I was diagnosed with Chiari type 1 with 1.5 cm herniation almost 4 years back. Back then I was suffering from terrible lower back pain and pain in both my hands and feet. Since things were manageable I didn’t meet a specialist for any further treatment. Of late my head, neck and vision have gotten affected to a point that I find it difficult to read, type, drive and do any mild exercise without being in extreme pain. I finally met a neurosurgeon who unfortunately wasn’t of much help. He felt that the classic Chiari headaches are very different from what I am going through. This brings me to my strange head symptoms. The past month I have been literally waking up with a stiff neck and a foggy head. My headaches aren’t searing migraines like pain but rather an extremely heavy head. When I get these headaches it comes along with neck pain , unsteady gait and double vision. My face looks funny too since my eyes are half closed. There are days when a part of my head physically hurts when I touch it. Leaning my head against a chair etc becomes painful. My neurosurgeon wasn’t convinced that these are Chiari symptoms as he asked me to wait and see if it goes away on its own.I don’t think they would as I have had these fogginess for a while now and now it has gotten regular and intense. Does anyone have similar head and neck issues? And how do you manage these? What helps and what makes it better?
I think these could very well be chiari headaches. Most people report those headaches to be in the back of the head and neck. Try placing ice packs on the back of the head for relief. Also many of us find Arnica gel to be useful if rubbed on the back of the neck.
My headaches were more like sinus headaches...behind the eyes and lots of pressure. Though they weren't "typical" chiari headaches they were relieved with decompression surgery so they must have been related.
Thanks Anglyn,good to hear that you found relief after surgery. I do feel my headaches are related to Chiari but it's hard to diagnose since they aren't the typical headaches. I'll try the arnica gel next time , thanks for your advice.