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Acupuncture for whiplash

The most common injury in a car accident, and one acupuncture excels at. We treat whiplash directly, and bill ICBC for you.

Book a visit How acupuncture helps

ICBC & direct billingVancouver & LangleyOpen 7 days

Understanding it

Whiplash is a cervical sprain caused by the head snapping back and forth, most often in a minor or moderate car accident, but also in sports or falls. Symptoms can appear hours or days later.

It strains the soft tissue, joints and nerves of the neck at once. Early, focused treatment makes a real difference, and as an ICBC provider, we handle the billing directly.

What we see

Symptoms we treat

If any of these sound like your experience, acupuncture is worth a conversation. This isn't a diagnosis, your first visit is.

Neck pain & stiffness

Tightness and limited movement, often worse the next morning.

Headaches

Tension headaches radiating from the base of the skull.

Shoulder & upper-back pain

The strain spreads into the traps and shoulders.

Dizziness

A foggy, off-balance feeling after the impact.

Reduced rotation

Hard to shoulder-check or turn the head fully.

Delayed onset

Symptoms that surface days after the accident.

How it helps

Why acupuncture works here

Three layers at once, local, segmental, and central, chosen for what your body is asking for.

一

Releases the source

Needling releases the guarded, spasming neck muscles and brings circulation to the sprained soft tissue to speed recovery.

二

Calms the nerve

Segmental treatment calms the heightened pain response that follows a whiplash injury, easing both neck pain and headaches.

三

Restores movement

We progress you back to full, confident movement and coordinate ICBC-covered RMT and active rehab.

What to expect

From first visit to plan

Every patient gets the same unhurried four-beat rhythm, the first visit includes a complimentary consultation.

Consultation

We listen, palpate, and map the pattern, not just where it hurts, but why.

Treatment plan

A course of care that fits your pattern. You're never locked in; we re-assess each visit.

Treatment

Gentle needling, often with cupping or electro-acupuncture. Most patients deeply relax.

Aftercare

Simple homecare and what to expect next. We coordinate with RMT or kinesiology when it helps.

A closer look

The clinical picture

The cervical sprain resulting from whiplash is one of the injuries that occurs most frequently in minor or moderate traffic accidents, although other sources of injury such as sports or workplace injuries are known. When the cervical spine makes a sudden motion to the back (hyperextension) and then a sudden motion to the front (hyperflexion), there is great stretching and compression of the muscles, ligaments, and sometimes also the bones and nerves of the cervical spine. This causes acute pain from soft tissue injury including muscles, tendons and ligaments, bringing about neck stiffness, fatigue, and range of motion restriction.

There are four main distinguishing symptoms of whiplash which are as follows.

Cognitive Fatigue: confusion, disorientation, memory loss, low responsiveness to external stimuli, diminished capacity for mental tasks
Vestibulo-ocular: altered balance and visual acuity, light sensitivity, symptom provocation with tests, possible cranial nerve affected, vomiting
Mood: anxiety, agitation, sadness, depression, irritability, emotional swings, and poor sleep.
Headache: head, neck, and shoulder pain and stiffness, restricted motion, TMJ tenderness, local myospasm.

There are correspondingly three grades of concussion which are commonly used in a clinical setting.

Grade 1: no loss of consciousness, other symptoms resolve in less than 15 minutes
Grade 2: no loss of consciousness, other symptoms take more than 15 minutes to resolve
Grade 3: any loss of consciousness (seconds or minutes), other symptoms take more than 15 minutes to resolve

Treatment of cervical strain by a Traditional Korean Medicine practitioner will consist of a personalized treatment plan, including but not limited to the following modalities.

Acupuncture to relieve muscular tension, release knots, and improve functioning and strength
Herbal medicine to restore the correct functioning of the body’s balancing and proprioceptive capacity, as well as reducing pain and tension
Diet and lifestyle modifications to maximize the body’s healing capacity and minimize any stress that results from the recovery process

From the clinic

Patient cases

Real outcomes from our practice, shared with consent and lightly anonymized. Individual results vary, your first visit maps what's realistic for you.

58-year-old male

This patient sought treatment after suffering neck pain, dizziness, stiffness, and limited range of motion after a recent car accident. He was diagnosed as having whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) Grade II (pain and limited movement without neurological symptoms. In terms of history, the patient has a history of mild osteoarthritis in the cervical spine, with no previous whiplash or major neck injuries. Prior to the injury, he maintained an active lifestyle, regularly walking and performing light cardio exercises.

The patient reported moderate to severe pain (7/10 on the pain scale) localized around the neck and upper shoulder area. Other than stiffness, there was also limited range of motion, occasional headaches, and tenderness in the trapezius muscles. Treatment was done according to the IMEAST (Intramuscular Electroacupuncture Stimulation Treatment), whereby the muscles responsible for the musculoskeletal dysfunction are targeted and treated. Furthermore, some range-of-motion exercises as well as exercises aimed at resolving dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms were prescribed. Treatments were done biweekly for a total of 5 weeks.

After the second week, the patient reported a reduced pain intensity of 5 out of 10, with some improved comfort in doing daily activities. After the 4th week, the patient reported a pain intensity of only 3 out of 10, and noticed that he got less headaches and felt less dizzy as well. After the 5th week, he continued to report his improvement. While his history meant that neck pain would never be completely resolved, he felt well enough to resume most of his previous daily activities. Therefore he was discharged and prescribed maintenance exercises and stretches.

These accounts describe individual experiences and are not a guarantee of results. Acupuncture is one part of a personalized plan.

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