Did you ever question....

[Guest guest]

whether the experts are truly right about some of the more

controversial things? I have only been seen by local neurosurgeons

who are very well-regarded, but not chiari experts. My report says

that I do not have a herniation, but I do have reduced flow in a few

areas. My NS, who does operate on chiari and was the one who

originally wanted to look for it, says I do not have it and my flow

is just a variation of normal. Thankfully, my symptoms do seem to be

getting better with PT (I have a herniated cervical disk and

myofascial pain).

I do think that I will go to one of the experts to get a more in-

depth answer about my flow issues, but in a way I'm scared. I know

that the majority of neurosurgeons in this country would say it is

not chiari, as most do not believe in chiari 0. I also know that a

lot of faith goes into the experts and that they are blessedly able

to help many people.

Part of me believes that the top 10, who operate on chiari all the

time, have the best understanding of this. At the same time, I

sometimes find myself skeptical because the vast majority of

neurosurgeons in the country disagree with them. Are the experts

more aggressive because they're paving the way in research for this

disease? Obviously, anytime you are a pioneer in something you may

have some theories that do or don't pan out long term. Or, is it

possible that all of these neurosurgeons are just undereducated in

this area?

I'm not trying to be controversial at all. This is just something

I'm trying to work out in my mind, and I wonder how others view this

issue.

[Guest guest]

my responses are below

--- mayz176 wrote:

> Mayz176 asked: Are the experts more aggressive

> because they're paving the way in research for this

> disease?

My two cents: I think it depends on what you mean by

aggressive. The majority of them are not " knife happy "

and do not rush anyone into a surgical decision. In

fact, the Chiari specialist I went to is well known

for trying alternate meds first and not rushing into

surgery. However, becuase they specialize, and know

the field, they do get a lot of cases that go to

surgery and they get the worst of the worst, too.

But, I would not call it aggressive.

One thing about a Chiari specialist is that you know

that they know. The tests I had done there, and the

results were not theories, they were viewable facts on

scans that matched where and how I hurt. And the

doctors knew the correlations to my symptoms, and what

was not being caused by it.

My neurologist said he had never seen such meticulous

and thorough understanding of test results. That made

me feel even better about going to a Chiari

specialist.

> Mayz176 asked: Or, is it possible that all of these

> neurosurgeons are just undereducated in this area?

My two cents: This is actually true, and is the case

with not just Chiari but other seemingly rare

conditions. They know a little, not a lot. They are

not dumb people, its just a lack of details and deep

experience in the area.

Hanna

decompressed 2002

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