Rollercoaster, tubing & whiplash

There’s a part of me that really can’t believe I did it (let alone 3x!). I voluntarily spun upside down, all around in circles, at 67+mph (and actually paid to do this!).  This past month I took 9-days away from the office, seven of which involved just chilling out along with some “play time” (plus 2 days that involved traveling to/from Florida). First stop was Orlando and a visit to Disney World for a day, and then to Universal Studios the next day. We used the roller coasters at Disney as a warm up, as they are shorter, smaller and slower than Universal. During our trip to Universal (Islands of Adventure), I wasn’t planning on doing the big rollercoasters. While I do love them and think they are fun, I just wasn’t sure my body could handle it. The last time I went to Six Flags was THE last time because of how horrible some of the rides were. That was probably about 6-7 years ago, and I swear I’d never go back. They were rough, bumpy and definitely caused whiplash.

This time around, I kept reading how “smooth” these rollercoasters were, so I caved and went on the Incredible Hulk Coaster as our first ride of the day, which twisted, went upside down, looped around & maxed out at 67 mph. I kept my eyes closed for most of the ride, as I just wasn’t sure I wanted to see what I was doing.  We then walked around to the other side of the park, and hopped in line for the VelociCoaster, the new big ride from Jurassic Park. When I saw that it had just opened last year, I figured it was smooth and hopefully wasn’t too bad. And guess what? I went on it (yikes!).  It was both fun and terrifying, as it went up to 70mph, straight up, straight down, upside down and more. I felt like I was going to fly out of it a few times and was of course so thankful to be completely buckled into it.  And then, as we were leaving the park, we noticed that the Incredible Hulk Coaster only had a 30-minute wait — so we jumped in line to do it again. This time I kept my eyes open, making me realize that I’m partially gutsy, crazy and fun. 🙂

Whiplash can happen from many different things, not just a car accident (which is a very common way to have whiplash, especially when someone rear-ends your car). My neck was sore the next day and I’m thankful my husband is a chiropractor so I was able to get adjusted. I think of all the people who are going on rollercoasters this summer, and how that is causing whiplash. It may not be a major accident, but it’s still an injury – small and repetitive. And then there is tubing, being pulled from behind the boat, bouncing up and down, also causing whiplash. All these fun things we do, is enough to cause vertebral subluxation, causing irritation on the nervous system. Sometimes symptoms are present, sometimes they are not.

I don’t think people need a reason to see a chiropractor, getting checked and adjusted is normal in my mind. We take care of our hair, nails and teeth, maintaining them, fixing them and making sure we look good. Your spine is the same – you should take care of it like you take care of the rest of your body. Your spine protects your spinal cord. Your spinal cord and brain make up your nervous system, which is responsible for controlling everything in your body. Getting checked and adjusted is a smart thing to do, especially if you want your body to function as well as possible. Chiropractic is all about health, function, performance, adaptability, balance, the immune system and more. We should want all those things to be maximized.  Let us know if we can help.