Help for old (sideways) Whiplash injury?

by Christine
(Montana)

I'm a 46 year old female that's always had an office job. When I was 13, I was in a car that was rear-ended, as I was sitting "side-saddle" Went to a chiropractor for quite a while as a kid.

Now for 3 years or so, been suffering with tons of headaches, some last for weeks/months.

Threw my hips out & have been seeing a chiropractor for 2 months now, who says he can fix my headaches. The last two weeks I've had a non-stop headache like it's never felt, I guess stuff is moving around & not liking being manipulated. X-rays show some bone spurs there.

Get occasional earaches, and my eye doctor says one eye has higher pressure than the other. Is there any hope after being injured this long, and at this age? Should I let him keep working it?

Quality of life is not good at all. Thank you for any help.

Hello Christine,
The first is to get your eye sorted out. If the pressure is significantly higher, it's very serious. Glaucoma. Your optician will advise you. Not sure, but I don't think glaucoma causes headaches.

Next, that earache. Take a look at this page: http://www.bernard-preston.com/TMJ-ear-pain.html

Your jaw joint sits just in front of the ear, is often confused with ear pain, causes neck pain, and is the cause of severe facial pain and headache.

Place your fingers on your jaw joints, open and close your mouth. Pain? clicks or pops?

Rub your hands slowly around the muscles of the jaw and up on the side of the head. Sore?

There are also other causes of headache, but that your doctor will think about.

Not sure about the chiropractor. If you've had 6-10 treatments, and it's not helping, try another. We use different techniques and sometimes one person can help where another not.

I hope this has contributed.

Dr B