Got a nasty whiplash injury and want to know the best way to ease your way into recovery mode? The following advice might sound counterintuitive, but stay with me.
You might have been told in the past that the best recovery for a whiplash injury is rest, icing, and avoiding strenuous activity, otherwise known as the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) — but this advice is honestly a little outdated by today’s physical therapy standards, as it actually causes the body’s natural healing process to slow down rather than help speed it along.When it comes to managing injuries, the best thing a patient can do is to MOVE! In physical therapy this means:
M — movement, not rest.
O — offer other options for cross training
V — vary rehabilitation with strength, balance, and agility drills
E — ease back to activity early for emotional strength
For whiplash injury, this is essential for the healing process. It’s okay to expect stiffness with a whiplash injury — that is totally normal — but utilizing a combination of movement, massage therapy, and rest will help reduce pain and promote neck muscles, tissues, and joints to heal in a way that will allow you to improve range of motion over time.
Sometimes prescription muscle relaxants may be necessary. That’s okay, too. Additionally, a cervical collar (aka neck brace) may be recommended to immobilize the neck and allow the ligaments to heal. However, it's important to use these devices sparingly and under the guidance of a healthcare professional.
Again, it’s all about consistent MOVEment! Neck bends, neck turns, chin tucks, and serratus wall slides are just a few examples of some great exercises we in the PT field can use with our patients to help them improve whiplash symptoms.
The thing about whiplash injuries is that it’s important to remember that they are directly tied to TMJ health. Sometimes during recovery, there can be too much focus on a PT’s end on posterior rehabilitation (meaning, dedicated therapy to the neck and shoulders) — which does make sense. However, there’s a lot more going on with a whiplash injury that needs to be addressed — namely the anterior neck muscles (such as the scalenes muscle group, which assist in breathing), as well as the tongue and the hyoid bone (which helps support the tongue with basic motions, like swallowing).
In certain rare cases of whiplash, people living with conditions like hypermobility can be susceptible to something called upper cervical instability (UCI), which impacts the elasticity of neck ligaments connected to the first two vertebrae. This can look like:
Severe neck pain or stiffness
Chronic headaches or migraines
Slurred speech
Light sensitivity
Loss of balance
Ear pressure
Nausea
Lethargy
GI and Immune system issues
Cognitive decline
However, a diagnosis for UCI (and sometimes even concussions) can be difficult to obtain after something like a car accident, and can take years of failed treatments along a string of multiple providers before a diagnosis is even explored as an option.
In these cases, this is where connecting with a group of health providers who are dedicated to listening and working with you plays a massive role in the courageous act of self advocacy. Specifically for this population of people, working with a physical therapist who specializes in whiplash-related TMJ recovery — such as myself — is a really helpful option.
Ultimately, the key to whiplash recovery is a counterintuitive approach than you might have initially known. With the aid of a physical therapist who specializes in whiplash injuries, techniques such as MOVE, and focusing on anterior muscle care, will get you on the road to recovery faster than you can even imagine.
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