Tarlov Cysts?

Algarve Life - Amanda Gleaves
2 min readJun 3, 2023

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I knew I wouldn’t be consistent, or is it persistent? Well either way — it seems I am neither.

Had a lot going on.

Then I got a spanner in the works. A health issue, which now seems to have worsened. So having to slow down a bit. It is hard though because I have a lot of people depending on me — including myself!

So what is the problem?

Good question.

I had an MRI and got the results a few weeks ago. The only thing it really showed was some cysts in the SI joint. These cysts are called Tarlov Cysts and more often than not, they don’t cause problems.

It seems that mine ( I have known about them for a while) are now getting bigger. One is about 2cm in diametre, the others are smaller. I am not sure how many I have yet, I haven’t seen the doctor.

The solution to this ‘ailment’ may not be so simple. These cysts grow due to a’ flow of cerebrospinal fluid into the cyst through a one-way valve system’. They cannot be cut out, they have to be aspirated and injected with fibrin glue to reduce the dead space and re-accumulation of CSF.

They can fill again though.

Another problem with symptomatic Tarlov Cysts, is that they are rare. This means that they don’t get the funding for research and patients can spend years before getting a proper diagnosis.

Some people can have large cysts with no problems and others can have very problematic smaller cysts.

I am staying optimistic though!

I have to see a physiotherapist in about 10 days and I am hoping that my problem is just instability of the SI joint. That will just require physiotherapy and I will be good to go.

So here is hoping.

Now I am going to write a different post about my ex and his false teeth.

Até já

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Algarve Life - Amanda Gleaves
Algarve Life - Amanda Gleaves

Written by Algarve Life - Amanda Gleaves

I have been living in the Algarve in Portugal since 1989! I have been teaching Portuguese to foreigners for nearly 20 years! https://portugueseinsixweeks.com/

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