The head, with a weight of up to 14 lbs., rests on the neck that is comprised of 7 cervical vertebrae that are attached to each other by 32 joints, and held together by muscles, ligaments and tendons. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the head would snap backward and through the law of physics, would snap forward at an even greater speed. Strenuous body contact sports, such as football, hockey, wrestling and soccer to name a few can cause this type of injury. A sudden fall forward or backward where the individual tries to counteract the fall, may also be a causative factor. The injury that occurs after such an injury can be mild to moderate or indeed very severe, causing symptoms that can also be varied, such as mild to severe.
Injuries can be as severe as a fracture to a cervical vertebra or a joint.
The muscles, ligaments and tendons are extremely vulnerable. When a bone is fractured it will heal with bone, but muscles, when healing, will form scar tissue that can be a cause of pain in the future. Injury to the bones and joints almost always results in the formation of osteoarthritis. Stiff neck with pain moderate to severe with loss of movement. Muscle spasms that may be moderate to severe that can be constant or intermittent.