Is Your Neck Pain a Symptom of a Larger Problem? 

Get the Answer with an Angiography Brain Test

If you're experiencing neck pain, it's essential to know that it could indicate a more significant problem, such as a brain aneurysm or stroke. While these problems are rare, they can cause death or severe permanent disability if left untreated, which is why it's so crucial to be able to recognize the symptoms and act accordingly.

One way to ensure your safety is to undergo angiography brain testing, which can help detect any dangerous issues in your brain and neck area before they have time to develop into full-blown problems.

Know your symptoms

The spinal cord, located in your neck, connects all parts of your body to your brain. When something goes wrong with your spinal cord, it can cause you to experience neck pain. Many different medical conditions can lead to pain and symptoms like tingling or numbness in your arm or hand.

And without treatment, these symptoms could be caused by a more significant problem that requires more extensive care. One quick way to get answers and relief from discomfort is through an angiography brain test in our Chughtai lab. The test takes about 30 minutes and can help determine if you have vascular disease or blockages that may be causing clots to travel up and down through blood vessels in your neck.

Why angiography is right for you

If you're living with neck pain, you may have visited several doctors and tried several treatments without relief. You might have concluded that your condition is due to wear and tear on your spine from life in general or perhaps even from years spent working in front of a computer.

But if you want to find out what's causing your pain, another type of test could help diagnose your problem: angiography.

What to expect during the exam

If you have unexplained symptoms like neck pain, you may be suffering from carotid disease, a common and dangerous blood vessel disorder that can cause blood clots to form in your arteries.

An imaging test doctors use to detect carotid disease is called angiography. The procedure involves inserting a thin tube into your arm and injecting it with dye, which gets taken up by your heart and circulated through your bloodstream. Doctors then take images using X-rays. When they look at these images, they can see if there are any obstructions or blockages in your blood vessels due to plaque buildup.

An angiogram is like a moving X-ray

It uses an IV and contrast to see inside your blood vessels. It's beneficial for visualizing complicated parts of your brain or arteries. In particular, you can use Chughtai Lab to diagnose irregular brain veins that may signal a hemorrhagic stroke or peripheral arterial disease and abnormal connections between different veins in your neck and head that may mean you have venous malformation.

Another common cause of abnormal vein patterns is cavernous cerebral malformation (CCM). CCM is thought to be related to our immune system and could result from genetic defects. The design of your angiogram will help doctors determine what type of problem you might have so they can provide you with customized treatment options.

Follow up care

If your test results suggest that you might have plaque buildup in your brain or neck arteries, we will determine follow-up care on a case-by-case basis. Our health team can refer you to other doctors who specialize in these ailments if need be.

Understanding your medical history and risk factors is vital to get treated correctly. With our essa lab tests and careful examination, we'll make sure you receive the proper care for heart health.

The procedure itself

There are two ways to perform angiography brain tests: traditional angiography and transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Your doctor will place a hollow needle into your carotid artery for both methods. If you're having conventional angiography, you'll be given contrast dye; no paint is needed if you have transcranial Doppler.

The angio suite

Instead of using MRI to assess stroke and other neurological issues, doctors sometimes use angiography. This test involves the injection of contrast fluid into both carotid arteries in your neck.

These are the major blood vessels in your neck that deliver blood flow to your brain. When a doctor X-rays your neck and brain after injecting it with contrast fluid, they can see if any blockages exist and thus determine whether or not you're at risk for stroke.