Just one quick question that not only I but others would love to know: "can chiari come back?"
I am going to say yes! Even after decompression surgery you can still experience symptoms. You can also have reoccuring herniations.
I've read of people who had accidents or injuries to their neck after surgery and the tonsils slipped back down and they needed to have surgery again. I have scar tissue build up that has blocked my CSF flow and I need a revision surgery. My patch is also loose and is collecting fluid like a sink and it needs to be fixed.
is there anything that causes it to come back? or does it just come back on its own?
It depends on why it's happening. Every person with chiari is different. That means that fixing each patient is different. So if surgery wasn't done correctly or specific enough to that patient's unique anatomy then it can certainly come back because the actual CAUSE of chiari wasn't fixed. Research is still being done right now in a big way and there are a lot of great neurosurgeons that only focus on Chiari Malformation but unfortunately there are also a lot of neurosurgeons who are messing people up. In that case, yes, everything can come right back and surgery must be redone. Another thing I have noticed about this case is that these patients continue to go back to the same neurosurgeon time and time again. It's very sad. There are so many factors to consider when coming up with a surgical plan for each patient... posterior fossa decompression isn't the only answer for everybody, especially when, in some cases, it's not even done correctly.