Head instability and back neck pain

I had a whiplash kind of incident when I fell down about two years ago while skiing. Ever since my head seems to be instable and when I stand, it veers to the left, right front and back (very tiny movements). If I look through a peep hole in a door I can see my head not letting me see an object as it moves in all directions. Of late (since six months or so) I have pain in the back of the neck as well. Have taken MRI/MRA, went to three Chiropractors, two PTs but no one can find out what the issue is. I did some reading in the internet and found that neck extensors and flexors, if weak, can result in this condition. Is this true? Any helpwould be appreciated.

Hi - can you try a simple test for me?

1. Lie on your back with your head comfortably supported.
2. Use your right hand and feel the neck bones from the LEFT side of your neck (you will reach across with your RIGHT hand to do this...) - make sure the pads of your fingers can all touch a bony part of your neck (the lateral mass for the PTs out there...)
3. Lift up your LEFT arm straight up to the ceiling.
4. Now take the LEFT arm out to the side until is is level with your body
5. During this motion (in step 4), feel using your RIGHT hand/fingers whether your neck bones go towards the left (and into the fingers) or stay still.

If the neck bones 'drag' across to the left, you will almost definitely have a stability issue - see a physical therapist who has "Motor Control" experience in treating the neck...

The authors you might want to look up on "Pubmed" are Gwendolen Jull from the University of Queensland. She runs a whiplash research centre there and does a lot of research in this area. You should be able to get 'abstracts' from Pubmed which you can then go to the university library which has a medical section and look up the full text articles - if you can't, find a university student who has internet access!!

Good luck!

Hi... Thanks for the reply. I did this but I feel no movement to my left i.e. to my fingers.

OK - thanks for trying. With respect, i have seen physical therapists who can't feel it so it kinda needs to be something that is taught to you to feel.

Having said that, you may actually have a vestibular problem leading to smal movements of the head to try keep your balance.???

Let us know how you get on...