Whiplash
I decided to add this section on whiplash because most of us will be in at least one car accident in our lifetime, some time or another. Whiplash, even if it’s just a minor case, is one of those injuries that comes back to haunt you if left alone. It becomes the start of a TMJ problem, headaches, neck or back pain, or hand pain. It can really make life miserable. You can have a small fender-bender or fall where your neck muscles are injured and not have any pain at all in your neck. But your headaches or jaw problems a month or so later can be from that accident. The big idea here is to address the injury, as small as it may be, as soon as possible. Treating the trigger points of the neck and cranium muscles within 24 hours after any such injury is most important.
Eighty percent of the time your body retains a “muscle memory” of any injury you ever had. Taking the proper steps to resolve, or “erase” those memories is important. Additionally, as in the case of whiplash, many people have the back of the neck looked at and treated, by someone such as a massage or physical therapist. But most often it is the muscles in the front of the neck that need attention. The weakness from the injury to those muscles causes the muscles of the back of the neck to overwork and spasm, trying to hold your head upright. However, most therapists are too timid to get deep into those muscles because of your throat, glands, and major arteries.
