From the desk of Ann Arbor Chiropractor, Michael Tannenbaum, D.C.

Recently I saw the movie Whiplash which is about tyrannical educator/jazz band conductor who “whips” his students into playing shape. The band conductor sometimes uses intense verbal abuse and physical confrontation as part of his approach to getting the most out of his students. Well, this got me thinking about what I sometimes see at my office which is also called Whiplash.

So, what is the type of whiplash that I see in my office? It is a neck and upper back injury resulting from the necking performing a “whipping” movement and generally at a high velocity such that the neck goes into extreme forward movement (hyper-flexion) and in the next immediate action goes into extreme backward movement (hyper-extension). This is often seen in rear-end auto accidents, football tackling, or suddenly taking a hard fall. The head and neck whipping action often result in neck (a possibly upper back) muscle, ligament and soft tissue injuries (sprains and strains) and in severe cases neck bone damage. The unusual thing about whiplash is you don't always immediately notice symptoms. Sometimes it takes hours or even days for the symptoms to appear. Some of the symptoms include neck pain, head pain, upper back pain, shoulder and arm pain. Visual disturbances are sometimes evident.

Whiplash is a serious condition. You should see a Dr. of Chiropractic is you have been injured in a whiplash-type accident. A chiropractor can help diagnose your condition and likely effectively treat it and of course treat the condition without the use of drugs or surgery.

If you have any questions for me you can contact me in Ann Arbor at [email protected]. You can ask me about this blog post, chiropractic, back pain, neck pain, tingling and numbness in the arms legs hands or feet, or headaches.