Whiplash is a tricky injury to handle, in that people may not take it seriously until the injury has dragged on for a few months. Here are some things that can affect your whiplash recovery time. 

The Types of Treatments Sought

Mild whiplash is often treated simply with rest. This is an okay solution, but if you find that your whiplash isn't getting any better, you should seek out the help of a whiplash recovery specialist. For one, chiropractic care may be needed to spring the neck and back into place after a trauma. After that, physical rehabilitation brings the back and neck muscles back to their peak physical conditioning. Acupuncture may be part of the treatment plan, as well, if you are experiencing pinching or aching sensations that can be dulled by acupuncture pain management. 

Your Reaction to the Injury

Without expert advice, some people mismanage their whiplash condition. On the one hand, bracing the neck is often a bad idea in mild to moderate whiplash conditions. That means putting on a physical brace, but it also means limiting your range of motion so that your neck and back get severely stiffened. On the opposite side, some people are eager to get back to their activities as soon as they can. That can also hurt you. If you push too far, you can have a complete re-injury of your destabilized neck and back. The best thing to do is get under the care of a doctor who can advise you as to what movements you can safely make at each stage of the whiplash recovery process. 

Skill and Adaptation in Treatment

Each person's recovery period looks different, so another factor that will affect recovery is adjustment of the treatment plan to the individual patient. For example, if manual adjustments aren't working for you, a chiropractor might switch to using a drop piece, activator, or other method to help you get better. If massage is working and acupuncture isn't, your case manager should switch you solely to massage. These small adjustments throughout your treatment make a big difference, and they depend on full communcation with your doctors. 

Chronic Conditions

Some whiplash is chronic, meaning that, even with treatment, it tends to recur even after a 6 month period of recovery has happened. In those cases, permanent pain management solutions may be the best way to deal with whiplash pain. It is common for the sufferers of chronic whiplash to use a combination of pain medications and chiropractic adjustments or orthopedic injections to combat the pain relating to their injury. Hopefully, you don't become one of these long-term whiplash victims. Seek out treatment from a whiplash recovery center to maximize your healing during the critical first six months of recovery after your injury. 

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