Life Is Good Without Neck Pain

Physical Therapy After A Motor Vehicle Accident

Motor vehicle accidents can cause numerous injuries and conditions to the body, including whiplash. Whiplash is a traumatic injury to the structures of the cervical spine (the seven uppermost vertebrae). It involves muscles and ligaments and is caused by extremes in range of motion in the absence of severe bony injury such as fracture, dislocation or disc herniation. Sports injuries, physical abuse and other trauma can cause whiplash, but most often it results form rear-endmotor vehicle accidents. Symptoms can begin anywhere from a few hours to one day after an accident. Whiplash associated disorders (WAD) can be classified into five grades. Grades 3 and 4 are the most serious and require further follow-up with a physician prior to a patient starting a physical therapy program.

Grade 1 symptoms include neck pain, stiffness or tenderness; Grade 2 symptoms include neck pain with decreased range of motion and point tenderness. For these types of WAD, conservative care often is prescribed, with recommendations for “act as usual” care (no active treatment) or physical therapy. WAD can be pricey: 84.5 percent of the costs are incurred during the acute episode and can result in an absence from work of more than two months. For patients, pain reduction is the most common goal, in which case active physical therapy should be considered. For Grade 2 patients, active physical therapy should be recommended as the best option for achieving the best outcomes as far as therapy and cost.

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