Had the surgery one week ago today. Got released from the hospital after 4 days. Amazingly, many of my chiari symptoms are gone (headaches, arm numbness, dizziness), but the post-operative neck pain is brutal!! Wearing a neck brace and taking muscle relaxers which help somewhat, but Im still in pain. For those who know, how long should I expect the neck pain to last?
The worst of it for me, was about 2 weeks. After that, I still had pain and still do, but it gets better everyday. Take it easy!!! Listen to your body, rest and don't do too much. It just seems to aggravate the symptoms. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. When did you have your surgery?
nicolee said:
The worst of it for me, was about 2 weeks. After that, I still had pain and still do, but it gets better everyday. Take it easy!!! Listen to your body, rest and don’t do too much. It just seems to aggravate the symptoms. Good luck!
Will do. Thank you!
Abby said:
WONDERFUL, but please take it easy. I am so thankful you are one of the ones seeing results. Please keep us posted.
I had my surgery on December 2nd. I don't want to scare you, but I want to be honest. After my surgery, I felt so good. It seemed as though all of my pre op symptoms went away. I was so thrilled and excited. After a few weeks and the wearing off of pain meds etc, all but the pre-op headaches came back. I now have headaches, but they aren't as bad as the pre op-ones. Remember, Decompression surgery is to prevent symptoms from getting worse. It is not a cure. For some, it has worked very well and they are symptom free after surgery. I was so sure that I was "cured," that when the symptoms slowly came back, I slipped into a depression. Keep an eye out for depression either way. I was told that the stress of Chiari alone can send you into one. I hope I haven't upset you and do not want to be a downer, but I just didn't listen to my doctors and it made things more difficult in the end because it took so much longer for me to accept. Good luck and keep us posted. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help.
I will say that over time, some things are improving slowly. Different people heal at different rates. It takes a very long time to recover from this surgery. My NS said I'd be back on my feet 6-10 weeks later. Lol, I am on my feet, but not near well enough to go back to work.
dduncanpsyd said:
Thanks for your reply. When did you have your surgery?
nicolee said:The worst of it for me, was about 2 weeks. After that, I still had pain and still do, but it gets better everyday. Take it easy!!! Listen to your body, rest and don't do too much. It just seems to aggravate the symptoms. Good luck!