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Suggest Treatment For Syringomyelia
Question: Hello, my name is XXXX and I am 73 years old. I have been diagnosed with syringomelia (?) with bulbia involvement. I am also dealing with right hip pain now, particularly after standing for a longer period of time. My former doctor, now retired, had told me that my hip pain would never go away until I had treatment on my back. Of course, this also is dependent upon my losing approximately 60 pounds, which I have gained over the years. Can you please give me some feedback on what avenue I should pursue? Thank you very much for your response and consideration. XXXX
Brief Answer:
See below!
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about these symptoms and difficulties that you have reported. Syringomyelia means there is a fluid collection in the middle of the spinal cord and this all the way to the lower part of the brain(bulbar). This leads to compression of nerves as they travel all the way to distant parts of the body through the spinal cord. Was it for this same syringomyelia that you doctor said your pain would never go away unless corrected?
Syringomyelia is only corrected if it causes symptoms. If this was not the reason why your doctor suggested treatment, then you should not be too concerned about surgery now for this new diagnosis. Syringomyelia that is discovered on routine examinations is managed by close monitoring to determine when it is right to operate upon if need be.
With your hip pain continuing and the need for a back surgery, which greatly depends on you dropping your weight, I will suggest that you seek the services of a dietitian to help you out. 60 pounds would not be an easy task to accomplish but sustained efforts would be able to help you through this. What matters most is that you should start with a weight reduction program and follow through on dropping the extra kilograms on which the major surgical decision relies.
In all, if the hip pain is unrelated to the syringomyelia, then you need no surgery for that now. Monitoring would be okay for now. Work with weight loss experts on how to drop some weight in order to be considered for surgery.
I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thank you so much for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications should need be.
See below!
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about these symptoms and difficulties that you have reported. Syringomyelia means there is a fluid collection in the middle of the spinal cord and this all the way to the lower part of the brain(bulbar). This leads to compression of nerves as they travel all the way to distant parts of the body through the spinal cord. Was it for this same syringomyelia that you doctor said your pain would never go away unless corrected?
Syringomyelia is only corrected if it causes symptoms. If this was not the reason why your doctor suggested treatment, then you should not be too concerned about surgery now for this new diagnosis. Syringomyelia that is discovered on routine examinations is managed by close monitoring to determine when it is right to operate upon if need be.
With your hip pain continuing and the need for a back surgery, which greatly depends on you dropping your weight, I will suggest that you seek the services of a dietitian to help you out. 60 pounds would not be an easy task to accomplish but sustained efforts would be able to help you through this. What matters most is that you should start with a weight reduction program and follow through on dropping the extra kilograms on which the major surgical decision relies.
In all, if the hip pain is unrelated to the syringomyelia, then you need no surgery for that now. Monitoring would be okay for now. Work with weight loss experts on how to drop some weight in order to be considered for surgery.
I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thank you so much for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications should need be.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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