Personal Trainer in Mississauga

Speak to a personal trainer in Mississauga about Whiplash injuries

Whiplash was the common term back in the day for any type of injury of the neck involving its acceleration, followed immediately by deceleration. Of course, this term was often associated with malingering (faking an illness to escape work) due to the difficulty of really quantifying the extent of the injury for most cases. The term was later changed to Whiplash Associated Disorders (WADs) when studies emerged that proved the prevalence of WADs was large, regardless of whether each case could be picked up by scans such as MRI and X-ray or not. Other signs and symptoms that motor vehicle accident patients experienced, like cervicogenic headaches which are headaches that start from the neck and move to the head, are beginning to be used more commonly now to help diagnose WADs. Speak to a personal trainer in Mississauga for more details about how to adjust your head rest.

WADs are mostly caused by motor vehicle accidents although they can also be caused by sport-related injuries, occupational accidents, and slips and falls. You can imagine how many more minor accidents occur nowadays in Mississauga due to the increase in traffic. The most common symptom is neck pain, and the second most common is head pain. It is getting to the point that health professionals as well as certified personal trainers are recommending restriction of certain activities that are risk factors for WADs such as trampolines for children. Bumper cars are problematic since the repeated, low velocity hits are normally unexpected and the potential injuries sustained from these are often overlooked. Rollercoasters can also be problematic, especially the older models that do not have sufficient head rests.

 

How a personal trainer in Mississauga can help you avoid Whiplash Associated Disorders

1. Head Rest Position: Head rests can effectively reduce the amount of WAD-related injuries through motor vehicle accidents by 30%. However, proper positioning of the head rest is crucial. Rear-end collisions regardless of the speed of impact have a tendency to ramp the body up the chair. This means that even if the head rest is set directly behind your head, your head may still go over it upon impact allowing your neck to get into extension. Wearing slippery material such as silk, or sitting on a leather seat can further increase the effect of ramping up a seat since there is less grip to keep you in place. Therefore, positioning the head rest at the top of your head is most ideal to reduce the effect of WADs. You also want to consider how far your head is from the head rest. Having your head as close to the headrest as possible is also ideal to prevent any backwards movement.
2. Neck stabilizer muscle strengthening: Neck stabilizers are the deep muscles of your neck that are thought to act like your head’s “core muscles” by providing it stability. They include muscles like Rectus capitus, Longus capitus, Longus colli, and the Scalenes. When these muscles are stronger, they are able to better stabilize your cervical (neck) spine, reducing the amount of injury that occurs in the neck due to a motor vehicle accident. The right trainer in Mississauga can help train you techniques that can work these intricate muscles.

Motor vehicle accidents are an unfortunate occurrence that is always in the back of a driver's mind. Although you cannot prepare for what may happen on the road, you do have the power to control how protected you are within your own vehicle. WADs is one of many possible results of a motor vehicle accident, and we have talked about low back pain which is another problem associated with these accidents in a previous article. Personal training is definitely a protective factor against such injuries.