shoulder pain

[tina6930]

I have been diagnosed with a mild chiari with syrinx.  Still trying to figure out if I will have decompression surgery.  I have head, neck, shoulder and back pain.  This is going on for 3 years.  I had a cervical laminectomy in April of 2012.  It helped for a couple of months, then pain started slowly coming back.  My shoulder hurts alot, especially in the joint.  I had an mri done on my shoulder and there were no signs of anything wrong, leading my neuro to believe that the pain was because of the chiari.  I research chiari alot online and see that shoulder pain is a common symptom.  I'm just curious to know if everybody's shoulder pain if similar.  I know that's a stupid question, but my main concern about surgery is that it will not fix the pain in my shoulder, because it may be something else entirely.  I just wish I could compare shoulder pain with other chiari patients to see if its the same.

[tina6930]

Thank you so much for your response!!

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

First, let me say I really hate when a Dr gives Chiari a term like mild, and do not look further as to how it is affecting u, I am sure the pain u feel is not mild....so pet peeve of mine.

Next, u r right u can not compare, even with those that do have shoulder pain and had surgery , of those some have had  relief of pain and others had an increase....as u r right many with Chiari do have other conditions related to Chiari and we do encourage u to have those ruled out b4 u consider surgery as they can affect how u feel and heal post op.

Syringomyelia, tethered cord, ICP.,POTS, sleep apnea, disk issues, scoliosis, ehlers-danlos....are a few.

  Having the right Dr is also key, they will look to these related conditions and know how to approach surgery to help get u the best results....but we r all different and may respond to the drugs and meds used differently so that can affect how u heal too,.

  Since u have a syrinx, surgery is the best option if it is growing....u have to keep a close eye on it.

Many members that have had surgery have a journal in their profile page....feel free to read those to get more info.