Located on each side of your neck, the Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscles play an important part in tilting and turning your head. Anytime your head jerks backward, forward or sideways, the impact can strain these muscles.
A sudden movement to this area might stretch or tear the muscles, tendons or ligaments, resulting in what’s commonly known as “whiplash,” but may also be called a hyperextension injury, cervical strain or sprain, or acceleration-flexion neck injury.
Although physicians sometimes refer to the impairment as a neck hyperextension injury, whiplash is a fairly accurate mechanical description. Bending first towards and then away from the point of impact, whiplash is the consequence of the head moving in a whip-like motion.
As the head moves rapidly in one direction, the muscles in the neck receive the message to contract. As the head reaches the end of its movement, the momentum of the head can cause strain or sprain to the muscles and ligaments in the neck. Whether the head whips forward and backward or laterally, whiplash usually causes multiple neck injuries.
Whiplash is most often associated with car accidents, but it can also affect people who play contact sports or who get struck by a falling object.
A case of whiplash must first be seen by a physician to rule out serious injury.