Whiplash or Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD)

What is Whiplash?

Almost 2 million Americans suffer a whiplash injury each year. Most people naturally think of car accidents as the source of a whiplash injury. While this is true there are other ways people suffer whiplash injuries such as falling, slipping and even sports.

Whiplash is a very controversial and confusing topic in medicine. Adding to the confusion is the word itself. Whiplash is not technically a medical term. It describes the motions that the neck goes through during sudden starting and stopping movements. Whiplash can occur in either direction, forward (hyperflexion) and backwards (hyperextension).

What are typical Whiplash symptoms?

One of the most problematic issues with whiplash is that it can take days or weeks before patients start to notice some of the associated symptoms and problems. Another significant issue with whiplash is there is no simple treatment technique that works for everyone. Medical practitioners of all kinds have tried without success to develop guidelines for the treatment of whiplash but none of these are universally accepted.

Typical symptoms reported with whiplash are pain, stiffness, muscle weakness, fatigue, headaches and dizziness.

Patients who have sustained a whiplash injury can have a wide variety of problems and it takes a properly trained medical practitioner to accurately determine the type and source of the problem. Recent research studies have suggested that 40-60% of whiplash patients have continued symptoms 6 months later and 10-30% have problems 2 years later. The good news is that the Physical Therapists at RehabAuthority have the proper training to quickly identify your problems and most of our patients experience significant relief very quickly.

RehabAuthority offers the physical therapy solutions such as back pain, shoulder pain and knee pain in Boise and throughout Idaho.