In our first editorial regarding whiplash injuries we touched on the mechanism of injury and what happens as a result of whiplash.-á Primarily the majority of the injury occurs in the soft tissue structures surrounding the cervical spine.-á But why is that significant?-á Don't soft tissues heal on their own?-á While this may be true in mild soft tissue injuries, more significant long term consequences of soft tissue injuries can actually be life altering. What is soft tissue anyway?-á Soft tissue is technically every tissue in your body that is not bone.-á So, short of a fracture, all other injuries can be considered soft tissue injuries.-á-á This includes your skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments, arteries, veins, lymphatic vessels, nerve tissue, even the brain! Any and all of these tissues are injured in moderate to severe whiplash injuries.-á There are differences between each patient and each collision that determines the type and extent of injured tissues.-á In a typical rear-end collision the cervical spine is forced into an "SGÇ¥ curve as the occupants vehicle accelerates forward.-á There is a shear force that causes the soft tissues to be stretched beyond their normal ranges of anatomical integrity.-á As a result, soft tissues are overstretched and torn. This leads to micro-tears, micro bleeding, nerve damage, ligament damage, disc tears, muscle tears and blood vessel damage.-á None of these injuries are visible and often do not show up in normal x-rays.-á Therefore the injuries are often missed in routine exams.-á The result is the victim is improperly healing, experiencing ongoing spasm, chronic inflammation, and pain that doesn't-á go away. When muscles are injured the result is spasm and inflammation, which causes decreased range of motion and pain that, can last for months. When ligaments and discs are injured they severely affect the muscle and nerves that they are innervated by. This disturbed muscle, joint, nerve coordination leads to pathomechanics that do not heal well by themselves.-á The body lays down scar tissue in response to not only the damage occurring from the whiplash injury, but also in response to the pathomechanics of the muscles, ligaments and tendons that surrounds the joints.-á While scar tissue attempts to stabilize injured joints, it leads to decreased motion and increased pain.-á Nerves heal by branching out more nerve endings which can lead to hypersensitive tissue and increased long term pain.-á If these injuries are left untreated or treated improperly, this pathological situation leads to chronic stiffness, pain and eventually uneven "wear and tearGÇ¥ degeneration within the injured joints and discs.-á Patients who have chronic pain often develop weakness, headaches, reoccurring injury, neurological symptoms, and even depression. This may seem like all bad news, but there are treatments which can positively affect the short and long term outcomes.-á Early treatments can get the body healing with restored motion, reduced pain, increased strength and coordination of the muscle-nerve-joint complex.-á Part 3 will discuss modern effective treatments that really work. Provided by: Dr. Michael Kaufman D.C., Kaufman Chiropractic Clinic
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