Summary
Patients diagnosed with Whiplash Associated Disorders (WADs) are frequently seen by healthcare providers who all claim to offer “THE BEST” management to help in their recovery. Sadly as of 2023, despite hundreds of RCTs, there is no known “BEST” single strategy.
However, we do know that certain interventions that promote passive coping skills, potentially increase the risk of developing chronic disability associated with their WAD. We also know that promoting active coping skills and assurance of recovery are potentially beneficial and reduce the risk of developing long-term disability.
Regrettably too often both clinicians and patients are adamant about the “find it & fix it” model of treating WADs which seems to be quite ineffective and arguably harmful for some.
This systematic review summarizes it really well by stating, “An individual’s experience with neck pain is a multidimensional phenomenon in which physical, psychological, and social dimensions influence each other.” – Miatrello et al 2022 Systematic Review
This course aims to discuss how healthcare providers such as physiotherapists can best incorporate this multi-dimensional approach to care.
Objectives
- The risk factors for delayed recovery for individuals with acute WAD
- To incorporate ideal functional outcome measures for evaluating progress in WADs without completing any questionnaires
- Simple clinical skills for reliably identifying patients at risk of developing central sensitization
- Specific neuromuscular training exercises for optimizing recovery
- To clinically apply valid cervical joint position sense (JPS) evaluation and prescribe specific JPS retraining exercises
- How to best offer pain education & reassurance to minimize fear and catastrophization, therefore optimizing return to function
Course Content
Target professionals
Content is not intended for use outside the scope of the learner’s license or regulation. Continuing education courses should not be taken by people who are not licensed or regulated.This does not apply when they are part of a specific plan of care. By participating in this course, the participant agrees to respect his/her professional scope of practice.
Several exercises are presented. It will be interesting to add them to my exercise programs.