Multiple syrinxs

Hi guys 2nd time lucky first post I pressed. Wrong button and it posted Lol.as I was saying I was in a car accident in April last year and the pain in my back was instant from that day so I had MRI s done not so long ago and it turns out I have multiple syrinxs on my spine iv had no mRI done on my brain yet .im going to see a neurosurgeon  on dec 5 next . So I'm just wondering what to expect from him .and the headaches I'm getting are really bad on painkillers for it but it doesnt help I was wondering is it from the syrinxs .i also have a numbness and a tingling on the left side of my face ? Is there any hope if it going away as my back really affects my daily life .As I have 7 young kids I'm praying and hoping that is goes away :(:( thanks for yere replies in advance ...

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Spinal Cord C/D forum.

There r a few ways u can develop a syrinx...it can be from a trauma such as a MVA, but the impact and injury would have been to ur back area where the syrinx is....

The other is it can happen as a result of a CSF obstruction....this can happen when the cerebral tonsils herniate and block the flow, a syrinx forms, as it grows it puts pressure on nerves causing numbness and pain in diff areas depending on where the syrinx is located.

The condition of having a syrinx is called syringomyelia....it often goes hand in hand with Chiari Malformation which is the malformation of the skull which forces the cerebral tonsils to herniate....

A CINE MRI is usually done to look for a obstruction, but when u have a syrinx, let alone a few, it is a good enuff indication u have an obstruction or that one is a possibility.

Ur Dr may choose to do it to see where the main obstruction is, or what other issues may be going on.

  Do u know if u have a cervical spine MRI? just wondering if u may have had whip lash and loss of cervical lordosis?

  Until u have more testing ...the brain MRI it is hard to say what to expect....as it could be nething at this point.

If u only have the syrinx's and no chiari it will depend on the size of the syrinx as most times they r too small to use a shunt or stent to evacuate the fluid from them.....

  Just make sure the NS u go to has  a lot of experience with syringomyelia other wise u may feel blown off....do not stress if this happens...pop over to the Chiari forum, we have a list of Drs that u can use to research Drs...it is not a referral, but a means to help u get started.

[Buttonsmurphy]

hi selmaS rthanks for your reply:):). Yes iv had a lumbar and a cervical and a thoracic mri done recently. the lumbar one showed a syrinx on the 12th dorsal vertebra and the cervical thoracic results aswell was '' There is early disc degeneration at the  T2/T3 level and there is a further moderate disc degeneration identified from the T8-T10 levels. there is a mild disc bulging at the T8-T9. levels but  without  significant neural or foraminal compromise.Early  vertebral endplate degenerative changes are also noted at the T8-T9   T9-T10 And  T10-T11  levels.There is syrinx identified at multiple levels from  the  T5-T12  levels.there is a maximum at the level T7-T8  where the syrinx measures 2.5 X 3 mm in maximum AP and transverse dimension.  I note patients lack of neurological  symptoms and the significance of this is therefore uncertain  so specialist referral is recommended..... this is the results of the 3 MRI . so im waiting to be seen on the 5 th december .  Can you make any sense of this . i would be gratefull if you could . thanks Noreen

[selmaS]

  Hi....A MVA can be at the root of all of this,  a syrinx forms when the CSF flow is obstructed....I do not know if ur disks r bulging to the point of that or if ur syrinx formed bcuz there was an impact to ur neck at those locations....

  Did u have whip lash too? what treatment have they given u so far?

  It is possible that u have Chiari, but it was not seen or reported on ur cervical spine MRI.....

  That would explain ur HA's...not all with chiari have HA's until a MVA , fall or other issue triggers the symptoms to flare....

  Many with Chiari do have early onset of degenerative disk  disease, and many have Ehlers-Danlos which is a connective tissue disorder that also can cause HA's  ....so there is more testing that may help offer the answers u need.

  I would get copies of the MRI's and see if another Dr's opinion may offer other insights....it is possible to see Chiari and the syrinx's on the MRI....but u need a Dr to tell u if u have ne of the related conditions...

  Look to family history too....ask what types of symptoms other members have had and then  u may see things connect it all together for u.

  Like with EDS...many r hyper mobile, bruise easy, and r slow to heal.....
being hypermobile or having EDS, our connective tissues do not hold us together like they should so, when in an accident we r more likely to have disks shift out of place as the connective tissues do not hold them as they should, we end up with joint and muscle pain. The muscle pain is due from our muscles working overtime to try and hold us together....

I hope this helps u Noreen.....this is what is going on with me, and is the only sense I can make of what u have going on,....

[Buttonsmurphy]

hi yes i do have whip lash in my neck aswell  that was instant more than my back . i have only started med for the pain as i was 16 weeks pregant when it happened so i could have no painkiller just panadol . it was a rough   7 months i tell ya............ i am on difene caps  and solpa caplets but the solpa make me very drowsey ans sleepy so i dont take it too often .just solpadine is good aswell .but i think none of them works as the pain seems to be there all the time  even when i try to sleep.

[selmaS]

  PT helps the best for whip lash but with everything else u have going on, I would suggest finding a Dr that knows all this and can really help u....

With things like EDS sleeping is very painful.....so I do understand how u feel....I am not familiar with the meds u r taking..being from a Diff country the meds r a bit diff that what we have here....

I also do not know if with ur medical system in place u can research Drs on ur own,...I have a friend in Ireland...down in Cork with syringomyelia too.... u may want to pop over to the Chiari forum to chat with him....I am not sure how far apart u r over there, but he is well informed on syrinx's and Drs in Ireland.