Scientific Evidence for Physical Therapy to Treat Neck Pain
Physical Therapists, like everyone else in the health care field, are working hard to find ways to treat patients safely and effectively. Instead of treatment as usual, therapists are striving to find scientific evidence to support (or refute) current treatment approaches.
Reason For Chronic Neck Pain After Whiplash Finally Confirmed
The actual source of chronic neck pain after whiplash injuries has been a mystery for a long time. It has been difficult to sort out because there are so many possibilities within the neck structures (hemorrhage, fracture, contusion, tears). But over the last 10 years studies have started to consistently point to one area: the cervical zygapophysial joints.A more common term for these joints is facet joints. Between each pair of vertebrae are two facet joints. These joints connect the vertebrae ...
When Whiplash Causes Chronic Pain
Ever have a moment when you experience a bit of dizziness? Fortunately it passes quickly and you return to normal once again. But for up to 40 per cent of people involved in car accidents, neck trauma in the form of whiplash causes persistent symptoms. Dizziness is one of three most common symptoms after whiplash trauma. Pain and postural unsteadiness are the other two common problems reported.In this article, a Physical Therapist from "down under" (Australia) presents the current information av...
What Is the Best Exercise for Whiplash
Anyone who has had an accident resulting in a whiplash injury knows the neck pain, stiffness, and loss of motion that can develop afterwards. Many people recover in a few days to a few weeks. But just as many develop chronic symptoms referred to as whiplash-associated disorder (WAD). Exercise may be a useful tool in getting past these symptoms and even preventing the transition from an acute problem to a chronic one.In this article, a Physical Therapist from Australia (they call them physiothera...
Is Early Treatment Making Whiplash Injuries Worse
Is it possible to get too much medical help too soon after a whiplash injury? That's the question posed by the authors of this article. By examining the results of studies reporting results of early treatment for whiplash, they found a surprising amount of evidence that iatrogenic disability is possible.Iatrogenic disability refers to the development of problems caused by the treatment. Chronic pain is one of those problems. Studies consistently showed that too much treatment too soon actually i...
Fear of Movement, Pain, and Disability After Whiplash Injuries
When neck pain from a whiplash injury occurs and becomes chronic is it the pain that causes disability in a direct chain of events? Or is there some other indirect factor or variable that links pain with disability? In this study, researchers from the George Institute for Global health in Sydney, Australia take a closer look at fear of movement as the possible mediating (indirect link or cause) between neck pain after whiplash injury and disability.Fear of movement (also known as fear-avoidance ...