14 Sep Whiplash Case Study – Acute Whiplash Pt. 5

Appointment two

‘Window shopping’ is when you are walking down the road and something in a window catches your eye. You carry on walking but eyes stay on the object you are passing. It may be only for a few seconds but it is very important in this analogy.

With the client I demonstrated focusing on a jersey on the clinic gym wall while walking the length of the room. The key element is the eyes remain gently fixed on the jersey as we move. We standardly assess neck movements by rotating the head while the torso remains straight, when in fact most of our functional neck movement follows gentle torso and shoulder movement. Think what you do when someone walks in to a room. The key is to not mention ‘keep your trunk straight’ or any of this, you want to trick the processing (pain).

From here we decided to make of list of things that make her feel clear headed and at her best. We created a list and here it is verbatim, I think this is so important and central to progress:

• Relaxed
• Happy
• With friends
• Walking
• Good sleep
• Work is going well or manageable
• Eat and drink the way I like to
• Hydrated
• Exercise and fresh air
• Little or no alcohol

Next up is how we finished the session and ongoing plans…