What is whiplash?

Whiplash is an event that occurs when someone who is sitting in a vehicle, and gets struck from behind. When this happens, in a split second your head moves forward and then backward. This very quick movement usually causes neck pain. The neck pain is caused by subluxation of the cervical spine. In simple terms, a subluxation is when a vertebra (bone segment) has moved out of normal position, which causes pressure on a peripheral nerve and the disc. So, this pinched nerve causes pain in the neck, and sometimes this pain travels, or radiates down to the hands.

There is a study regarding whiplash, which is titled Treatment of whiplash-associated disorders--part I: Non-invasive interventions found in Pain Res Manag. 2005 Spring;10(1):21-32. The results showed, "Limited evidence, in the form of three non-RCTs, exists in support of chiropractic manipulation." (RCTs are random controlled trials).