Welcome
Director's Profile
CE Whiplash Seminars
Consulting - IME
Treatment
MVA IME
Crash Forensics
Whiplash
Brain Injury
Chronic Pain
Accident Investigation
Healthcare Links
Secure Docs
Contact Us
Consulting Jobs
e-mail me

Whiplash
Dr. Jason Mazzarella's Whiplash Specific Training (email: drmazzarella@gmail.com)

“Whiplash-a soft tissue injury to the neck-is also called neck sprain or neck strain. It is characterized by a collection of symptoms that occur following damage to the neck, usually because of sudden extension and flexion. The disorder commonly occurs as the result of an automobile accident and may include injury to intervertebral joints, discs, and ligaments, cervical muscles, and nerve roots.”

National Institute of neurological Disorders and Stroke:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/whiplash/whiplash.htm
Retrieved March 22, 2011
Whiplash – Unique Injury
Effects and Symptoms of Whiplash
Whiplash Risk Factors
Whiplash
Whiplash Guidelines
Whiplash Assessments








Whiplash – Unique Injury

Whiplash is unique in its injury mechanism and treatment needs. Whiplash though a cervical sprain/strain cannot be treated as a typical sprain/strain due to the injury mechanism involved. The guideline that are currently in place and that are used by IME doctors during the peer review process are in adequate to say the least in regards to a treatment using multidimensional approach to care. During peer review, due to the lack of whiplash specific knowledge by examiners and a lack of a uniformed guide, patients injured can be denied care and develop chronic pain and disability, while those not truly injured can prosper through the system. For additional information please see the North American Spine Institute continuing education seminar series Whiplash Guidelines or visit the ACA (American Chiropractic Association) website under education activities.


Back to Top


Effects and Symptoms of Whiplash

The term whiplash refers to injuries sustained to a person’s neck during primarily a motor vehicle accident. Additional injuries can occur due to our body mechanics during a crash and depend on risk factors, crash forensic and occupant positions to name a few factors.

Current whiplash associated disorders can include:

Injuries to the muscles and ligaments (myofascial injuries) of the back
Headaches
Dizziness
Blurred Vision
Paresthesias
TMJ
Acute Stress Reactions
Traumatic Brain Injuries
CTS
SI Joint Dysfunction
Shoulder Injuries
Wrist Injuries
Knee Injuries
Hip Injuries
Chest Injuries
Stomach Injuries



Back to Top


Whiplash Risk Factors

Risk Factors noted to delay healing and prolonged recovery, excluding the patient from the recommended treatment duration and resulting in an increased likelihood of prolonged care would include the following.


Croft Risk Factors

The Guidelines and risk factors above have been developed over the last several years through the process of reviewing thousands of peer reviewed whiplash, chronic pain and traumatic brain injury scientific literature articles and research as well as through thousands of whiplash patient treatments, clinical therapy and assessments. For this reason the above noted guideline and risk factors are both research and clinical based.



Back to Top


Whiplash

Treatment for individuals with whiplash will vary depending on risk factors, occupant kinematics during the crash (how your body moved), crash vector (where your car was hit), and your personal medical history. One definitive in the treatment process though, is that you should receive a multidisciplinary approach to care. This means that you should receive some form of pain management - medication, acupuncture, modalities (electrical stimulation, ultrasound, heat/ice), therapeutic exercises, therapeutic activities, and chiropractic care.Whiplash injures a number of different structures in your body in a variety of different areas. If you are not receiving care that helps improve joint motion (chiropractic), muscular strength (physiotherapy), and pain management (modalities, massage, acupuncture) you are only taking care of part of the problem. 


This in my experience will result in delay recovery and a high possibly of re-exacerbation of pain and dysfunction after release/discharge from care. Your body is not injured in one way; you should not be treated in one way. This is why I have developed the WITP Program.


The WITP program was designed in order to help provide whiplash injury specific treatment and to help reduce overall pain symptoms and improve potential outcome after suffering injuries as the direct result of a motor vehicle accident.  Unfortunately in today’s healthcare schools and universities, whiplash specific injury and treatment protocols are not taught in depth regardless of the profession, medical, chiropractic, physiotherapy, etc.  This is due to the relative “newness” of the condition as it has only hit epidemic standards in the late 1990’s due to inductions of mandatory safety and crash test laws.  For this reason, many providers may treat this injury condition as a typical “sprain/strain,” however, it is not.  This along with the exclusion of treatment to vitally important musculature can result in delayed overall recovery and prolongation of care in many cases.   

The benefits of this program come through our doctor’s experience, education, training and expertise.  Currently, our doctors have taken the majority of all the major post graduate courses offered in North America regarding whiplash including hundreds of academic training hours and treated thousands of patients.  Additionally, NASI doctors have participated and studied Live Full Scale Human Volunteer Crash Testing which provides them with a better appreciation of the injuries YOU sustained and how the mechanics of that injury affect specific muscle groups.  Lastly, Dr. Mazzarella is the only doctor in North America which has been endorsed to teach healthcare providers about whiplash injury and treatment by both the medical and chiropractic community. 





Back to Top


Whiplash Guidelines

Mazzarella Whiplash Guidelines

The Mazzarella guidelines for the treatment of Whiplash and Whiplash Related Disorders are research bases and clinically backed for validity. I believe that it is in the best interest of this profession and all healthcare professions dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of whiplash and whiplash related disorders to adopt the Mazzarella guidelines for management of Whiplash. This will provide for improved treatment management while helping to identify excessive or unnecessary care, and allow for comparisons of different treatment methods by different professions to be fair and equitable during peer review.  We urge healthcare professionals to make efforts to adopt these guidelines through their local societies, state associations, state boards of examiners, and national associations.



Mazzarella Whiplash Traumatology Guidelines - Email: northamericanspineinstitute@gmail.com



Back to Top


Whiplash Assessments

A WIRED Assessment is a Whiplash Injury and Recovery Evaluation and Determination Assessment that’s purpose is to determine if an injury is present and if therapy is warranted.

This assessment includes a detailed physical examination that is customized to each client utilizing factors such as crash forensics and occupant kinematics to make a determination of the most likely structures injured in the crash and to ensure of areas of potential injury are properly evaluated.

After review of crash details the assessment can evaluate traumatic brain injury symptoms, chronic pain patterns, non-organic sleep dysfunction, traumatic stress issues and functional deficits due to the MVA.

The assessment will conclude with risk factors associated with the case (if any) and a determination of need which will be referenced based. Recommendations will be in accordance and based on current Whiplash Guidelines (that are scientifically sound) and findings during the history taking and physical examination.

The overall benefit of this assessment comes in my personal training and experience as I have post graduate training in all of the areas noted above. In addition, due to my live full scale human volunteer crash testing training, I have an insight into injury mechanisms in low speed collision which most healthcare providers would not.

If interested in our
WIRED (Whiplash) assessments please email us at northamericanspineinstitute@gmail.com






Back to Top




© 2006-2011 Dr. Jason Mazzarella DC. All rights reserved. | North American Spine Institute™/Inc |


|Welcome | |Director's Profile| |CE Whiplash Seminars | |Consulting - IME| |Treatment | |MVA IME| |Crash Forensics | |Whiplash| |Brain Injury| |Chronic Pain| |Accident Investigation | |Healthcare Links| |Secure Docs| |Contact Us| |Consulting Jobs|