Although neck pain is the most common symptom from whiplash accidents, pinched nerve symptoms are also common.

When we are involved in a whiplash accident, our heads are usually thrown forward and backward or side to side. This movement of our heads forces our necks into extreme positions of flexion and extension leading to other types of injury.

The vertebra in our necks and the rest of our spines are designed to allow the nerves to pass from the spinal cord out through openings between the vertebra where they then continue to course through the body to the muscles or other structures that they provide nerve impulses to. The size of the openings that allow passage of the nerves closes down with certain movements. When we tilt our heads backward, the nerve openings between the vertebra become smaller. Whiplash accidents forcefully close these openings which can lead to pinched nerves.

Pinched nerves from whiplash can cause neck pain and pain that travels along the nerve that has been pinched. Sometimes this pain travels upward toward the head and sometimes the pain travels downward into the arm or upper back.  Pinched nerves can give us unrelenting deep, achy or sometimes shooting pain that goes all the way down to our finger tips.

Chiropractic care is one of the most effective treatments for neck pain and pinched nerves that result from a whiplash accident. Like any type of treatment, however, the most success with care will come with getting care as soon as possible and following the recommended treatment plan.