Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues of the neck. Whiplash injury strains the muscles and ligaments of the neck beyond their normal range of motion. There is often pain and stiffness in the neck for the first few days following a whiplash injury. The pain can also be felt in the surrounding muscle groups in the head, chest, shoulders, and arms.

Head injury can occur when the head and neck is thrown violently such as in an accident. This type of head injury can also cause injury to the brain by causing it to rebound in the skull. As a result the brain may bleed, swell, and dangerously increase in pressure.

The pain of whiplash may not appear right away after an accident, but sometimes may take hours to weeks to develop. Symptoms include dizziness, headache, pain or stiffness in the neck, jaw, shoulders, or arms.