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three years ago I was rear ended whilst stationary, spun and forced in to an oncoming vehicle then continued to spin, coming to rest 30 to 40 yards from the original impact site. I had been knocked unconcious and had a head injury to the right side of my head. From that date I had severe balance disturbance, coupled with what my doctor descibes as vaso-vagal syndrome, spasms in my upper back and neck if I try to carry out any physical activity,short term memory problems and an overactive swallowing reflex, with tightening in my throat. The MRI scan did not show any apparent damage, apart from a slight bleed in to the white matter of my brain. Over the three years there has been a very slow recovery but I still get very nauseous and dizzy if I tilt my head up or down for anything more than a few seconds or if I look around whilst walking or if I turn my head to either side too many times. Even movements of my eyes can set off one of my "funny turns". The upshot of this is that I cannot read very much and when I do the book has to be at eye level. I also have problems writing and can only use a computer for about an hour at a time. I have been unable to work since the accident. When I look at this site I see patients complaining of pain only but not such severe balance problems. Is it unusual to have such debilitating symptoms and is it likely to continue to improve? Incidentally, I have had both chiropractic treatment and physiotherapy.

Balance problems are common in whiplash patients. They are usually due to injury of the upper cervical spine. These joints (primarily C2-C3 and less so C1-C2) provide position sense information to the brain. When they are injured they can provide faulty information and this often causes imbalance. The treatment is usually to treat the associated muscles with an IMS technique (see www.istop.org) or facet injections/RF (see www.spinalinjection.com).

This reply does not constitute medical advice