YEAH IT DOES HELP SOME WHAT TO LAY DOWN BUT IT DOESN'T ALWAYS TAKE THE PAIN OR HEADACHES AWAY. I KNOW WHEN I WENT THROUGH PHYSICAL THERAPY AND THEY DID TRACTION ON MY NECK NOW THAT WAS AWESOME. THE TRACTION TOTALLY RELIEVED THE HEADACHE. I WENT IN ABOUT 2 WEEKS AGO AND HAD A CT SCAN DONE AND THEY SAID IT COME BACK NORMAL. SO THEN THEY DECIDED TO DO MORE X-RAYS AND THEY CALLED ME SAYING THE RESULTS SHOWED SEVERE STRAIGHTENING OF THE SPINE. FOR WHICH IS COMPLETELY THROWING ME WAY OFF BECAUSE I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING WHY THIS WASN'T FOUND LONG AGO. REASON BEING IS I HAD X-RAYS BEFORE THE SURGERY I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES AND SEVERAL AFTER THE SURGERY AS WELL. SO NOW THEY WANT TO SET UP AN APP WITH A EAR,NOSE & THROAT DR. AND NOW I'M EVEN MORE LOST. WHAT DOES THAT KIND OF DR HAVE TO DO WITH THE SPINE? I'M CLUELESS. I FEEL LIKE A GUINEA PIG TOSSED FROM 1 DR TO ANOTHER
Usually the for a csf leak they start by doing a lumbar puncture to test your pressure. That is if your symptoms fit. Do you feel better when you lie down or have caffiene? There is another test called a CT myelogram that they sometimes do where they inject your spine with a special nuclear dye and then take pictures over a course of three days to see if the dye shows up in places where it should not.
I think CT's are not an issue with metallic objects, but not 100% sure.
Horselip
IS THERE ANY WAY TO TELL IF THERE IS A SPINAL LEAKAGE? AS FOR ANY OTHER TEST THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING OTHER THAN X-RAYS. I WAS TOLD AFTER I HAD THE SURGERY THAT I COULDN'T HAVE AN MRI DONE ANYMORE DO TO THE METAL DEVICE THEY PUT IN MY NECK. I'M TOTALLY LOST NOT SURE WHERE TO TURN OR EVEN WHAT TO DO ANYMORE. ITS CAUSE EXTREME PROBLEMS AT HOME; I'VE LOST MY JOB OVER THIS BECAUSE THE DR PUT ME ON PERMANENT RESTRICTIONS. MY LIFE IS COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN
Two things that can think of aside from nerve damage are:
1. Could you have a Cerebral spinal fluid leak, and are you getting spinal headaches? Is the sinus drainage csf fluid? I've had several leaks and now have an intermittent one. My headaches tend to improve when I lie flat.
2. Chiari Malfornation- simplistically the back part of your brain is trying to mash itself down into your spinal canal....maybe a result of that surgery that you had, things got moved around?
You could ask your neurologist to rules those two things out. If you hit a wall, or feel like a fresh set of eyes are needed you might look to finding a new NL?
Hope this helps-
Horselip