Treatment of Whiplash Injuries with Acupuncture

Cognitive behavioural components in physiotherapy management of chronic whiplash associated disorders (WAD) - a randomised group study

“…A number of attempts have been made to evaluate different treatments of chronic Whiplash Associated Disorders ( WAD) ( Cassidy, Lopes, and Yong-Hing, 1992;Provinciali et al, 1996;Su and Su, 1988;Swezey, Swezey, and Warner, 1999;So È derlund A and Lindberg, 2001;Vendrig, Akkerveeken, and McWhorter, 2000;Woodward et al, 1996) . Most interventions have dealt with low activity and single component approach es attemptin g to decrease neck pain or increase neck mobility ( Cassidy et al, 1992;Su and Su, 1988;Swezey et al, 1999;Woodward et al, 1996) .…”

Acupuncture for whiplash-associated disorder following road traffic collision: a physiotherapy service evaluation

“…Acute WAD injuries are treated with education regarding early physical activity and mobilization, with specific exercises to help with movement and strength in injured regions [12][13][14]. Similarly, other complementary or alternative treatments are also commonly used by physiotherapists within regular clinical practice to treat WAD [15], such as acupuncture (primarily Western medical acupuncture) [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Indeed the current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommended acupuncture treatment for non-specific neck pain (within 4-12 weeks of injury) [23].…”

“…Research studies have demonstrated the potential of acupuncture for the treatment of WAD [16][17][18][19][20][21][22], however such studies involve only participants who meet strict inclusion criteria and often those with issues such as co-morbidities are excluded. Research recommendations therefore must be cautiously applied to clinical practice, as it is rare for physiotherapists to see patients in clinical settings that would meet the strict criteria applied to medical research [26][27][28].…”

“…12–14 Similarly, other complementary or alternative treatments are also commonly used by physiotherapists within regular clinical practice to treat WAD, 15 such as acupuncture (primarily Western medical acupuncture). 16–22 Indeed, the current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommend acupuncture treatment for non-specific neck pain (within 4–12 weeks of injury). 23 Acupuncture is defined as the insertion of needles into the skin and underlying tissues for therapeutic purposes 24 and has evolved from traditional Chinese acupuncture.…”