Therapy for whiplash

• What can you do yourself?

As a rule, a short period of up to three days is prescribed for the therapy of a Schleder trauma.
The patient should avoid strenuous work, long periods of sitting, strong vibrations, etc. As soon as there is improvement after the whiplash, you should return to normal everyday activities as quickly as possible.

In addition, the healing process can be supported by physiotherapeutic therapy and forms of exercise. In the acute stage of whiplash, vigorous massages and manipulative treatments (such as chirotherapeutic interventions) should be avoided. This therapy leads to an increase in the symptoms at this stage.

How useful is a ruff?

While a cervical collar was often prescribed in the past in the event of a whiplash injury, based on scientific research, we now know that the extreme, sometimes very long-term rest caused by immobilization delays the healing of the whiplash injury.

In cases where the pain persists over a longer period of time, chirotherapy treatment can be approached. However, as already mentioned above, this should not be considered in the acute phase. Manual therapy is particularly advisable in cases in which the whiplash trauma becomes noticeable as a result of a nerve receptor injury in the form of nausea and dizziness.

Acupuncture can relieve pain in the event of permanent tension. Each form of therapy in the area of ​​whiplash is based on the respective individual complaints. One speaks therefore of symptomatic therapy for whiplash.

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Who am I?
My name is dr. Nicolas Gumpert. I am a specialist in orthopedics and the founder of .
Various television programs and print media report regularly about my work. On HR television you can see me every 6 weeks live on "Hallo Hessen".
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The spine is difficult to treat. On the one hand it is exposed to high mechanical loads, on the other hand it has great mobility.

The treatment of the spine (e.g. herniated disc, facet syndrome, foramen stenosis, etc.) therefore requires a lot of experience.
I focus on a wide variety of diseases of the spine.
The aim of any treatment is treatment without surgery.

Which therapy achieves the best results in the long term can only be determined after looking at all of the information (Examination, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc.) be assessed.

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What can you do yourself?

When treating whiplash injuries, you can initially achieve pain relief and possibly even decongestion through cooling phases of around 15 to 20 minutes each. To do this, put an ice pack or a cooling pack (available in every pharmacy), which you have previously wrapped in a towel, on the painful part of the body. Avoid direct contact with the cooling pack and pause after a cooling phase.
In the event that your symptoms of whiplash are still present in the next few days, you should aim for conservative therapy, possibly with physiotherapeutic support. You can also do many exercises yourself. Some pain relievers, usually Stretching exercises are presented to you below.

It is important for all exercises that you take a comfortable position in which the back is kept relatively straight. You can do this, for example, by leaning against a wall with your knees slightly bent. Stretching exercises are characterized by the fact that they are done slowly and deliberately. Soothing music can also give you Relaxation procure.

1. Therapy exercise: Assume the starting position described above and tilt your head forward. Try keeping your chin up against the chest to push. Then slowly go back to the starting position.
2. Therapy- Exercise: From the same position, you can stretch the side muscles. To do this, pull and move your head sideways so that the right one ear is pulled to the right shoulder (and of course the left side as well). Hold the position for a few seconds and then slowly return to the starting position.
3. Therapy exercise: Assume the starting position described above. Now only move your head. The rest of the body doesn't move with it. Turn your head towards your right shoulder. Keep your eyes level with the starting position and try to look over your right shoulder. After a few seconds of stretching, turn your head back to the starting position and do the exercise to the other side.
4. Therapy exercise: After taking the starting position, imagine a large clock hanging in front of you. You look alternately at 12, 3, 6, 9 (variations are possible here). Make sure that your head does not move. Only their eyes work and cause the deeper neck muscles to move with them.
5. Therapy exercise: Turn your face towards the wall in an upright position. Now try to hold a soft ball against the wall with your forehead. Starting from this position, you now circle the ball. You can also do this in the reverse position. Then it is not your forehead that is holding the ball against the wall, but the back of your head.
6. Therapy exercise: Take a straight posture. Tilt your head back slightly. Make sure, however, that you have your Shoulder muscles do not raise it. Slowly go back to the starting position after a stretching phase.

physical therapy

In most cases, whiplash is caused by a rear-end collision. The head is thrown unexpectedly forwards by the impact and then violently backwards. This unfamiliar movement leads to strong tension in the muscles in the neck and neck area. In order to relieve this tension, physiotherapy is often prescribed, which should lead to an improvement in the symptoms by means of simple stretching and movement exercises. Contrary to older assumptions that keeping the neck calm using a cervical collar is important, recent studies have shown that prolonged rest and keeping calm does not support healing, but even delays it.

Physiotherapy should be started soon after the accident happened. This is also of crucial importance in terms of preventing chronification. The exercises should be carried out under professional guidance and primarily serve to relax and strengthen muscles. Targeted massages by the physiotherapist can also help to improve symptoms and relax the muscles. In addition to the usual therapy sessions, the physiotherapists can also work out individual exercises for the workplace and at home with the patient.

You might also be interested in this topic: Physiotherapy for cervical spine syndrome

Treatment with homeopathy

At best, homeopathic treatment should take place before other therapeutic measures immediately after the accident. According to homeopaths, therapeutic measures would only further tighten the tense or damaged muscles and thus hardly show any treatment success.

The homeopathic approach is based on stopping bleeding after the accident and at the same time should have an analgesic effect. This is achieved through a homeopathic medicine. In addition to the physical complaints of the accident participants, homeopathy also attaches great importance to the treatment of the patient's psychological condition. Often times, after serious accidents, sleep problems, panic attacks, fear of loss or avoidance behavior can occur, which can also be treated with the help of homeopathic remedies.

Depending on the severity of the symptoms, the treatments are carried out with the help of different homeopathic remedies. These agents include, for example, Rhus toxicodendron, Hypericum or Phosphorus. Arnica is also often recommended.

Treatment with heat / hot roller

If the muscles are tense, as is the case with whiplash, heat treatments can lead to a relaxation of the muscles. The rule here is that the heat treatment should also be started as quickly as possible. The heat treatment can be done with the help of simple over-the-counter creams from the pharmacy. The creams promote blood circulation and thereby warm the tissue. The active ingredient in it is usually capsaicin. Due to the increased blood flow, the muscles are better supplied with oxygen, so that the tense muscles can regenerate better and the muscle tension can finally be normalized.

Other means of choice can be red light, warm pads or hot rollers. The hot role is considered to be particularly effective. However, you should always make sure that the temperature is not too hot, as this can lead to burns and thus cause further pain.