Chiari Malformation Treatment – Do You Need Surgery?

I often see patients after surgical Chiari malformation treatment. Many actually have craniocervical instability causing their problems, but mistakenly get Chiari surgery and don’t do well. In fact, I just spoke to one of these patients this week on a Telemedicine consult. I tried to explain to her that this is a procedure with significant…
Read More

The Vagus Nerve, Neck Pain, Anxiety, Headaches, and Depression

We’ve seen neck pain patients for years with lots of seemingly unrelated symptoms. Many have suffered from depression, anxiety, headaches, and some even cardiac problems like runs of tachycardia. So what’s causing all of this? Let’s delve into some new research on the vagus nerve. We’ve seen neck pain patients for years with lots of…
Read More

Headaches and Neck Pain or Cervicogenic Headache

Headaches and neck pain are often linked but also often ignored by many physicians. This is called cervicogenic headache. What causes this problem and how can it be helped? Let’s dig in. Why Does My Neck Hurt and Give Me a Headache? As you develop in the womb, your head and upper neck develop together,…
Read More

Neck Pain And Dizziness: The Inner Ear Is Only Part Of The Picture

Did you know that your neck can make you dizzy? Most patients don’t know that dizziness also known as cervical vertigo and neck pain can be connected, and many physicians miss this diagnosis.[1] Why? Both patients and doctors think inner ear or brain when dizziness occurs. However, when the neck component of our balance system…
Read More

Why Your Head Feels Heavy

We can picture the head as a bowling ball balanced on the end of a stick (the spine). There are muscles at the top of the neck as well as in the front and back which help hold the bowling ball on the stick. When the natural curve in the neck is no longer there…
Read More

Spinal Fusion Is It Worth It? More Research Says No…

A spinal fusion is a surgery that uses hardware and screws to “fix” together two or more vertebrae to make a damaged section of spine immovable. Given that this is a big surgery with many known serious side effects, a patient the other day posed this question: “Spinal fusion is it worth it?” My answer,…
Read More

Living with Cervical Stenosis: My Story…

I still remember the first day I knew there was something seriously wrong with my neck. I had just finished working out with a personal trainer when I wrenched something and went to lay down on the couch and couldn’t move my neck. In fact, the only way I could get up from the couch…
Read More

What is Craniocervical Instability or CCI?

Cervical refers to the neck and instability that a joint or spinal segment moves around too much (1). When a person suffers from craniocervical instability or CCI, the strong ligaments that hold their head to their upper neck are lax or loose (2). These ligaments include the alar, transverse, accessory, apical dens, and others outlined…
Read More