Acupuncture for whiplash
Whiplash is the injury we see most after a car accident, and acupuncture handles it well. We treat it directly and bill ICBC for you.
Whiplash is a cervical sprain from the head snapping back and forth, usually in a minor or moderate car accident, though sports and falls cause it too. Symptoms can show up hours or days later.
It strains the soft tissue, joints and nerves of the neck all at once. Starting treatment early matters, and because we're an ICBC provider, we handle the billing directly.
Symptoms we treat
If any of these sound familiar, it's worth talking to us about acupuncture. This list isn't a diagnosis, your first visit is.
Why acupuncture works here
We work three layers at once, local, segmental, and central, chosen for what your body needs.
From first visit to plan
Every patient moves through the same unhurried four steps, and the first visit includes a consultation.
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
頸 neck
Read gyeong in Korean. Hanja are learned meaning first, then sound, so this one is 목 경.