Whiplash injury is a soft tissue injury to the neck, or a neck strain/sprain. The neck is made up by the cervical spine, the first seven vertebrae of the back. Areas of the vertebrae commonly affected are the intervertebral joints (the joints between each vertebrae), the intervertebral discs (the soft material that cushions one vertebrae from another), and the ligaments, muscles and nerve roots that hold the vertebrae together.