just got results!...please anyone with knowledge read this
 

Hi everyone,

While Im not new to this site, I new to Chiari... Im not even sure if I have it!... Here is my story...

I was in a car accident... oct 2011

I had an epidural steroid injection in c56- and c67....although it went horribly wrong! Right when the needle was inserted I had electrifying pain radiating everywhere! I was so bad, I was crying, sobbing, just awful...

Day later I lost the complete function of my right hand and arm...My neck pain was way wrose and I had a slight head ache...

A few weeks later, My arm came back to life, the headache went away on its own... I have headaches pretty often, at one point they were so unbearable for months I was in and out of the hospital for them this was before the accident...they have subsided since then, I get them occasionally at this point....

My neck pain is still worse, I also have bad pain in my lower back...Alot of shoooting pain, numbness in 2 toes on my left foot, tingling and sometimes numbness in fingers on my right hand, the feeling of a bug crawling down my legs and a few other symptoms...

Just had another mri done, in the report it stated I have a cerebellar tonsillar ectopia... Im not sure if this means I have Chiari... I have the scan and have used the measuring tool and it seems to be 9mm herniated....

Can anyone tell me if this is the cause of my pain? or my symptoms? and is there any way this brain herniation was a cause of either the accident or the injection? Ive been worse since the injection... Or is there a way to tell if I was born with this herniation or if it was from either of the traumas? Also where should I go from here?

I see a pain dr... He doesnt seem to be helping.... He is proving some pain relief with meds, but thas it...

Also a few days ago I was holding my vaccuum above my head with my left arm so I could vaccuum the window sill with the attachment in my right hand, and all of a sudden my left arm muscle stopped working and the weight of the vaccuum pullled my arm down very quickly and wound up dislocating my shoulder..... is this bc of my condition?

Also in my mri I have slight encroachment at every level from c23 down to c56... and a disc protruding at c45 the contacts the cord, a disc protruding at c56 that contacts and flattens the cord and a small disc bulge at c67....

Any info, advice, or whatever is greatly appreciated!!!

you need a neurosurgeon that is experienced in Chiari. I doubt the injection had any effect on creating the Chiari, the accident may have aggrevated it, but it was probably present before. That doesnt mean the causer of the accident is off scott free though. As i mentioned in the other thread, you need flow studies done to see if the CSF flow is being hampered.
Good luck.

can a regular mri tell if csf flow is not normal? thanks again...oh and is the cerebellar tonsillar ectopia always chiari? thanks

no, you need a special study to determine flow.
I think the ectopia has to reach a certain size before it would qualify, but that is me guessing, lol.

Who scheduled the MRI?

If it wasn't a neurologist/neurosurgeon I'd make an appointment with one of them.

I'm not sure about what qualifies Chiari or not, but I know my cellebelar tonsils were 5 mm herniated. A neurologist or surgeon can give you a lot more answers than a pain doc.

Good luck!

Chiari
 

Go to the web site for the Chiari care center in Colorado. They have a lot of good information.

maybe
 

I was 15 mm herniated. It could be chiari. I have it but i think you are born with chiari. Sometimes the signs and symptoms dont show until later in life. I didnt know i had it until i was 15. But you need to see neurologist to find out because if it is chiari it can progress fast