Can whiplash cause migraines?

Hi there ,
Thanks so much for your question. While we cannot provide you with medical advice and as you wait for possible feedback from the community regarding their experiences, I thought you might appreciate an article by one of our contributor's that shares her experience with whiplash and migraine. You may especially find the member comments at the conclusion of the article especially helpful to review. - https://migraine.com/blog/hit-by-a-speeding-car/.

I am so sorry that you are experiencing this! 🙁 I would encourage you (if you have not already) to speak to your doctor.
Wishing you all the best and I sure hope that you begin to experience relief soon. -Joanna (Migraine.com Team)

Nothing confirmed, but I'm sure it could. The pain could travel upward

Whiplash caused my migraines to become a lot worse because mine are most likely caused by very weak neck ligaments. You may have a slight concussion which causes a lot of similar symptoms (even the pain was similar to migraine - very deep and throbbing but felt a touch different,

I would talk to your doctor about maybe doing some imaging to see if there was any slight damage causing the pain. If it was due to a car accident you should be able to get physio appointment for free through your insurance. I had 21 appointments to try and improve the neck and it helped massively. Therapeutic massage could be helpful too - just ensue you use someone who is familiar with neck injuries - don't want to make it worse.

Hope you feel better!

I am not in the medical field and of course no one can provide medical advice but your doctor.

In my personal experience, I had whiplash after a car accident, and then my headaches went from episodic to daily chronic migraine. No doctor was interested in discussing the accident because I didn't technically hit my head on anything. They got progressively worse for years and no one could figure out why until three years later, when I asked for a lumbar puncture, and it was discovered I had a CSF leak. Whiplash can cause a CSF leak, so if you've had everything else checked out, and nothing else is turning up, a lumbar puncture might be a test you could discuss with your doctor to determine if your CSF pressure is normal or too low.