Sudden jerking of the head back and forth causes whiplash injuries. Whiplash is a neck sprain in which the ligaments that link the vertebrae together 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 comes with headache, numbness, tingling, or weakness.
Neck pain is usually the result of soft tissue problems.
Besides injury, this may be due to overuse of the muscles, ligaments or nerves. Other sources of pain are infection and tumors. Arthritis can cause neck pain. Osteoarthritis is a type of joint degeneration caused by wear and tear of the neck joints. Disc disease results from narrowing of the space between the vertebrae as the soft cushion between the disc breaks down and the bony surfaces rub together.