Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues and sometimes other parts of the neck. Also known as neck sprain or strain, it involves symptoms that usually result from a sudden jerking of the head that causes hyperextension (excessive bending backward) or hyperflexion (excessive bending forward) of the neck. This trauma strains the tissues and joints of the neck beyond their normal range of motion.

The neck (cervical) region is the most flexible region of the spine. It includes seven vertebrae and shock-absorbing intervertebral discs, along with muscles and vertebral ligaments to hold these spinal bones in place. The top cervical disc connects the spinal column to the base of the skull. The spinal cord (responsible for transmitting nerve impulses to the body) runs through a canal in the cervical vertebrae and continues down the spine.

Whiplash may damage the intervertebral discs, joints, ligaments, cervical muscles or nerve roots. It can also lead to other injuries, including:

• Contusion. An injury in which the skin is not broken, such as a bruise.
  
  
• Fracture. A break, rupture or crack in bone or cartilage.

• Concussion. Jarring or shock to the head that causes a jolt to the brain.
  
  
• Hematoma. Bleeding or pooling of blood between the tissue layers covering the brain or inside the brain.