First thing I will say that eventhough there is usually a variety of factors that contribue to whiplash pain (such as the cervical spine ie your neck undergoing the whiplash itself), these should be assessed and treated by your physiotherapist.

Physiotherapists do not “just treat” whiplash, but they consider multiple perspectives that need to be treated as well including

• muscle injury and dysfunction
• joint injury and dysfunction
• disc injury
• overcompensation movement patterns
• etc

It’s not just that treat A-B-C and it’s done – there’s a lot more holistic treatments to do to get you up and running and preventing the recurrence of whiplash-related pains and aches.

Whiplash joint dysfunction and pain management

So when a whiplash happens, it can cause the joints in your spine (your neck, typically) and other limbs to be affected. This leads to what we call a joint dysfuntion.

During clinical assessment which includes palpation, soft tissue touch and movement observation, the physiotherapist will pick up on

• movement pattern quality
• pain restrictions or pain-related compensatory patterns
• nerve restrictions
• joint limitation

These can present with difficulty to do specific movements and physical activities as the pain, soreness and weakness (and other nerve-related issues) build up.

Some patients may also experience

• other nearby structures starting to hurt more-and-more
• muscles immediately and nearby starting to stiffen up and becoming harder to move
• more “bad days” where the pain flares up due to factors

Muscle dysfunction and whiplash injuries

It’s almost a certainty that when joint dysfunction happens after whiplash, next the muscles would be affected too.

In some cases, the patient’s muscles become unusually overactive such as tensing again and again, or remaining tense, and this causes a lot of muscles-overfiring issues such as over-tightening of the immediate muscles forming painful trigger points. The other spectrum is some cases the muscles are not used as much (or at all) ie the muscle goes passive. This causes over-compensation by other supporting structures.

Trigger points are very tight points in the muscles which can be caused by a variety of reasons be it

• overuse
• underuse
• poor posture
• sports
• medical conditions

Trigger points can irritate the nerve endings in the affected muscles and cause localized pain or even have pain that can travel! This is called radiating pain. Pain can be mild, like an ache, but it can be terrible enough to cause migraine-like intensive headaches too.

With regards to whiplash-related trigger point pain, it’s a doubling-up of pain; because whiplash itself already presents with pain (primary), and the development of additional pain and pain-points are called secondary development, and both can be experienced at the same time.

To make things worse, patients in pain will naturally take a posture to prevent the pain, and this pain posture can gradually become more and more unnatural, which in turn, causes more pain later. An example is slouching back to prevent a specific pain now can develop to a pain in the neck due to the compensatory posture.

Whiplash >> Poor movement patterns

Physio approach to whiplash pain and injury

Generally when you choose a physiotherapist for whiplash management, as well as to prevent or treat chronic whiplash pain, what you need to consider is:

1. The experience and expertise of the physiotherapist. They need to have experience in successfully treating whiplash and whiplash-related chronic pain (or other body part pains such as back pain or shoulder pains etc).
2. There is an emphasis towards progressive outcomes within specific timeframes, such as
   • return to work
   • return to home / responsibilities
   • return to sports
3. Helps teach you a home exercise program between sessions

Physio approach to whiplash pain and injury

Generally when you choose a physiotherapist for whiplash management, as well as to prevent or treat chronic whiplash pain, what you need to consider is:

1. The experience and expertise of the physiotherapist. They need to have experience in successfully treating whiplash and whiplash-related chronic pain (or other body part pains such as back pain or shoulder pains etc).
2. There is an emphasis towards progressive outcomes within specific timeframes, such as
   • return to work
   • return to home / responsibilities
   • return to sports
3. Helps teach you a home exercise program between sessions

We may refer you out too

Key: preventing (or minimizing) whiplash-related chronic pain

Physio approach to whiplash pain and injury

Generally when you choose a physiotherapist for whiplash management, as well as to prevent or treat chronic whiplash pain, what you need to consider is:

