Cervical Radiculopathy

This con­di­tion is an irri­ta­tion or com­pres­sion of one or more nerve roots in the cer­vi­cal spine. Because these nerves trav­el to the shoul­ders, arms and hands, an injury in the cer­vi­cal spine can cause symp­toms in these areas.

Cer­vi­cal radicu­lopa­thy may result from a vari­ety of prob­lems with the bones and tis­sues of the cer­vi­cal spinal col­umn. One com­mon cause is a her­ni­at­ed disc. A her­ni­at­ed disc is a rup­ture in the fibrous out­er wall of a ver­te­bral disc, which allows the soft nucle­us of the disc to bulge out­ward. This bulge can press harm­ful­ly against a nerve root. Anoth­er com­mon cause of nerve root injury is degen­er­a­tive disc dis­ease. It occurs when a spinal disc weak­ens, allow­ing ver­te­bral bones above and below the disc to shift out of posi­tion. The bones can touch, pinch­ing near­by nerve roots. When bones, discs or joints of the spine degen­er­ate, bony spurs may form and push into the spinal canal or fora­men space. This is called spinal steno­sis, and it can also cre­ate harm­ful pres­sure against the spinal cord or nerve roots.

Click here to review an illus­tra­tion of the Cer­vi­cal Radicu­lopa­thy.
(Infor­ma­tion obtained from www​.viewmed​ica​.com 2012 Swarm Interactive).

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