Craniocervical Instability (CCI) question

[Prefect]

I recently had a cervical spine CT done and was wondering if there's any smoking gun in the findings that would warrant getting examined for possibility of CCI? The CT was done for an unrelated issue.

"The alignment of the cervical spine is maintained. Multilevel degenerative disc disease is moderate at C6-C7. Disc bulges at C4-C5 and C5-C6 result in mild central stenosis. Disc osteophyte complex at C6-C7 also results in mild central stenosis.
Right-sided neural foraminal stenosis is moderate at C5-C6 and C6-C7, and moderate-to-severe at C7-T1. Left-sided neural foraminal stenosis is mild at C5-C6 and moderate at C6-C7. The cervical facet joints are maintained."

Thanks everyone.

 

[Woof!]

@Prefect - Are you symptomatic regarding your cervical spine? (recurrent neck aches, migraines, decreased range of motion)? I think the answer to your question lies in the answer to this question.

Also, how old are you, and do you have spinal issues in other areas?

 

[Prefect]

@Dr.Lynne I have a lot of balance, dizziness type problems and spend a lot of time trying to keep my head still which creates a lot of neck tension. Doctors have told me I have low amplitude high frequency head tremor. No decreased range of motion, no frequent migraines.

52 yrs old, been told I have scoliosis. Years ago I used to get a lot of pain radiating from my shoulder blades down my arms and numb pinky fingers but that stopped.

 

[Woof!]

@Dr.Lynne I have a lot of balance, dizziness type problems and spend a lot of time trying to keep my head still which creates a lot of neck tension. Doctors have told me I have low amplitude high frequency head tremor. No decreased range of motion, no frequent migraines. 52 yrs old, been told I have scoliosis. Years ago I used to get a lot of pain radiating from my shoulder blades down my arms and numb pinky fingers but that stopped.

I had to look up "low amplitude high frequency head tremors" because I had never heard of them. It sounds like anxiety, stress, certain medications and certain metabolic conditions make this worse, so that's where I'd look for more answers.

Also, in my experience, highly-recommended physical therapists are sooooo much more helpful than any MDs when it comes to musculoskeletal things. That's the route I'd go, myself. Hope this helps!

 

[vision blue]

HI. If you want to get more replies, you could try a thread titled something like: "Where in your cervical spine are your problems?" or: "do you have cervical spine problems" YOu could say youve read posts that others with c-spine issues have cfs related symptoms but that people haven't akwasy said at what level of spine problems occur (or what they are?). YOu could add that yours is worst at the level of c6-7 but you have other levels affected to.

That might get people talking and you can have more of a discussion. I've found on this list, always much to my surprise, that when you give a test result, alot of people just don't comment for one reason or another. i'm always surprised because so many of us are analytical and have left no stone unturned so i would think trading copies of test reports would be a hot ticket item here- but it's just not how things work here.

of course, having said that, i'm so tempted to do exactly that with my own test report (not c-spine, though have that too...), but am trying to resist the urge and seeing if i can rephrase it to something that might capture the interest of the group.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

i'm always surprised because so many of us are analytical and have left no stone unturned so i would think trading copies of test reports would be a hot ticket item here- but it's just not how things work here.

A lot of test results, if not most, come with the patient's name embedded, often along with other sensitive info, and I'm guessing that more than a few of us are hinky about protecting privacy and personal information ....

 

[vision blue]

I dont think thats the main factor since here eg the OP did not show her name on the report. And the same is true for many others- most of the ones Ive seen, anyway. People either cut and paste the relevent result i to massage or redact their name and other identifying info before attaching a document. Ive also never seen a comment saying- “remove your name etc and then i will comment on your test results”. So i havent seen any evidence thats the reason.