Chronic pain is one of the most challenging issues in modern medicine. When the source of pain cannot be fully treated, pain management becomes the primary goal, and it’s a different journey for each person.

One type of chronic pain is whiplash. It can hurt your neck and spine, and dealing with it can be a struggle when you don’t have the right help. Thankfully, The Pain Experts of Arizona are familiar with whiplash and the best treatments available today.

What Causes Whiplash?

Whiplash is a neck injury that occurs when the head or neck is rapidly moved back and forth in a snapping motion. The motion resembles the crack of a whip, hence the name.

Most commonly, whiplash is caused by car accidents, but it can come from any source of sudden motion. Contact sports, physical abuse, and falls are other common causes of whiplash.

Whiplash symptoms typically include the following:

• Pain
• Stiffness in and around the neck
• Loss of range of motion
• Headaches
• Tenderness
• Tingling in neck or arms
• Fatigue
• Dizziness

Other pains and discomforts can accompany a case of whiplash.

How Is It Treated?

Before treatment, your doctor will first diagnose whiplash with a physical examination and imaging technology. X-rays are the most common tool in diagnosis.

Once whiplash is determined, there are a number of treatments that can help manage the pain:

• Rest
• Hot and cold applications
• Over-the-counter medications
• Pain prescriptions
• Muscle relaxants
• Injections
• Physical therapy
• Exercise
• Support collars

Typically, your doctor will work through a range of treatment options with you, depending on the severity of your case and other related health factors.

Cervical Medial Branch Radiofrequency Ablation

There’s an additional treatment that you might receive with The Pain Experts of Arizona. It’s called cervical medial branch radiofrequency ablation, or RFA for short. This technique uses needles and a radio transmitter to apply heat to specific nerves in your spinal area.

The heat is just enough to kill targeted nerves without damaging anything else. The destruction of targeted nerves eliminates sources of chronic pain that don’t respond to other treatment courses.

Schedule an Appointment Today

If you have whiplash or any other source of pain that requires management, contact The Pain Experts of Arizona today. You can call us at 480-550-9393 or use the online contact form. With offices in Gilbert and Mesa, we’re ready to help you.