Cervical Whiplash

Case Description: The patient is a 56 y/o female who was in a motor vehicle accident approximately 1 year ago, when she suffered a severe whiplash injury.  She had sought out chiropractic and massage therapy care with little help for her neck pain, which was limiting her ability to drive, read, sit at her desk for work, and exercise for her general health. 

Objective Measures: The patient was seen for 13 physical therapy visits over a 2 month period.

Tests and Measures	Initial Evaluation	Day of Discharge from Physical Therapy
VAS for Pain	5-7/10	0-4/10
Neck Disability Index	42% disability	14% disability
Deep Cervical Flexion Endurance Test	(Norm is 30 seconds)	>30 seconds
Active Range of Motion(Cervical)	Flexion = 28°	Flexion = 45°
	Extension = 38°	Extension = 50°
	Sidebend R = 20°Sidebend L = 15°	Sidebend R = 45°,Sidebend L = 39°
	Rotate R = 45°Rotate L = 60°	Rotate R = 75°Rotate L = 75°

Summary: The patient was discharged from physical therapy with increased cervical range of motion to within functional limits, improved overall ability to perform daily household/work tasks, and empowerment to continue with her individualized home exercise program 

Patient Comments at Discharge: “I had constant neck pain and extremely limited range of motion in my neck before starting PT.  The pain is now gone and my range of motion is greatly increased.  The results are more than I was expecting.”

Sincerely,

Luke Vander Zouwen, DPT
Full Potential Physical Therapy