pain incidence and obesity is alarming. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease control, CDC, the prevalence of being overweight was 70.2 % in 2013-2104 using NHANES data. Just the obesity portion of that number was 42.4% in 2017-2018. (5,6) Evidence confirms that obesity seriously impacts the spine and musculoskeletal system, increasing the risk of low back pain as well as osteoarthritis, spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis. (7) Studies have even shown that people who underwent surgery to help them lose weight experienced less low back pain, the link is genuine. (8, 9)
08 May, 2023
The shoulder is the one structure that relies on all major areas of your spine for proper function – your neck (cervical spine), your upper back (thoracic spine) and your lower back (lumbar spine) – therefore it is super relevant to spine function and chiropractic applications.
08 May, 2023
Patients presenting with Sacroiliac (SI) joint pain tend to think they either have sciatica or tail-bone pain, and its common practice for doctors to the link low back pain with protruding disc even when neurological signs are absent. Pain caused by sacroiliac joint dysfunction can mimic discogenic (pain from the disc) or radicular low back pain, although, SI joint dysfunction is a distinct condition of its own. At Integrity Chiropractic, our doctors are keenly aware of the differences of pain presentations and utilize diagnostic skills to diagnose the SI joints, vs. facet joints, vs. disc, vs. ligamentous instability as the source of your pain.
08 May, 2023
Remember the days of parents and grandparents nagging you to “stand up straight” and “STOP slouching”? Wasn’t that annoying? Well … they were right. Posture has huge influences on health. Gradual shifts of body position over time slowly weaken the muscles and ligaments while wearing away at joints and discs. Forward head posture is one of the leading causes of neck, upper back and shoulder pain. Chronic pain syndromes, headaches and jaw issues may appear if arthritic changes progress and postural imbalances remain uncorrected. 1,2,3  Research has shown that not only can faulty posture be a pain in the neck, but the effects of poor posture can also pose significant health risks to many systems in the body, specifically the respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems. 4
08 May, 2023
Considerations for Car Crash Injured Patients
08 May, 2023
Integrity Chiropractors understand that when a baby is in distress and inconsolable, it’s not only the child who suffers. A colicky infant affects the psychological, emotional and physical health of the entire family. At Integrity, all of the doctors are parents too, we get it.  According to medical literature, infantile colic is diagnosed by the rule of three:
08 May, 2023
Did you know that Moms, fetuses and babies all have spines? Chiropractic physicians know it, and have been adjusting pregnant mothers and treating pregnant and infant spines for over 100 years. At Integrity Chiropractic, we have been treating pregnant moms and babies for over 16 years with the consent and encouragement of their midwives and OB/GYN’s. In fact, OB/GYN’s count for the largest amount of medical referrals to the Integrity Chiropractic office. Even now, this care is sometimes scrutinized and criticized by some medical personnel who are not familiar with the benefits. Interestingly enough, published research as far back as 1911, 1918, 1946 and 1952 in the osteopathic profession has shown the benefits of spinal manipulation in pregnancy. (1,2,3,4) Growing research has shown chiropractic care to be a safe and effective treatment for pregnant mothers. Studies have reported that 50% of all women complain of lower back pain during pregnancy, and 75% experience back labor. (5,6,7,8) Dr. Leatherman and Dr. Bak’s wives were both adjusted throughout their pregnancies, and even in the delivery room.  As the baby grows, the additional weight increases stress on the back, postural shifts rapidly occur, and hormonal changes begin to relax the supporting ligament tissues of the spine and pelvis. This often leads to increasing aches and pains among other problems.
More Posts
Share by: