Whiplash is one of the most common injuries that occurs in the US. It occurs as a result of forceful, rapid, back and forth movement of your head and neck. Even though car accidents do account for a large number of whiplash injuries, you can also experience whiplash from other types of trauma. If you're one of the unfortunate people who has experienced whiplash, you might be asking yourself what you can do about it.

Fortunately, there are various treatments out there that can effectively manage the pain of whiplash and help speed up your recovery:

Heat vs. Ice

When it comes to injuries, it can be tough to know whether you should apply heat or ice. If you're suffering from whiplash, you should apply ice to your neck as soon as you can after sustaining the injury. Icing your neck will help decrease the swelling, so it should be done for a few days. After a few days of icing, you can start applying moist heat, which will help reduce the pain.

Neck Brace

Wearing a neck brace is one of the most popular treatments for whiplash. A neck brace can help keep your neck in place and provide support while it's attempting to heal. While a neck brace can help reduce pain temporarily, it shouldn't be worn for longer than a week. Wearing a neck brace longer than this can actually end up weakening your neck muscles. After wearing a neck brace, it's important to gently move your neck around to continue your recovery.

Chiropractic Treatment

If other treatments don't seem to be helping your whiplash injury, it could be time to see a chiropractor. There are multiple techniques a chiropractor will employ to help treat whiplash.

One of these is spinal manipulation. The chiropractor will carefully move your neck around in the direction of the painful spot.

Another treatment a chiropractor will use is a set of exercises called McKenzie exercises; they're designed to reduce disc derangement, improve movement patterns, and increase stability of the neck. While your chiropractor will do these exercises for you at first, over time you can begin to do them on your own at home.

Whiplash can be an uncomfortable, painful injury to deal with. While whiplash usually heals on it's own over time, you'll probably want to use one or more these treatment methods to deal with the pain while your neck is healing. To learn more, contact a company like Contino Chiropractic Center.