Video and Transcript: How to Treat Acute Whiplash after a Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA)

[Content Warning: Car Accidents]

Hi! Dr. Orit Hickman here from Pain Science Physical Therapy. And, I just wanted to put together a quick video to talk about what to do in case you’re in a car accident and you experience neck pain.

I actually was just in my very first car accident in which my airbags deployed and my car, as a result of the damage, was declared totaled by the insurance company. And, this was actually last Wednesday. Nope. [It was] last Monday. So, it was a week ago today. And, it was interesting because even though I know what to do, it was really quite a scary experience. And so, there was a lot of things that I had to put in practice that are the same things that I tell my patients.

So, the very first thing I did was sort of a quick scan, an assessment, of how my body was feeling in that moment. I did not lose consciousness. I did not have an immediate onset of pain. I didn’t feel any dizziness, lightheadedness, nothing that made me think that potentially I experienced a concussion. And, I was, after sitting for a few minutes, I was able to slowly get out of the car and start to walk around. I was very shooken up and pretty scared by what the experience had been, which is all very normal experi-very normal responses to trauma. Within a few hours, I noticed that my body was really sore, and I started to notice that what I was doing was turning my body rather than turning my head.

So, the research on this is very, very clear. As uncomfortable as it may be because it’s both scary and doesn’t feel good, the best that someone can do right after a car accident is start to gently move their head in what we call “pain-free range of motion.” So, what that means is that you’re moving within a range that feels comfortable to you and that you do that as comfortable, as often as you can. So, I was able to, and I did move my head ten times every hour that I could remember and was awake. And, I also did some gentle side bending and some gentle forward and back, again, about ten times every hour.

The other thing I did was I kept moving. So, I took several short walks around my neighborhood, which was really important for blood flow, especially to all the tissue that was healing in my body because there's a lot of tissue trauma when you have a car accident, even a minor fender-bender because your body does get shook up.

The other thing that I did was I just had a conversation with other providers that I knew and double checked to make sure that there wasn’t any reason for me to go get further care. So, because of no loss of consciousness, no broken bones, no bleeding, no immediate onset of pain, I did not feel that it was necessary for me to go to the car-to go to the ER or to my doctor.

If an accident is severe enough and EMS is called to the scene, they will make a recommendation if they think it’s appropriate for you to get seen in a hospital setting. Once that happens, the hospital is going to make sure that there is nothing more severe going on. And so, they’ll typically release you to home. But, a lot of times, what they’ll tell you to do is they’ll tell you to rest, and that’s actually not the best advice per research today. So, gentle movement is key.

Now, I’ve only talked today about whiplash and what to do if you have had a car accident in which you’ve developed some neck stiffness. In the next video, I’m going to talk a little bit about what to do if you develop low back stiffness. Thanks! And, I hope this was helpful. If you feel like it was, please feel free to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Leave some comments down below. That would be great. Have a great day!

Resources:

• https://painsciencept.com/2023/08/14/whiplash/
• https://painsciencept.com/motor-vehicle-accidents/