During a whiplash injury, an individual experiences quick forward and backward movement that causes stretching and injury to the ligaments of the neck leading to ligament hypermobility and joint instability. Muscles in the neck and shoulders will tense to try and stabilize an unstable joint, triggering increased muscle tension and decreased range of motion. Joint hypermobility and instability will also cause continual low-grade inflammation sending pain signals resulting in persistent neck and shoulder pain. Whiplash injury can also result in headaches, dizziness, balance problems, paresthesia, tinnitus, visual changes, and other medical issues. It is believed that many individuals are able to heal on their own or with physical therapy, chiropractic and acupuncture within a few months, however, recent research suggests that approximately half of individuals still experience neck pain one-year post-trauma.
Regenerative Medicine is an injection therapy used to help the body heal and relieve pain. The body has constant, natural, regenerative processes so when tissues breakdown or are injured in the body these regenerative processes work on healing them through appropriate inflammatory process’s. When we experience an injury either from high force such as trauma from something like a car accident or a sports injury, our bodies regenerative processes may not be able to produce an efficient inflammatory response to heal the injury resulting in a constant low-grade inflammatory response that produces pain and further degeneration. Regenerative medicine utilizes various types of injections and/or techniques to induce inflammation in and around the joint in order to mimic an injury and bring the body’s own immune cells, growth factors and collagen-building precursors to strengthen, repair and rebuild injured and degenerated soft tissue.
