My son is 14 and was diagnosed with chiari malformation type 1. Also syrinoglomeia (I know it’s probably spelled wrong). He was diagnosed after he hit his head at basketball practice in October. My issue is the doctors want to have surgery, but my son does not have any symptoms. He does have slight scoliosis which they say is from the chiari. Really confused about having surgery when they’re no symptoms. Could the surgery cause symptoms?
Most doctors do recommend surgery if there is syrinx because the risk of future problems (some severe like paralysis) is higher. Have you sought a second opinion? Since you are uncertain I would try to see a couple of specialists and get their opinions before deciding.
Waiting till I get the MIR results. I would prefer any alternative methods. Read about osteopathic being successful. Just reluctant for him to have surgery for something that he’s not experiencing symptoms for now and may or may not ever experience symptoms according to the doctor. Thank you for your reply.
I would proceed cautiously and get the opinion of chiari specialist. Perhaps they can recommend an osteopath with knowledge of chiari and syrinx. A lot of manipulations can make things worse!