a community of practitioners

Chiari Malformation "Arnold-Chiari" type 1

Anyone have any history of massage with Chiari one malformation? It seems to be an interesting yet very painful condition and I believe would make for a very interesting discussion.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sunrise Gervais on August 14, 2010 at 11:05pm

I don't but my sister has the condition and was seeing an MT in conjunction w/ a Chiro in Plainfield, Il. Because she has 4 cervical disks herniated and a chiari 9mm putting pressure on her brainstem I advised her against anymore massage. I even went with her to see one of the 3 neurosurgeons in the country who treat the condition.
Bottom line is she said massage was hurting and although there maybe protocol hepful for this, I am not aware of it. Nor would I personally feel safe working with anyone who had 4 herniated disks in their cervical neck. We were taught in school that in cases like this the client needs to be cleared by het MD before beginning any soft tissue work. I will give her a call and see if she's gone back to the Chiro/MT and if so, what therapy they are providing.
Peace
Sunrise

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jody C. Hutchinson on August 18, 2010 at 8:32am

KT,
I've worked with three Chiari patients. It's been a while since I've seen one. Let me try to answer your questions. One of the three( all female) had surgery to correct the malformation. She did very well after. The other two had multiple issues and used alternative and conventional medicine. I remember one patient who had terrible vertigo and vomiting. It is a rare condition and all three seemed to respond well to massage. I avoided any deep or prolonged work on the neck to stay safe. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
jh

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Karyl Taylor on August 18, 2010 at 12:06pm

So far so good on the discussion! I have a client who has this condition and she (most actually tend to be female I found out) was cleared by her doctor for massage. So I was asked to do research on the subject to see if I felt comfortable enough to provide massage for her. Most people I have asked about it don't even know what it is!!! This is why I love massage because I love learning new things and new ways to help people. :-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Allen on August 18, 2010 at 1:46pm

I've worked with several people with this condition. The first one, the doctor had already recommended surgery when she decided to seek out massage on her own. She got the relief she was looking for and never did have the surgery.