WHIPLASH - What Does Exercise Have to Do with It ?

For the first little while after you've suffered a whiplash injury you can expect your doctor to recommend that you attend physiotherapy and perhaps massage therapy. These forms of treatment are what's often referred to as "passive therapy" and are generally thought to be time limited in their effectiveness.

After a few months, if you've haven't recovered, you can expect that your doctor will suggest that you get involved in an "active exercise program".

What's a active exercise program ? Well, basically it involves a kinesiologist or personal trainer  taking you to a gym and teaching you a series of exercises which are designed to strengthen the muscles that were injured in the accident ( as well as the surrounding muscles). And after you've been taught these exercises, the idea is that you'll work with this indivdual until you're able to do these exercises independently.

Will going to the gym be slightly painful at first ? Probably.

And for people who've never exercised or been to a gym before, I expect that  this "active exercise" business sounds kind of scary.

 But the research seems to support the idea that exercise helps people recover from whiplash injuries. So, if you want to recover from your whiplash injury as soon as possible, exercise may need to be part of the program.

 

WHIPLASH - What Does Exercise Have to Do with It ?

For the first little while after you've suffered a whiplash injury you can expect your doctor to recommend that you attend physiotherapy and perhaps massage therapy. These forms of treatment are what's often referred to as "passive therapy" and are generally thought to be time limited in their effectiveness.

After a few months, if you've haven't recovered, you can expect that your doctor will suggest that you get involved in an "active exercise program".

What's a active exercise program ? Well, basically it involves a kinesiologist or personal trainer  taking you to a gym and teaching you a series of exercises which are designed to strengthen the muscles that were injured in the accident ( as well as the surrounding muscles). And after you've been taught these exercises, the idea is that you'll work with this indivdual until you're able to do these exercises independently.

Will going to the gym be slightly painful at first ? Probably.

And for people who've never exercised or been to a gym before, I expect that  this "active exercise" business sounds kind of scary.

 But the research seems to support the idea that exercise helps people recover from whiplash injuries. So, if you want to recover from your whiplash injury as soon as possible, exercise may need to be part of the program.

 

WHIPLASH - how does it happen?

Before you can truly understand the symptoms you're suffering from as a result of your whiplash injury, you need to understand how whiplash is caused.

Dr. Mark Frobb's book, "Surviving Whiplash - Saving Your Neck Without Losing You Mind", describes a whiplash injury as consisting of two seperate phases:

" Phase 1: forward acceleration of the torso and shoulders with a delayed forward acceleration of the head and neck.

  Phase 2: the resulting 'whip' of the head and neck as it follows the initial forward movement of the torso and shoulders."

 Dr. Frobb goes on to indicate that in the first phase, "... the shoulder and torso of the traveling passengers in the struck vehicle are pushed forward. The head and neck remain relatively stationary at the back of the seat, creating a stretching of the anterior muscles of the front of the neck."

As far as the second phase is concerned Dr. Frobb says, "... the head and neck begin their forward journey as they are flung forward in a whip-like phenomenon, after which the injury was originally named."

The thing that you need to understand about these two phases of  a whiplash injury is that they both are completed within milliseconds.

Want to find out more about your whiplash injury and how to best deal with your symptoms ?

Stay tuned !

Biking Without A Helmet - You've Got to Be Kidding Me !

Ok. So let me see if I have this right. There's a group trying to over turn the law which requires bicyclists/cyclists in B.C. to wear a helmet while biking.

This lobby group says that in order for a bike sharing program to succeed in Vancouver the helmet law will need to be scraped.

I'm a Vancouver based personal injury lawyer. I see the serious injuries that cyclists suffer while biking in Vancouver. And this kind of crazy talk scares me silly.

You tell me.

 Does it make sense to encourage cyclists to expose themselves to a potential brain injury in order to make cycling more popular ?

Does it make sense for the tax payers of B.C. to bear the burden that a rash of brain injured cyclists would impose on our  provincial health care system in order to make cycling more popular in urban centers ?

C'mon. You've got to be kidding me !

UNDERSTAND WHAT LENDING YOUR CAR MEANS !

Gererosity of spirit is a beautiful thing.

I'd even go so far as to say that most of us are far too stingy with both our time and money. It wouldn't hurt most of us to give a bit more to others.

That being said, you should be aware of one very serious exception to the "be generous" rule.

Don't be too generous about lending your car.

Why ?

Did you know that if you lend somebody your car and they get into a crash the amount you pay for auto insurance might very well go up.

That's right.

Your insurance is connected to your vehicle. It doesn't matter if you're not driving at the time.

So, if you lend someone your car and they cause an accident you're on the hook.

What's the bottom line here ?

Think twice before you lend your car to a friend.

People Are Fragile

Human beings are fragile,breakable objects.

So when a human gets hit by a car they often get badly hurt or worse yet killed.

In fact, in 2011, nine pedestrians died on the streets of Vancouver.

The City of Vancouver has recently launched a new educational program called "People are Fragile". It's a program which I whole heartedly endorse.

I've helped many pedestrians who've been injured in car accidents over the years. And of all the different types of car accidents that I see pedestrian accidents are often the worst. It's not just the physical problems that some one who has been hit by a car suffers from. Often it's the fear that takes over their lives following a pedestrian accident that's the bigger problem.

Please have a look at www.practiceroadsafety.ca

Until next time,

Jeff Witten