Whiplash, also known as a neck sprain or strain, is a sometimes very painful injury to the soft tissues of the neck. A car accident can result in this type of traumatic neck injury, caused by an sudden and excessive snapping movement of your head both forward and backward .
Several things that can happen are, spinal misalignment, damage to your ligaments, pinched nerves, muscle tearing and spasms are common if you are suffering from whiplash. A whiplash neck injury is most commonly the result of rear end car accidents, but can also happen from side and front impact accidents.
Serious whiplash injury can also occur from low speed auto accidents and should not be taken lightly. Although whiplash injury symptoms commonly occur instantly, sometimes the symptoms take days, and even weeks, to appear.