Neck injuries can be serious and can affect your ability to walk, stand normally, and move with ease. This is because neck injuries may result in damage to the spinal cord, which connects your brain to the rest of your body.
Accidents are major causes of neck injury. Sudden jerking of the head back and forth causes whiplash injuries. Whiplash is a neck sprain in which the ligaments that connect the spine are stretched or torn. Pain and stiffness may take a few hours or days to develop after an injury. Sometimes the neck area hurts even though there has been no visible injury. Medical care is needed if pain is constant, severe, or occurs with headache, numbness, tingling, or weakness.