Injuries to the neck following whiplash injury are one of the most common causes of chronic neck pain and disability in the developed world but diagnosis is difficult because there is no 'test' to identify it.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a previously unexamined structure in the neck which might show damage after whiplash. If this structure proves to be a good marker of how severe the injury is it might enable clinicians to better predict the severity of the injury and provide more effective treatment in the future.

We are measuring three groups of people: acute whiplash, chronic whiplash and no whiplash. From the information we collect we will determine whether our MRI measurement can predict which group the person came from. We are also collecting other data to make sure that the MRI measurements are better than existing questionnaires or physical measures.