Whiplash Injury

If the joints above the 1st to 3rd cervical vertebrae and the suboccipital muscle group are damaged, the greater and lesser occipital nerves are irritated, causing cervicogenic headaches that radiate from the back of the head to the crown and around the eyes. Furthermore, proprioceptive receptors are densely concentrated in the cervical joint capsule and deep muscles, playing a role in maintaining balance in conjunction with vestibular and visual information; if these signals are disrupted by whiplash injury, symptoms such as dizziness, dazedness, and decreased concentration may occur. Although brain injury is not a factor in most cases, if there has been loss of consciousness or severe vomiting, imaging tests are necessary for differential diagnosis. In Korean medicine, the head is viewed as the gathering place for all Yang energy; therefore, it is believed that if the meridians in the neck are blocked, clear energy cannot rise to the head, causing headaches and dizziness. In particular, if the meridians passing through the back of the head are blocked by stagnant blood caused by trauma, the symptoms precisely overlap with those of cervical headaches. Clinically, approaches are divided into types where stagnant blood blocks the meridians and types where waste products obstruct clear energy, causing dizziness. At Dongjedang, we combine external treatment—releasing tension points in the suboccipital muscle group using acupuncture and pharmacopuncture to reduce nerve stimulation—with internal treatment to flush out waste products and stagnant blood from the body and restore Qi and blood circulation. Based on the perspective that even if symptoms are in the head, the cause lies in the neck and systemic circulation, we aim for treatment that opens the fundamental pathways rather than merely masking the symptoms with headache medication.