The first time that I remember going to a Doctor was at age 17 for Pressure in the head..Of course it was dismissed as everything from Muscles to mental illness and everything in between..So I have lived with this my whole life. I would have episodes of what felt like a pop in the back of the neck and then the pressure would ease off a bit, The first time this happened I was 18 and driving I thought I was shot in the back of the head and was bleeding out.{its that dramatic} Of course go to ER cat scan they say Normal and here take this, So I learned to just talk myself threw these, I did go to Doctors ,To many to count and always send on my way with meds and no hope of feeling better. So I just lived with this, :( Up until 2008 when I was in a accident and my symptoms just went down hill, It is hard to walk ,Extreme ringing now in the ears ,Mental Fog ,Sever memory loss,of course the pressure is there but it is not releasing like it did, I get tingling down my arms ,face,difficulty swallowing at times, Nausea,Fatigue Do not sleep well Neck pain more so on the right side,headaches in the tempal areas almost like a band,light flashes when coughing ,a million floaters in my eyes,blurry vision at times,It is hard to type or read or talk I just forget words or what i am trying to say and have to reread a million times , Ugg!!! Of course the pressure in head is WORSE when bending over of coughing etc.. the last 4 years they put me on more medication then anyone should be in a life time.. Well 2 years ago I flushed them all.. I need answers!! I had a Mri in 08 was told it was normal. :{ I never say the results just trusted the Nuero Dr} Well I pulled those records last year in April when I lost my insurance And I say Low lying tonsils not enough evidence for Chiari 1 Malformation..Hmm so i look this condition up online and WOW Do I have the symptoms So MAYBE this is what has been torturing me my whole life? So after seeing over 1 dozen Doctors since then I get the diagnosis of Chiari BUT he says my herniation is only 3mm SO not sure what is going to happen at this point. I am so tired of being sick { as I am sure we all are} But I have 3 kids that need me a my Mother,And Hubby So I WILL fight to the end!! stanford wanted to do a LP instead of the Cine Mri I have a BAD back. they tried 14 times On Wednesday to get the needle in Before they said we will need a xray while doing this..So here I wait..I am a little worried about the LP I have read horror
You should take your MRI to a neurosurgeon. It’s not the size of herniation its how tight everything is in there. And you are very “symptomatic”. My herniation was close to 20mm in the end and I was very symptomatic. I met a friend who was only 6mm herniated but had a fluid filled sack in her brain. She had the same surgery the same day. I guess my point is “6mm” in comparison to “20mm” is major however we were both candidates for the same surgery. Fingers crossed you get help 
LP+ Lumbar puncture
smozer said:
I'm not sure if a LP is the same thing as a myelogram, but i had a myelo last month and it wasn't too bad. I am not able to have an MRI so the myelogram with a CT is my only option.
I felt pressure on my spine when the dye was injected, but no pain. When they tilted the table to get the dye to flow to my brain,that was painful. Intense pressure in my head but only for a few minutes. As soon as the table was tilted up all the pain went away. I was told that I might have some lingering pain the next day but I did not have any.
Good luck, I hope everything works out for you!
I have a LARGE tumor of some sort on L12 area I did not have this in 2010 but my 2012 MRI showed .I have to talk with a Surgeon about this As not sure how bad or what it is. I just read this on the Rad report I also have a really bad scoliosis It has gotten worse pretty quickly ,Also DDD spondylodesis,My Neck I have a lot going on My spinal cord is being flattened I believe they said it is 7mm Supose to be 19mm .I am just a mess My lower back is bad as well, My Mid back not so much but this is where I have a area that get tingling and pressure at times?
Emmaline said:
My friend's herniation was only 3mm and she had severe symptoms prior to surgery. Size does not matter with Chiari, and if any doctor says that yours is too small, move on...they don't know enough about Chiari. See a different NS.
If the radiologist is familiar with Chiari your LP should not be a problem, but if they are not, I'd question it. The procedure itself isn't bad...