I had a car accident and got a whiplash injury. I saw two doctors and a chiropractor. They all told me different things to do and not to do. Most of the time what one doctor told me to do is what the next doctor NOT to do. What's going on here?

There is a wide range of beliefs about treating whiplash injury. Doctors, therapists, and chiropractors often have difference ways of approaching the same problem. And today's modern research hasn't cleared up the confusion yet. That's because no one, single treatment is known to work the best for this problem.

One thing most everyone agrees on is rest versus activity. Most health care professionals will advise patients with post-whiplash pain to work through the symptoms. Rest is okay in small doses, but complete bed rest is not advised.

Reference:

Robert Ferrari, MD, FRCPC, FACP, and Anthony Science Russell, MD, FRCPC. Survey of General Practitioner, Family Physician, and Chiropractor's Beliefs Regarding the Management of Acute Whiplash Patients. In Spine. October 1, 2004. Vol. 29. No. 19. Pp. 2173-2177.

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I had a car accident and got a whiplash injury. I saw two doctors and a chiropractor. They all told me different things to do and not to do. Most of the time what one doctor told me to do is what the next doctor NOT to do. What's going on here?