Whiplash is some of our most popular content on both our Youtube channel and blog. It seems like it's something that so many people suffer from and the doctors don't do much for it when you go to the emergency room. A lot of the time your neck looks normal on an x-ray so your doctor will send you home with some muscle relaxers and call it a day. But that's just masking your symptoms.
I'll be explaining what's really going on in your neck and why your neck pain comes back as soon as your prescription runs out.
When you experience whiplash, your head is thrown in all kinds of directions and it overstretches the muscles and connective tissues. Your neck then becomes so overstretched that your muscles aren't able to hold your head and neck in a stable position anymore. The only way it can continue keeping your head on your neck and held up straight is by being in a state of spasm or contraction to try to tighten back up and hold everything securely.
So when you take those muscle relaxers, it feels better at the moment because your neck isn't spasming and you have a better range of motion. But you're actually being counterproductive to your body that is trying desperately to regain stability.
That brings me to the pretty simple solution for long-term relief. You need to retrain your stabilizing muscles and strengthen them. The major stabilizing muscle of your neck that creates a kind of internal neck collar is called the longus colli. This muscle goes into a state of shock when there is whiplash.
One of my favorite exercises for the neck is pretty simple and only requires a yoga belt or even a regular belt would work just fine. You'll want to divide your neck/head into thirds. The top third is right about at your ears, the middle third in the center of your neck (about in line with your chin) and the lower third at the base of the neck about where your collar would sit.
You'll take your yoga strap at the top third behind your head and pull at a slight upward angle of about 5º. You'll pull here with slight pressure to the back of the head until you feel your muscles start to work. This is a sign it's working. If your muscles start shaking, that's also a good sign. Hold that position until the shaking stops.
You'll repeat this action for the other two-thirds of your neck. But in the middle third you'll want to keep the strap parallel to the floor (unlike the top section where the pull was at an upward angle). Then the lower third you'll pull on the strap at a slight downward angle of about 5º.
This exercise helps those stabilizing muscles kick in in the right way so that your neck no longer needs to be in a state of shock. After doing this exercise consistently, you should notice a slow reduction in your symptoms.
I hope this exercise helps get you out of some of your acute pain following whiplash. Let us know how it works for you as we always love your feedback.
Remember, we heal smarter, not harder.
Dr. Justin C. Lin
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