Whiplash Injury

Description

A term used to describe an injury to the soft tissue (e.g., muscles, ligaments, tendons) in the neck. The term whiplash injury is not used when there is an associated fracture or herniated disc. It is also called neck strain, neck sprain, cervical sprain, or cervical strain, and occurs with a sudden movement of the head forward and backward or side to side, such as in a car accident.

Symptoms

Neck pain, neck tenderness, neck stiffness, shoulder pain, upper back pain, headache. The pain often becomes worse 24 hours after the injury.

Tests

A history and physical exam will be performed. Imaging studies may be done to rule out other causes of the symptoms.

Treatment

Therapy is aimed at reducing the symptoms and speeding up the healing process. Treatment includes: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications/NSAIDs (ibuprofen/Motrin or Advil, naproxen/Naprosyn), pain medications such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), muscle relaxants (metaxalone/Skelexin, baclofen/Lioresal, orphenadrine/Norflex, tizanidine/Zanaflex), and/or physical therapy.

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