I know it hurts, but the one time I had it, it went away within a week.  Didn't see a doctor.

Took my wife almost six weeks to get over it %100.

Whiplash is very, very real.

My car was totalled in a 5 car pile-up July 11th last year.

I was fine that day.

The next 2 days I couldn't even move my neck it was so bad.

I didn't get checked out, I had too much other stuff going on.

You never know what will turn up in the future.  Just don't sign off on the accident for nothing, you may have problems down the road.

Doing it over, I'd probably hit the doctors.  Good chance you'll get screwed anyway, but .......

You probably don't need to go to a doctor unless it gets worse.  If you can deal with it with no pain medication or with just OTC drugs like ibuprophen or naprosyn, and within a couple of weeks you feel mostly like your old self, you are probably OK in the long run.

Whiplash injuries are very real.  A bad one can result in a self-perpetuating cycle of muscle spasms that hamper your mobility and leave you in chronic pain.  If you don't get better soon, please do see a medical doctor or a chiropractor or a massage therapist, whatever you prefer.

I had a really bad one treated successfully by a chiropractor many years ago.  It took several months to get back to normal, and over the years it comes back to haunt me now and then.  Sometimes I have to see someone.  Usually I end up taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory called etodolac or Lodine.

I was involved in a rear end collision in 1993.  That day there was very real pain in my lower back and my knee (which hit the steering wheel). It was 2 days later when I really started feeling the pain in my neck and numbness and "electric shock" type pain that radiated to other parts of my body.

The real indicator of serious nerve or spinal cord damage is numbness in any part of the body or "electric shock" type of pain. If numbness or "electric shock" pain radiates from your neck or back to other parts of your body, watch out.

I ended up having a discotomy (sp.) where the disk between c5 and c6 (cervical vertebra #5 & #6) was removed and bone tissue from my pelvis was inserted. Essentially a bone graft. These 2 vertebra are essentially one bone now, there is no flexibility there anymore. The disk was to damaged to repair and disk tissue does not heal itself. It can be manipulated to reduce swelling/herniation, but it does not repair itself like other tissue can.

I would consult your doctor if you have medical insurance, if you do not you might want to contact his insurance company and ask them about being checked out. You should get checked out regardless, better safe than sorry.

Meanwhile, plenty of rest, LOT'S of water, an Ibuprofin type pain reliever (something that's an anti-inflammitory type drug)if necessary.

Good luck.

You probably have an occipital headache.  The occipital nerves run up the back of the neck and fan out over the scalp.  The muscles in your neck are sprained/strained; they irritate the occipital nerves in your neck and you perceive it as headaches.  Typically, these headaches do not respond very well to medication.  They do respond well to gentle mobilization and strengthening in physical therapy.

Definitely get checked out without more delay, even if it is just to go by a walk-in clinic.  If there is nothing wrong, fine.  If your symptoms persist, at least you documented the fact of your injury. If there is substantial (more than a day or two) delay between the date of the collision and the first visit to a doctor, it becomes difficult to establish that the collision caused the symptoms.  The insurance company just argues that you would have seen a doctor if you were hurt.  Unfortunately, juries sometimes find this argument to be convincing.