Last Updated on April 4, 2024

Whiplash is a common neck injury that results from a motor vehicle accident. It affects both the bones and soft tissues around the neck and the lower part of the head. According to statistics, roughly 3 million people in the USA suffer from whiplash injury each year.

As a result, it’s among the top reasons why a patient comes to see a neck pain chiropractor in Portland. Fortunately, the majority of whiplash injuries aren’t fatal. They can, however, cause persistent neck pain. If it doesn’t get enough care, it can leave you debilitated.

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Understanding Your Neck’s Structure

Notice how your neck allows you to move your head in various directions? That’s because its structural design allows maximum flexibility. However, that same feature makes you susceptible to neck injuries and even muscle wear and tear.

If you take a closer look at your neck, you’ll notice that it’s consisted of smaller bones, called vertebrae. In total, you have seven vertebral bones on the neck. Cartilage discs separate these bones and act as shock absorbers that minimize bone friction.

Among these seven bones, a neck pain chiropractor in Decatur primarily focuses on the topmost bones, the atlas and the axis. These two bones are known for their unique shape and design. They carry and support the skull and enable most of your head movements.

Tucked inside these two neck bones is your brainstem, which sorts information received and sent by the brain to the rest of your body. It also connects your brain to your spinal cord.

Besides the bones and the brainstem, your neck also has muscles and ligaments, which support the entire structure.

Just like in any part of your body, if you flex your neck rapidly and forcefully, you will most likely end up straining the muscles and ligaments. During an accident, your neck’s soft tissues, muscles, and ligaments get overstretched, causing a whiplash injury.

In some patients, the symptoms don’t show right after the accident. It could take up to a few months or years before some symptoms of whiplash neck injuries occur.

Related Link: Ice May Slow Injury Recovery

What Causes a Whiplash?

Typically, a whiplash injury arises from car accidents, but physical assault, cycling accidents, falls, and contact sports can also cause it. Any event or accident that forces the neck to move back and forth rapidly can trigger a whiplash injury. It can affect various parts of your body, including:

Neck muscles
Intervertebral joints
Spinal ligaments
Nerve roots
Intervertebral discs

Do you think you may have whiplash caused by an accident? Contact Inner Gate Health and Wellness to set up an appointment with one of our chiropractors.

Whiplash can develop into chronic pain.

Can Whiplash Be Serious?

Whiplash is a common injury, especially in car accidents, but shouldn’t be taken lightly. While most cases will heal quickly with the help of medication and stabilization, whiplash injuries can develop into serious problems if left untreated.

You should consult with a doctor as soon as you suspect you may have whiplash to diagnose and treat your whiplash injury properly. Otherwise, it could transform into severe and chronic pain in your neck, head, or arms that will last for years.

What Are the Key Symptoms of a Whiplash?

If you recently got into an accident from a car collision, contact sports, or other events, you will soon notice various neck injury symptoms. Two common things you will most likely observe are neck stiffness and pain. Besides these two, you might also experience other whiplash injury signs and symptoms such as:

Sharp pain due to sudden head or neck movements
Temporary loss or limitation of regular neck movements
Throbbing shoulders
Vertigo or dizziness
Pain in your upper and mid-back
Dizziness or vertigo
Blurry vision
Backpain (both in the upper and middle back)
Arm or hand tingling or numbness
Tinnitus (hearing buzzing sounds)
Fatigue or lethargy
Lack of sleep
Cognitive difficulties
Mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and depression

Even a simple neck pain caused by a whiplash injury can cause severe disruptions to your everyday routine. Hence, if you notice pain or other symptoms following the accident, it’s best to seek help right away.

Hope for Your Whiplash Neck Injury

The majority of patients diagnosed with whiplash injury often live through mild to severe neck pain. As a patient, you have various care options to choose from, ranging from anti-inflammatory drugs to muscle relaxants.

However, in most cases, prescription drugs can’t help relieve muscle stiffness or promote normal blood circulation hindered by cervical bone misalignment.

As a result, most patients turn to a neck pain chiropractor in Portland for healing assistance. With the help of an experienced neck chiropractor, your neck can naturally heal. The idea is to slowly realign the atlas and axis to relieve pressure on the muscles and soft tissues.

How to Treat Whiplash Naturally at Home

While it is best to see a doctor or chiropractor to treat whiplash, you can do a few things to reduce symptoms and ease the pain until you see your doctor:

Alternate Heat and Ice: Within the first 48 hours of the injury, you’ll experience swelling around the neck, upper back, and shoulders. Apply an ice pack for 15 minutes every 4 hours to the inflamed area to help reduce the swelling. Then after 48 hours, you can also apply a heating pad to soothe and loosen the muscles around your neck. Alternate between an ice pack and a heating pad to speed up healing time.

Perform Light Stretches: Your doctor, physical therapist, or chiropractor may suggest several light stretches you can do at home to improve your range of motion.

Drink Ginger Tea: Ginger tea has anti-inflammatory ingredients that can help reduce swelling and relax your muscles. Chamomile tea is another great tea to help relax muscles and promote healing.

