Weeeell as you can see, I am working towards it, using myself as a test subject!
So far, the findings are:
in flexion, the styloid processes hit the C1 and the neck stops moving (confirmed by multiple x-rays)
upright standing posture significantly flexes the spine, while supine lying posture makes it flatter (MRI vs upright X-ray whole spine imaging)
jugulars and arteries in the neck can be trapped by various structures and occasionally move out of the entrapment sites or to different place (multiple CTAs showing differently arranged blood vessels in the neck)
sometimes manually compressing dominating IJV while sitting it increases pressure in the head, sometimes - doesnāt. Why - I donāt have the answer yet, but that sounds the most interesting and suspicious variable so far, perhaps based on how well the remaining veins pass the blood at that precise time point, amount of CSF in the system and so on
Thank you for sending the excerpt from Carl Saganās book & the link, @KoolDude. The excerpt certainly provides a great perspective & some excellent food for thought! The human race has indeed proven selfish & power hungry over its existence. How wonderful it would be if we would always āDo unto others as we would have them do unto us.ā
I agree, w/ @KoolDude, @vdm. It would be great for you to write your own research paper. You & my husband would get along great! I donāt have an analytical bone in my body, & it drives him crazy!! When I get excited about research or information Iāve read, he āshoots it downā almost every time for the types of reasons you, KoolDude & @coldbear suggest.
Iād read your research paper if you write one. Might not be able to follow it perfectly, but could get the gist of it.
I totally sympathize w/ your shoulder pain. Iām right there w/ you. Have been having calcific tendinitis worked on via saline injection to break up the calcification on my supraspinatus tendon. First round helped, second round made it worse, & third round is pending. Hurts up to my ear & down to my elbow now. Wondering if Iām having so much trouble on that side because Iāve had all my immunizations over the last several years in that arm (non-dominant arm).
Iāve heard on the grapevine that calcified tendons recover in kind of three phases, and the final phase when the freed calcium deposits get reabsorbed by the body is the most painful. So hopefully thatās why?..
Speaking of research, something I wondered is what the long term data on people that had one or both IJV snipped are.
We all know and hear from Drs how they tie off peopleās jugulars and theyāre āfineā but when I asked if there are any subsequent studies 5 years later to see how these people feel and if anything new started for them, they never know.
Iād love to be able to make this my full time job, unfortunately, it doesnāt pay
This is an interesting thread. I think you and I are on the same page about caring medical. They have some interesting helpful educational info on their websiteā¦butā¦little clues put up big red flags once you dig deeper. I think I may have shared I had prolo-therapy on and off for over a decade in my neck and spine. I recently unearthed an old consult report from Cedar Sinai Pain Center/Oral Facial specialist that indicated I had nodules in my neck and possible scar tissue caused by the numerous prolo-injections - I have long wondered if they contributed to the calcifications in my neck. If you have any connective tissue disorders and/or Ehlers Danlos, I personally would not buy into the injections. I would suggest going to dry needling instead. There are all kinds of āalternativeā type providers doing injections such as PRP, prolo and none of these are covered by insurance. I recently have been looking at a variety of providers around the country doing these injections. They are renaming prolo injections with some other name or claiming their own patented injection fluids. Most all are glucose-based.
Update: @coldbear posted more articles on the MS and venous insufficiency, so the above articles might be inaccurate and should not be taken for granted.
@vdm It is also controversial area where there were some studies that question the link between MS and Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) which some Italian studies suggest.
Exactly.
The whole area isnāt easy to do the research on simply because there are too many variables, and the study might take too long - our lifestyle might significantly change in the meantime making the initial assumptions not accurate anymore (driving instead of walking; online shopping instead of walking in a real store; smartphones; food quality; less direct social interaction; etc.etc.)
Nevertheless, to me it sounds logical: deprivation of nutrients and the oxygen in the brain is obviously doing no good for this organ in the long term (I am pretty sure I could find some studies confirming this, though it feels ācommon senseā). Compressed/insufficient blood circulation paths lead to reduced supply to/replenishment of these vital elements.
If you ask me, the implication is big. As our Jugular Veins (the main clearance pathway) remain impaired, one can hypothesize that our toxic and metabolic clearance is impacted. The degree to which it is impacted might differ depending on the severity of compression and the robustness of the collateral drainage etc. BTW, there are studies linking IJVS/impaired venous outflow to Alzheimerās disease. One pathway that is gaining popularity is glymphatic pathway.
Itās worth reading a bit more about the CCSVI controversy if you are interested in these issues:
Since Zamboni published his theory, almost every study designed to probe the relationship between MS and venous insufficiency has found no link whatsoever. I have no intention of wading into any of these debates, but it is a lesson about how chasing unproven theories prematurely can cause tangible harm to patients. The original theory sounded plausible and intuitive, so patients caused an uproar until clinical trials were funded without sufficient basic research having been done first. Since these trials failed in Canada, it has caused such a backlash from physicians that now Canadian patients with non-MS jugular issues basically have no one willing to evaluate and treat these issues.
Such good advice. My husband is having a revision surgery this wk with Hepworth where the jugular did not open with prior styloid removal. Working with a neurosurgeon they will not close without seeing and measuring flow.
Thank you for the update, @Samom.4. Iām so glad surgery is set & your husband will be getting the help heās long needed. I will be praying for you, your husband, Dr. Hepworth & the neurosurgeon involved in this surgery. I hope this restores your husbandās vitality & joie de vivre.
I totally sympathize w/ your shoulder pain. Iām right there w/ you. Have been having calcific tendinitis worked on via saline injection to break up the calcification on my supraspinatus tendon. First round helped, second round made it worse, & third round is pending. Hurts up to my ear & down to my elbow now. Wondering if Iām having so much trouble on that side because Iāve had all my immunizations over the last several years in that arm (non-dominant arm).
