
Whiplash isn’t just physical. It’s neurological, too.
After a car accident, even a “minor” one, the body can stay stuck in fight-or-flight for days, weeks, or months. Learn how massage therapists can support nervous system regulation and help guide clients back into a rest-and-digest state safely.
Learn the anatomy and pain patterns massage school didn’t prepare you for.
Auto injuries stress very specific muscles, joints, and connective tissues, many of which aren’t emphasized in basic training. Learn the key muscle groups commonly injured in car accidents, how they refer pain, and why symptoms don’t always show up where the damage occurred.
Understand force, mechanics, and why symptoms feel “weird.”
Car accidents introduce sudden, high-force loads to the body. Learn how force travels through the pelvis, thorax, spine, and neck, and how this explains delayed pain, headaches, rib pain, jaw tension, dizziness, and lingering upper-body symptoms.
Assess and treat with clarity instead of guessing.
Learn how to recognize common post-accident patterns, from neck and shoulder pain to thoracic restriction and pelvic involvement, so you can build treatment plans that actually match what the body experienced during impact.
Adrienne O'Brien LMT is the owner of O'Brien Therapeutic Massage, and has specialized in working with auto injury clients since 2018. After being in three car accidents in high school and feeling first hand the physical effects of whiplash, she learned how compassionate complimentary care can heal the body.
As a student athlete turned active adult, slowing down after whiplash was hard, and she sought care probably a lot later than she should have. (Teenagers, right?)
Once she did finally find the hands-on care of a chiropractor and a massage therapist, her body never felt better. Those experiences were one of the primary drivers that led her to her massage therapy career, and now she's passionate about helping others heal from their motor vehicle accident injuries.
Today, she helps other massage therapists learn the ins and outs of auto injury care, including making the deceptively daunting process of billing auto insurance simple.