Use Essential Oils or CBD Oil: Essential oils such as lavender help relax and heal muscles that are inflamed. CBD oil also can reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

If your neck is still stiff after a few weeks, you may want to contact a chiropractor specializing in neck pain and injuries. They’ll be able to create a customized treatment that may include:

Chiropractic manipulation
Taping
Therapeutic exercise
Manual therapy

Are you looking for a chiropractor in Portland? Learn more about Inner Gate Health and Wellness.

How Long Does Whiplash Take to Heal?

With proper treatment, individuals can expect to heal from whiplash within a few days or weeks. And most patients completely heal within 3 months. If you have followed your doctor’s recommended treatment and still feel pain or stiffness, you may want to see our chiropractors, who can focus on relieving and realigning your neck.

Complications That Can Develop from Whiplash

If left untreated, some people can develop chronic pain and headaches that can last several years. This pain is often due to damage in the neck joints, ligaments, and disks. Because whiplash can have lasting effects, you should see a doctor as soon as possible.

If you suspect that a whiplash injury caused your chronic pain or headaches, don’t worry. We can create a customized healing treatment to minimize the pain and correct the damage in your neck.

Chiropractor massaging lower neck.

Our Neck Pain Chiropractors in Portland Can Help

Neck chiropractors focus on correcting upper cervical bone misalignments. Jerrod use various techniques to ensure the even distribution of your head’s weight on the atlas and axis. And, because each injury is different, we study the case carefully and create a customized approach for each patient. Through precise measurements and gentle adjustments, your neck can experience long-term pain relief.

When you visit our neck pain chiropractor in Portland for your whiplash injury, you can expect to receive numerous benefits, including:

A thorough analysis of your condition – Neck chiropractors will study your patient history and the nature of the injury to determine the best course of action to use.
Gentle adjustments made just for you – There isn’t a singular approach to correcting upper cervical problems. Each patient is different. Hence, the approach we use also varies, depending on the needs of the patient. We use gentle movements that will help your neck heal faster.

Suppose you complain about chronic neck pain due to a whiplash injury. In that case, we recommend scheduling a consultation with Jerrod Puckett DC to learn how he can help you ease your pain.

Are you in the Portland area and need an appointment to treat whiplash? You can contact us by calling us at (971) 279-2294.

Katherine V.

March 9, 2023.

While recovering from injuries sustained from a car accident, I have seen a few different acupuncturists as well as a chiropractor and masseuse at Inner Gate, and I have appreciated them all. The care I've received has been stellar - compassionate, personable, considerate, and soothing. Truly, Inner Gate practitioners have greatly helped me in my healing process. Thank you!

Abbie W.

July 26, 2022.

I have been seeing Nick Maxwell for Craniosacral massage for the last several months after a car accident left me with whiplash, nagging low back pain, a mild concussion, and stress and anxiety. He is an incredibly gifted healer that has helped me immensely! I have had a plethora of bodywork over the years, and I can undoubtedly say that his massages are the best. He has also helped with digestive issues/SIBO/nervous system recovery. I would never see anyone else again after finding him. I am much calmer, happier, and healing well thanks in big part to his care.

Elizabeth M.

February 10, 2022.

Well, I will start by saying that Nicholas Maxwell is my favorite massage therapist. I went to him after 1 year of shoulder pain. Before going to him, I was waiting for the pain to just go away; it didn't. He was the first person I sought any help from. I'm sorry to say, I didn't expect that much relief from a massage but after about 3 sessions I felt close to cured of 1 whole year of pain! He recommended a great physical therapist to solve my shoulder stiffness and pain. My pt said that Nick did a great job of loosening up the muscles for a quicker recovery. Nick seemed to wipe out all the surface pain and extraneous tenderness so that my pt could pinpoint my injury which turned out to be shoulder tendonitis. Now I see both of them concurrently. They both gave the same estimate for recovery, which was shorter than I thought it would be. I've had more that 50 massages in my lifetime (CA, NY, NV), Nick is the only massage therapist I have been to that leaves me feeling better for days and days after the actual massage. If I could describe what Nick's massages feel like, it would be like this: If the ocean waves had massaging hands, they would be Nick's. Before going to Nick, I am a chuck steak. After my massage, I am filet mignon. What can I say, Nick Is Awesome!!

Julian J.

November 4, 2021.

