Training with Whiplash

[Guest guest]

Don,

Here are a couple of resources straight up:

A year or so ago here in Australia the Motor Accident Authority put

together a panel of representatives made of representatives from

several different therapeutic disciplines who did a comprehensive

review of literature and produced a document on effective management

of Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD). It won't tell you how she

should train but it will guide her in managing the condition if it is

still acute (ie less than a few weeks old). Check the white pages

for the MAA's number.

If she can get to Bodyworks Physiotherapy on the Northern Beaches

(Sydney), they can assess and treat her neck using a specialised

device which has been found to detect strength deficits up to ten

years after an injury (so a friend of mine who worked there tells me).

Your description of her condition is a little vague.

Firstly, is her condition acute? If it is she probably should be

resting up for a week or so and seeking pain relief

(electrotherapeutic, medicinal..) before launching into exercise.

Secondly, when you say that she " cannot " do the activities you

listed, did you mean it is too painful for her to do so, or did you

mean she has been told she is not allowed to do so? Has she been

assessed by a therapist?

If she is finding these exercises painful I imagine she will need to

work on her intrinsic, deep stabilizing neck muscles. Boring as it

may seem, if these muscles are not worked it is my experience that

she will accumulate tension in the larger overlying muscles (upper

traps, levator scapula, SCM, scalenes) - as they work to keep her in

a " next-best " stable position - leading to further pain and reduction

in range of movement. She will need some advice from a

physio/osteo/chiro/exercise physiologist with experience in this type

of specific strengthening.

I disagree with an earier posting from Jerry Telle suggesting

weighted neck flexion exercises - they are okay for healthy necks but

not appropriate for someone in the early stages of recovery from WAD

(as it sounds like she is).

Good luck with it, and definitely she should be encouraged to do

anything active that does not cause her pain.

Darren Stuchbery

Get Active Physiotherapy, Dee Why

Sydney

Australia

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Don Nguyen wrote:

> One of my friends has been involved in two separate car accidents.

The first

> caused whiplash and the second excacerbated the problem. At the

moment she

> is having a lot of difficulty training. Currently she cannot run,

row, use

> the stepper, lift weights, do yoga or aerobics classes. I've been

racking my

> brains thinking of possible exercises the only two I've come up

with are the

> recumbent bike and the elliptical trainer.

>

> Does anyone have experience with this type of injury? Firstly I'd

like to

> know if anyone has any resources on whiplash. I tried doing a

search but

> didn't find much useful info on rehab or training. Secondly has

anyone

> trained somebody with this condition? What training can be done

other than

> recumbent bike/elliptical trainer?