Whiplash – Causes and Symptoms

Whiplash

If you must be wondering whether there is any disease such as whiplash, it is actually a non-medical term which describes neck pain which occurs after any injury to the soft tissues of the neck which is generally caused by the abnormal motion or force applied beyond the general range of motion of the neck.
This usually happens during accidents, falls, assault and sports. The term was first in usage in the year 1928 and it is still used to describe the soft tissue neck injury, though medically it may be known as acceleration flexion-extension neck injury and soft tissue cervical hyperextension injury.
The cause of such a condition is mostly car accidents. It is said that the speed of the car does not relate to the neck injury and one can have a whiplash irrespective of whether or not they wear a seatbelt. Child abuse, especially when shaking the child, can cause serious injuries to the child’s brain or spinal cord, as the healthcare experts say. Assault, or sports injury or blow from a falling object may also cause a whiplash. There can also be non-acute causes like repetitive stress injuries or chronic strain like holding phone with the neck.
The main symptoms of this condition are, obviously neck pain limiting the range of motion, neck swelling, muscle spasms, tenderness at the back of the neck, headache or pain shooting from the neck into the arms or shoulders. These symptoms may manifest either immediately or after some time of the initial injury. One should be aware that the sooner the symptoms manifest, the more serious is the injury.