1. The experience and expertise of the physiotherapist. They need to have experience in successfully treating whiplash and whiplash-related chronic pain (or other body part pains such as back pain or shoulder pains etc).
2. There is an emphasis towards progressive outcomes within specific timeframes, such as
   • return to work
   • return to home / responsibilities
   • return to sports
3. Helps teach you a home exercise program between sessions

We may refer you out too

Key: preventing (or minimizing) whiplash-related chronic pain

Physio approach to whiplash pain and injury

Generally when you choose a physiotherapist for whiplash management, as well as to prevent or treat chronic whiplash pain, what you need to consider is:

1. The experience and expertise of the physiotherapist. They need to have experience in successfully treating whiplash and whiplash-related chronic pain (or other body part pains such as back pain or shoulder pains etc).
2. There is an emphasis towards progressive outcomes within specific timeframes, such as
   • return to work
   • return to home / responsibilities
   • return to sports
3. Helps teach you a home exercise program between sessions

Can you get whiplash pain from a slipped disc?

Slipped disc is a local term that some patients use, and the medical community called it a herniated disc. Between our neck bones are “bouncy” disc filled with gelatinous substance, and sometimes tears can happen and the gelatinous substance can “spill out”, pressing onto nearby nerve endings

This will lead to nerve irritations and nerve-like issues such as

• tingling, numbness
• weakness

In some cases, whiplash injuries can also present similar symptoms as herniated disc, because the accidents can cause herniated disc. Sometimes, the disc doesnt get herniated but the force can be strong enough to irritate the nerve endings to make it similar to a herniated disc.

That’s why there is a need to test accurately and in-depth to make sure we treat the right thing. The higher the accuracy, the better the outcome.

Physio Treatments for Whiplash

We may refer you out too

Key: preventing (or minimizing) whiplash-related chronic pain

Physio approach to whiplash pain and injury

Generally when you choose a physiotherapist for whiplash management, as well as to prevent or treat chronic whiplash pain, what you need to consider is:

1. The experience and expertise of the physiotherapist. They need to have experience in successfully treating whiplash and whiplash-related chronic pain (or other body part pains such as back pain or shoulder pains etc).
2. There is an emphasis towards progressive outcomes within specific timeframes, such as
   • return to work
   • return to home / responsibilities
   • return to sports
3. Helps teach you a home exercise program between sessions

Can you get whiplash pain from a slipped disc?

Slipped disc is a local term that some patients use, and the medical community called it a herniated disc. Between our neck bones are “bouncy” disc filled with gelatinous substance, and sometimes tears can happen and the gelatinous substance can “spill out”, pressing onto nearby nerve endings

This will lead to nerve irritations and nerve-like issues such as

• tingling, numbness
• weakness

In some cases, whiplash injuries can also present similar symptoms as herniated disc, because the accidents can cause herniated disc. Sometimes, the disc doesnt get herniated but the force can be strong enough to irritate the nerve endings to make it similar to a herniated disc.

That’s why there is a need to test accurately and in-depth to make sure we treat the right thing. The higher the accuracy, the better the outcome.

Physio Treatments for Whiplash

We may refer you out too

Key: preventing (or minimizing) whiplash-related chronic pain

Physio approach to whiplash pain and injury

Generally when you choose a physiotherapist for whiplash management, as well as to prevent or treat chronic whiplash pain, what you need to consider is:

1. The experience and expertise of the physiotherapist. They need to have experience in successfully treating whiplash and whiplash-related chronic pain (or other body part pains such as back pain or shoulder pains etc).
2. There is an emphasis towards progressive outcomes within specific timeframes, such as
   • return to work
   • return to home / responsibilities
   • return to sports
3. Helps teach you a home exercise program between sessions

Where To Next?

• Go to Home / Start
• Learn and find out more about your pains (bones, muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, nerves etc) at Pain Conditions & Injuries
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