Whiplash is exceptionally painful, even in relatively slow impacts, and can happen in anything from a car crash to a contact sport. The problem is that unless something is broken, the only real treatment a doctor will give you is some pain killers and perhaps a light exercise program. While this can certainly help, and it is always advisable to seek medical help after an accident, they do not provide ongoing treatment that actually helps target the muscles and bones in your neck where the whiplash is most severely felt. Read on to learn how chiropractors provide whiplash treatment.

Reducing the Inflammation

As soon as the whiplash occurs, the muscles, nerves, and bones in your neck are all going to be extremely irritated and inflamed. While painkillers can help with immediate relief, they do nothing to help long-term rehabilitation of your neck so that it heals properly. Chiropractors can help with both immediate pain relief and long-term planning. The first part is to immediately bring down the inflammation by targeted muscle and musculoskeletal manipulation in the targeted areas.

Chiropractors are well known for reducing inflammation in this way, and many people regularly go see them for help with ongoing inflamed joints like arthritis. In this case, the problem may be a little bit more acute, so releasing the pressure and making sure the body feels a little bit more normal can help speed up the recovery process much more than just taking painkillers can. 

Addressing Specific Injuries

Whiplash is a catch-all term for a range of issues that can happen due to sudden movement. All the issues related to your actual, physical body can be worked on if not outright put back into the correct place by a chiropractor. These include, but are not limited to: 

• Pinched nerves: these can be very painful to simply wait out with some prescription painkillers. Removing tension and the pressure on this nerve will help fix it quicker.
• Slipped disc: this issue is pretty much exactly how it sounds, but can be ongoing if you never seek any sort of physical therapy. Without treatment, you could be looking at several month's worth of pain before the body corrects itself. 
• Damaged muscles: chiropractors don't just help with spinal problems, but can also be quite adept at helping the muscles recover too. If you feel your bain more in that part of your neck, as opposed to the vertebrae or nerves, then mention that straight away. 

Ongoing Checkups

Many people first visit a chiropractor for whiplash treatment and end up sticking with them for many years due to the increased benefits they see in their day-to-day lives. An ongoing schedule of visits that stretches into months is the only way to accurately and holistically fix all the problems that can come from whiplash, as well as helping the rest of your body feel more aligned and spry in the meantime.

Sometimes issues from whiplash only reveal themselves much later on, or you may develop bad habits to accommodate some of the symptoms of your whiplash, such as leaning forward in your chair at work. This sort of collateral damage caused by the whiplash indirectly can be the most long-lasting because once the body gets used to it it can feel completely natural and breaking this habit can be very hard.

Having a healthcare professional there to walk you through the entire recovery process is a more direct way to ensure you make a complete recovery and you can go back to driving or playing sports. To learn more, contact local chiropractic clinics that address whiplash side effects.