My physical therapist suggested acupuncture for my chronic knee injury in July 2021. I'm going to explain my story, but I want to say at the beginning that Emma Ellsworth at Inner Gate Health & Wellness saved me from a life of chronic pain. It's really difficult and frustrating to find good care anywhere these days, so trust me when I tell you that you can end your search now. Just call Inner Gate and ask for Emma. I always find it helpful to read health care reviews from folks who suffer from the same issues as me, so here's a bit about my medical history: My orthopedic physician diagnosed me with IT band syndrome in my right knee in January 2021. I began a course of physical therapy, but not only did the IT band syndrome not get better, I actually developed IT band syndrome in my left leg due to overcompensation. I pushed myself a little too hard and started noticing that even very light exercise would cause my symptoms to flare up (inflammation, pain, swelling, etc.). By May 2021, I could not walk more than 3 blocks at a time without my knees flaring up. Keep in mind that I'm an otherwise healthy person in my mid-30s. I then developed hamstring tendinopathy in both legs, I assume to disuse. Along with preexisting patellofemoral pain syndrome issues, suffice to say that my knees were totally busted, okay. After all that, my physical therapist and orthopedic physician basically threw their hands up and suggested either cortisone shots for the rest of my life, acupuncture, or prescription pain medication that I really shouldn't be taking due to family history of hypertension. In comes Emma. I'm a huge believer in modern Western medicine and everything, but Emma succeeded where two physical therapists, a physiatrist, my orthopedic physician, and my primary care doctor all failed. Emma succeeded not only because she did something they did not - acupuncture - but she succeeded because she was more effective and patient at taking time to find the actual root cause of my issues. She is super methodical about interviewing me at the beginning of every session, evaluating what worked / didn't work from last time, trying out new areas for acupuncture, and over the course of 4 weeks eventually found an acupuncture solution that reduced my pain. I remember when it happened - I had an acupuncture session one Friday in October, and two days later I was going for a walk and ended up walking like 3 times further than I had walked in the past 6 months. I stopped and was like, "Wow my legs don't hurt at all." The pain literally vanished, went from a 5-6/10 on the pain scale all day every day down to 0-1. The massive pain reduction has allowed me to resume my physical therapy exercises with less pain and start rebuilding my knee strength. I still go to acupuncture to deal with some knee meniscus issues and overall wellness / mental health issues. Honestly, I feel such a tremendous sense of wellness after every acupuncture session that I kind of don't ever want to stop going. Anyway, if you made it this far, thanks for reading and hopefully my story is helpful. Seriously, go see the folks at Inner Gate. You won't regret it!!

Mitchell P.

October 19, 2021.

Inner Gate Health & Wellness provides exceptional care! Their staff, specifically Emma Ellsworth, is skillful, compassionate, and effective at providing holistic healing services, including acupuncture. I highly recommend treatment with Inner Gate and Emma Ellsworth for symptoms including depression, anxiety, pelvic floor pain, back pain, and digestion issues.

Ruben S.

April 15, 2021.

This is a long overdue, rave review for Terry. I've been to many acupuncturists over the last decade and she is hands down the most helpful and accommodating. I came in with a very unsolvable problem (tinnitus) and had tried everything before coming to Terry. Terry has helped improve my symptoms with Tinnitus and a number of other issues. She's also extremely patient and takes time out of every session at the beginning to go over progress and how I'm feeling. She has a good understanding of my problems and is always ready with solutions to help. Acupuncture with Terry is one of the highlights of my week -- thank you for being so great!!

Dr. Kaley B.

November 28, 2020.

Very impressed! Great acupuncture, well organized front desk. Liz is fantastic, and I'm not a fan of needles. Finally got some relief from back and neck pain. Looking forward to a few more sessions!

Abbie W.

September 15, 2020.

I highly recommend Oliver Leonetti at Innergate Acupuncture! I have seen him for the last 12 years for various ailments - ranging from nagging sports injuries to digestive issues to insomnia/anxiety, and he always provides the highest level of care that truly lasts. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable and skilled, but he is super kind and caring and always take the time to truly listen. I always feel better after leaving my appointment. I honestly do not know what I would do without Oliver or Innergate Acupuncture! Also, I've seen several of the acupuncturists there, and they are all fantastic as well.

M W.

July 9, 2020.

I can't recommend these guys enough! I have a 10 yr old competitive skier who was having some knee pain & had never had acupuncture done before...not only did these guys gently ease him into the entire process - they also helped him get back on the ski hill after the first couple of treatments I was super impressed with their professionalism & how both Liz and Casey approached his injury - now my little guy looks forward to going to his acupuncture appointments! Yay! Thank you a zillion times over for taking such good care of my little guy.

Abby J.

January 9, 2020.

I used to think acupuncture was sort of hokey. Not total witchcraft, but definitely not the magic, cure-all that people said. Well, folks, a few months in and I can report that I'm a changed woman! Well, really, it only took one session. Terry took my whole health history into consideration and helped with everything. Anxiety, sleeplessness, colds, ankle injuries, back pain--you name it. I've come in with problems and always left improved. I'm sure all the acupuncturists are lovely, but I want to stress how awesome Terry is. She takes my concerns seriously without making me feel like I'm at a stuffy doctors office. She approaches her work with humor and friendliness and is spot on with her treatment. Terry has made me feel comfortable from the get-go and has made my weekly appointments something for me to look forward to. My friends all have heard me rave about her, so I'd say everyone I know should go see her, but then I may never be able to squeeze in my appointments again! Just kidding, of course. Also, big props to the front desk staff too. They have been super kind and helpful when guiding me through insurance issues or unexpected after work traffic. I'd highly recommend Inner Gate SE to anyone with any ailment!

How to Relieve Whiplash Neck Pain Naturally