A Syrinx is a cyst type formation of fluid within the spinal column. The condition is refrred to as Syringomyelia and is commonly caused as a result of Chiari Malformation Type 1, but can also form as a result of direct trauma.

A Syrinx can appear at any place within the spinal column, can be of varying sizes or distribution in number.

How a Syrinx forms as a result of Chiari Malformation or at least the biological / anatomical process is not clearly understood. However there are many hypothesis.

What is known from speaking with various sufferers is that there is no corrulation between the size or position of a Syrinx and the symptoms experienced.

The Syrinx does cause nerve tissue damage where it forms, and it is widely understood that once nerve tissue damage is experienced, then this damage cannot be repaired. The patient is then left with symptomatic pain and other symptoms including pins and needles and numbness, degraded motor function in hands and fingers and muscle atrophy. These symptoms vary greatly but can be chronic.

The pain experienced is sometimes not alleviated by over the counter pain killers. The pain could then be diagnosed as Neuropathic pain and would need treatment through your GP or a specialist consultant.

A Syrinx can change in size and density once it has formed and the patient should generally refrain from activities where they would strain. Basically explained by trying to lift a heavy object from standing like a weight lifter or any similar activity.

What I have learned this week is that some nerve tissue damage can be reversed or at least it can improve.

By treating the patient by undergoing either decompression surgery to alleviate the symptoms of Chiari or by the placement of a VP Shunt to drain the Syrinx, normal CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) flow should then resume, meaning that the Syrinx is free to drain naturally. The draining of the Syrinx after decompression surgery can take months to happen. I had my surgery in early April 2009, and it had started to drain when I had my follow up MRI scan at the end of July. I have been told it can take as long as 12 months.

After or during the draining of the Syrinx, some patients can recover fully, most unfortunately suffer from some kind of residual pain, the presence of numbness and pins and needles as before treatment. Not all the damage has to remain however, as some of the damage experienced as a result of the Syrinx can be merely nerve tissue that has been "stunned" by the Syrinx and not damaged beyond repair.

With this in mind it is possible that someone with a Syrinx, even a large or expansive Syrinx can fully recover from the condition with little or no residual symptoms.

Great news for all of us people with a Syrinx.

Other posts that you may find interesting:

How to talk to and treat someone with Chiari