Ever had lapses in your memory, unexplained daily headaches, blurring or staticed vision, ringing in one ear or both that never goes away, a feeling of pressure in your eyes, head, or ears, difficulty swallowing, difficulty sleeping, general "clumsiness" that throws off your balance to the point of being problematic, or have trouble perceiveing depth despite not having anything wrong with your vision?
Or hearing your own heartbeat in one ear day in and day out, or any odd sounds like water or rumbling?
I have a majority of these problems, If you have any you may have something called Chiari Malformation, A condition which you are born with or develop after a neck/head trauma incident. Sometimes it causes no problems (which is rare) but usually it brings in a host of non-lethal but still dangerous symptoms. (However it CAN damage nerves permanently if not treated...)
How to check for it? Get an MRI and ask them to check, however some doctors seem to think chiari malformation is not a legit problem and just say "That growth is nothing" <_< Pack of lying money grubbing jackals in doctor's coats so to speak. Also if you DO get an MRI, ask for a full spinal one too since usually chiari is paired up with spinal syrinix. A condition which is painful and could be dangerous since it affects the cord directly.
What causes Chiari Malformation? The "Tonsils"(sorry, can't remember the full technical term) of the back of your brain herniate and hang down and crowd the space where your brain and spinal cord meet. Causing increased cranial pressure, and pressure on your nerves which can bring.
How to treat it? Keep it easy, don't do anything that strains your neck, no heavy lifting, get around 9-10 hours of sleep, don't stress yourself out, don't use alcohol, caffiene, or nicotine (which increases pressure in your blood vessels and nerves) don't over exert yourself, and get a pillow that provides good neck support, and a chair with a high backing.
How to "cure" it?(it's technically not a cure, just more treatment, so you will still have to follow the treatment list on the site i'm about to post)
Surgery, they remove a small part of skull to relieve pressure, recovery time for this prodcedure is very very long... Sometimes up to a year. But it's good to get this since it cuts the symptoms by alot and prevents any more nerve damage. Also you can ask them not to cut into the dura of your head because it's unnecessary (If they do you have to get a dura patch, which can leak or get infected, which is dangerous. Usually one made out of your own muscle is best, the "dead cow muscle" solution they provide just doesn't sound that safe...)
And the treatment list/resource sites I mentioned.
http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/bhm-list.htm
http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/chiari.htm
Why am I posting this? Tons of people have this and are misdiagnosed, or told by doctors that there's nothing wrong. Well there IS something wrong, and it's a damn shame that this isn't haveing any medical research at all put into it.
If I can help a few people who have the same problems as me, Then maybe enough people can become dedicated to raiseing chiari malformation awareness or increase funding for it's research.
Thanks for reading. Peace.
Or hearing your own heartbeat in one ear day in and day out, or any odd sounds like water or rumbling?
I have a majority of these problems, If you have any you may have something called Chiari Malformation, A condition which you are born with or develop after a neck/head trauma incident. Sometimes it causes no problems (which is rare) but usually it brings in a host of non-lethal but still dangerous symptoms. (However it CAN damage nerves permanently if not treated...)
How to check for it? Get an MRI and ask them to check, however some doctors seem to think chiari malformation is not a legit problem and just say "That growth is nothing" <_< Pack of lying money grubbing jackals in doctor's coats so to speak. Also if you DO get an MRI, ask for a full spinal one too since usually chiari is paired up with spinal syrinix. A condition which is painful and could be dangerous since it affects the cord directly.
What causes Chiari Malformation? The "Tonsils"(sorry, can't remember the full technical term) of the back of your brain herniate and hang down and crowd the space where your brain and spinal cord meet. Causing increased cranial pressure, and pressure on your nerves which can bring.
How to treat it? Keep it easy, don't do anything that strains your neck, no heavy lifting, get around 9-10 hours of sleep, don't stress yourself out, don't use alcohol, caffiene, or nicotine (which increases pressure in your blood vessels and nerves) don't over exert yourself, and get a pillow that provides good neck support, and a chair with a high backing.
How to "cure" it?(it's technically not a cure, just more treatment, so you will still have to follow the treatment list on the site i'm about to post)
Surgery, they remove a small part of skull to relieve pressure, recovery time for this prodcedure is very very long... Sometimes up to a year. But it's good to get this since it cuts the symptoms by alot and prevents any more nerve damage. Also you can ask them not to cut into the dura of your head because it's unnecessary (If they do you have to get a dura patch, which can leak or get infected, which is dangerous. Usually one made out of your own muscle is best, the "dead cow muscle" solution they provide just doesn't sound that safe...)
And the treatment list/resource sites I mentioned.
http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/bhm-list.htm
http://www.pressenter.com/~wacma/
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/chiari.htm
Why am I posting this? Tons of people have this and are misdiagnosed, or told by doctors that there's nothing wrong. Well there IS something wrong, and it's a damn shame that this isn't haveing any medical research at all put into it.
If I can help a few people who have the same problems as me, Then maybe enough people can become dedicated to raiseing chiari malformation awareness or increase funding for it's research.
Thanks for reading. Peace.
But mostly for me so far it's been a push in the right direction (doing things to improve health, getting more sleep) And I may get the surgery sometime this year.
