I have had head aches for the majority of my life( ever since I was 9 and was involved in a very intense car accident. I am currently 25). I have been in and out of doctors offices for multiple symptoms: Panic attacks, migraines, chest pains, depression, etc. I have been bounced between doctor to doctor and everyone just seems to want to hand me medications so I'll leave. I went to get a neck MRI due to servear migraines and the spine specialist detected I have 4 degernerative discs in my neck :c3,c4,c5, and c6. However, she also noted that my tonsils hang down low and said she believed me to have Chiari Malformation 1. After doing research almost all of my symptoms that I have been experiencing match Chiari Malformation 1. However, I met with a Neurosurgeon this afternoon and he did not see a large enough malformation but noted I have almost all of the same symptoms. With that being said as he was doing the nerve tests he noticed something off(He is ordering a full brain MRI). My question is what is the difference between a neck MRI and a brain MRI when it comes to detecting Chiari Malformation? Is there a possibility that maybe he didn't see the malformation pronounced enough on the Neck MRI that he might see it more pronounced on the Brain MRI? Or should I possibly get a second opinion on my neck MRI to see if another Neurosurgeon sees the malformation? I am frustrated because the spine specialist saw it and how the neurosurgeon doesn't.
Hello when they finally found mine they ordered another to look at my spinal fluid. As you have probably read there are a lot of symptoms of chiari and a lot of other medical problems that can be associated with chiari. I was diagnosed in 06 and did get a second opinion because there was little to no knowledge about this disorder. Thankfully there is more research being done now but there always finding new issues as there are more people that have had decompression surgery. When i had mine i was told my chiari was cured …not. I still get headaches but no were near as bad as before surgery. I was numb on my left side and would have unimaginable pain before and now I sometime lose feeling in my left side but the pain is gone. The memory issues are harder to deal with but you deal with it because what else are you going to do. : ). Best advise is it sounds like you might be just starting your chiai journey and its never a bad thing to do your research and find a Surgeon in your area that has had other chiai patients. The first Dr gave me a piece of paper with the spelling of my disorder and told me to look it up on the Internet. I got more information that way because he had no clue ( hence second opinion ) lol.
The neurosurgeon did see it but dismissed it as insignificant. Sounds like it may be time to move one to the next medical professional. Good luck