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Physicians and other therapists continue to grapple in daily practice with the controversies of the late whiplash syndrome. For decades much of the debate and the approach to this controversial syndrome has centered on the natural history o f and progression to chronic pain after acute whiplash injury. Recognizing that there is recent epidemiological data that defines the natural history of the acute whiplash injury outside of many of the confounding factors occurring in many western countr ies, and the lack of evidence for a "chronic whiplash injury", this article will thus introduce the biopsychosocial model, its elements, its advantages over the traditional model, and the practical application of this model. The biopsychosocial model re cognizes physical and psychological sources of somatic symptoms, but fundamentally recognizes that the late whiplash syndrome is not the result of a "chronic injury." |
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