A proper assessment of your symptoms is warranted. While your MRI will reveal the affected sites, these have to correlate with your clinical symptoms. Typically pinched C3 and C4 level spinal nerves should not lead to spasms as these do not supply big muscle groups in the neck. Treatment for such symptoms are generally 1. Medication. Simple analgesia may help with painful periods. If your pain is neuropathic (nerve like pain), then anti-neuropathic agents such as gabapentin may be helpful. 2. Physical therapy.

Most times, there are very little signs or symptoms of growth in the brain. It can also present with innocuous headaches if there is a rise in intracranial pressure. These headaches are usually progressive and get worse over time. There may be associated with nausea and vomiting, and the headache usually feels better after you have vomited. If the tumour occupies the part of the brain that carries out an essential function, the patient will get specific signs like, a decrease in vision, weakness, change in personality.

Radiation for pituitary tumours is generally reserved for recurrent tumour growth. Sometimes it is too risky to operate on tumours that have already invaded the surrounding brain (for example, cavernous sinus). These tumours are given either fractionated therapy (over a few sessions) or single-shot therapy like the Gamma Knife).

Headaches are sinister if they occur in the mornings and gradually progressive worse. The headaches are usually due to increase in pressures in the brain. In the event of that, it is important to see a doctor and get a brain scan ( MRI).

Please bring this to the attention of your chiropractor as soon as possible. He/she will most likely ask you to stop all chiropractic, gym and/or sports sessions and rest your back for about a week. Despite this, if there is no improvement, please seek early medical attention by visiting your doctor/specialist, not a chiropractor.

The most commonly used form of magnetic brain stimulation in clinical practice is transcranial magnetic stimulation (known as TMS). This makes use of Faraday's law of induction (if you remember from physics) to create current flow within the brain, which, in turn, excites the neurons (mostly cortical interneurons) over where the magnetic stimulation is applied. Magnetic stimulation by itself is not considered a treatment option for brain tumours. However, as an example, we have used transcranial magnetic stimulation prior to brain tumour surgery.

You should see a specialist if the headache persists. An MRI if the brain may be necessary.

The fall resulted in a bruised nerve and hence the pain and numbness. Most of the time, these are minor and will resolve with time. Most importantly, you should rest that part of the body. Some doctors recommend using steroids to reduce the swelling. It will also reduce the pain. Generally, pain medications like NSAIDS are of limited success in treating these nerve pain. There are specific medications for neuropathic pain as the injured nerve may give the patient an unpleasant burning sensation or persistent tingling. These symptoms can be reduced with medications like pregabalin.

Bell's palsy is a paralysis of the facial muscles (either the left or the right side). The facial nerve exits the skull base through a small opening near the back of your ear (mastoid region). If the nerve swells for whatever reason, the nerve will stop working and you get half your facial muscles paralyzed. Treatment consist of medications like steroids to reduce swelling and anti-virals as herpes zoster infection is one of the common cause of Bell's palsy. Some doctors will provide vitamins for the nerve (neurobion for instance).

As wounds heal, there will be an inflammatory response and all wounds will swell slightly. The scalp is a very vascular tissue and hence it heals very fast. It also means that the commonest cause of a swelling in a scalp wound is a blood clot. Other rare causes include infection with collection of pus and the most fear complication of is the accumulation of Cerebro Spinal Fluid (CSF). The main danger here is the risk of infection in this collection of CSF and may eventually lead to meningitis.

There are two main types of pituitary tumours. The first are active ones. These produce excessive hormones and cause the body to undergo major changes (for example, excessive growth hormones or thyroid hormones). These tumours must be removed to restore the body to its normal state. The second group of tumours are those not producing any hormones. They just grow in size gradually. These will cause problems by exerting pressure on vital structures like the nerves supplying the eyes and affect the visual field. Both types of tumours need to be removed surgically.

Hypopituitarism refers to a state where the pituitary gland fails to produce or regulate hormones. The body undergoes several changes and can even be life-threatening. Essential hormones like steroids are needed especially when the body has to cope with stress (like an infection), in the absence of steroids, the patient may actually collapse and become hypotensive. An endocrinologist will be needed to follow up and manage all the hormonal replacement medications. Most medications are taken orally except for testosterone which needs to be injected monthly.

Stem cells are a special type of cells that have the capacity to self-renew indefinitely and can give rise to multiple cell lineages. They are present throughout life and vary in their potential for further specialization. Some can give rise to all tissue types (pluripotent) while others are restricted to the cell types within one organ. The potential for these advanced cell therapies to completely change the treatment of diseases is immense. However, to date, the overall number of proven stem cell therapies remain small. They also require rigorous scientific and clinical evaluations.

Dear Mr Chang,Thank you for your question. A schwannoma is a benign nerve sheath tumorarising from differentiated Schwann cells. It can form on a variety ofsites, most commonly on the limbs, occasionally on the head/neck regions,or even in the mouth. A vestibular schwannoma (also known as acousticneuroma) can also develop in the inner ear. As the vestibular schwannomagrows, it affects the hearing and balance nerves, usually causingunilateral (one-sided) or asymmetric hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in theear), and dizziness/loss of balance.

In the immediate aftermath of a stroke the blood pressure may be raised, especially when the stroke is due to bursting of a blood vessel. However, a stroke generally does not affect blood pressure, it is a persistently raised blood pressure that greatly increases the chance of a stroke.