Neck Trauma: Whiplash Injuries

If you’ve got chronic pain, you’ll be very interested in the findings revealed recently in the Journal of Whiplash & Related Disorders. 

In 2006, a research study was published in this medical journal revealing a chronic pain treatment breakthrough. Whiplash comes in many forms—not just from auto accidents. Sports injuries, falls and head trauma can all cause the same type of injuries to the neck. For many years a handful of doctors have known that a hidden neck injury can cause many different chronic pain conditions. Our knowledge, expertise, and experience are finally being given its due attention. 

Upper Cervical doctors focus their attention to the first bone of the neck, which sits directly below the skull. 

The ATLAS vertebra weighs only about two ounces, yet it supports the head, which weighs between 9 and 17 pounds. Any trauma to the body can result in a misalignment of this all-important little bone. Such misalignment typically goes undetected and untreated, resulting in many health problems. 

We upper cervical doctors have known this for many years, but there has been little medical or media attention. 

Many articles on upper cervical care have been published in chiropractic journals, but never before in mainstream American medical journals. Another study of upper cervical care was published in the Journal of Human Hypertension. This study demonstrated that misalignment of the atlas vertebra can be a cause of high blood pressure, and that precision correction could reduce it.  

If your neck was injured years ago, you could be suffering its effects throughout your entire body. The results of the study serves as evidence that a very old and frustrating problem can get better.

According to the study, over one million neck injuries occur annually, with common symptoms of long-term, chronic neck pain, headaches and pain radiating down the arm (radiculopathy). Although treatment of whiplash involves many different medical specialties, a “significant number of patients do not respond to treatment and have long-term pain and disabilities.”  

The study involved patients with significant debilitating pain and complications from neck injuries due to auto accidents. The treatment called Atlas Orthogonal was performed with a specialized sound wave instrument. 

It is calibrated based upon mathematical x-ray analysis of a tiny misalignment of the head with the neck. The medical journal study involving the Atlas Orthogonal (AO) method is entitled:  

Resolution of Cervical Complications Secondary to Motor Vehicle Accidents by the Application of Stereotactic Cervical Alignment (SCALE) Methods. 

This research study produced staggering results: “84% of the patients experienced complete or near complete resolution of their pain and other neck related complications. All patients reported significant improvements in their condition with 53% experiencing complete recovery. Ranges of motion and other measurements of the cervical spine (neck) also improved.”  

AO is all about math and physics; that’s why this non-surgical, drugless treatment is so effective. 

Precise angle measurements are made on specialized x-rays to analyze the relative alignment of the head and neck, before and after the completely painless and safe treatment. 

According to the medical journal, the “injuries typically seen in motor vehicle accident cases may cause misalignment of the cervical spine (neck).” 

Neurologist, Dr. Richard Hammond, who was one of the authors of the medical study gives high praise to the Atlas Orthogonal procedure. He refers many patients for this treatment: 

"I have found this device to be extremely helpful in a variety of headache and neck pain patients... rapidly and dramatically improving these... hundreds of times over the past several years -- hundreds of pleased and amazed patients...  with the Atlas Orthogonal procedure (AO) we help many chronic pain conditions that few people realize originate in the neck, in a manner never conceived before."  

Fibromyalgia is a diagnosed condition for which AO has had incredible results. As more and more clinical evidence piles up, doctors and researchers are opening their eyes to the significance of the upper neck in this debilitating condition. People who suffer from shoulder pain can also have an undetected neck problem that is preventing them from healing.  

Nerve compression (a pinched nerve) in the neck can cause shoulder, arm, and hand pain.  Symptoms of numbness, tingling or pain in the wrist and hand, are frequently misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. True carpal tunnel syndrome involves compression of the median nerve at the wrist. But the exact same symptoms can be caused by a neck problem.   

I'm quite proud to be a Board Certified Atlas Orthogonist (BCAO). When the upper neck is not functioning properly, so many problems can arise. 

Since 1993, I've been educating people about the crippling effects of neck injuries. The vast majority of chronic pain patients I've treated could trace the development of their condition back to an auto accident or other trauma.  

Atlas Orthogonal procedures have been around since 1970, yet the standard medical procedures for the effects of whiplash injuries have continued to typically be medications and physical therapy, or in many cases, no treatment at all. 

Atlas Orthogonal doctors like myself and our grateful patients have known the incredible effectiveness of our procedures for decades. It is thrilling to see these results finally published in a major medical journal. I have no doubt that the publishing of this study and others which will follow, will help end needless suffering for people across the country.   

It's important to understand that you don't have to have been in an auto accident. Neck trauma comes in many forms. Its effects are frequently undetected. For example, sports can cause head and neck trauma which lead to headaches, neck and shoulder pain or widespread pain throughout the body.  

A factor in our failing healthcare system is the nearly exclusive focus on drugs and surgery. But our pioneering group of physicians and researchers are finally succeeding in informing the public about the scientific procedures that don’t use drugs or surgery; procedures that get people out of pain after everything else has failed. 

If you have chronic pain, think way back in time. Maybe you had a minor fender bender, a sports injury, head trauma, or a fall. If you are still suffering from pain, an upper neck (upper cervical spine) evaluation could be the missing link to ending your misery.   

Treatment is covered by most major medical insurance policies (such as Medicare, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Health Care, etc.) as well as worker's compensation and auto insurance. Care is affordable to those without health insurance, high deductibles, and limited or no-coverage policies.