Cervical Radiculopathy, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

This book describes Cervical Radiculopathy, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases
Cervical radiculopathy, often called a "pinched nerve" happens when a nerve in the neck is compressed or irritated where it branches away from the spinal cord.
This may produce pain that radiates into the shoulder, and muscle weakness and numbness that travels down the arm and into the hand.
Cervical radiculopathy is often produced by "wear and tear" changes that happen in the spine as people age, such as arthritis.
In younger people, it is most often produced by a sudden injury that leads to a herniated disk.
In most cases, cervical radiculopathy reacts well to conservative treatment that involves medication and physical therapy.
Cervical radiculopathy most often begins from degenerative changes that happen in the spine as people age or from an injury that produces a herniated, or bulging, inter-vertebral disk.
Degenerative changes
As the disks in the spine age, they become shorter and start to bulge.
They also reduce water content, start to dry out, and become stiffer.
This change produces settling, or collapse, of the disk spaces and decrease of disk space height.
As the disks reduce height, the vertebrae shift closer together.
The body reacts to the collapsed disk by producing more bone called bone spurs around the disk to strengthen the disk.
These bone spurs help in the stiffening of the spine.
They may also tighten the foramen: the small openings on each side of the spinal column where the nerve roots move out and compress (pinch) the nerve root.
Degenerative changes in the disks are often termed arthritis or spondylosis.
In fact, nearly 50% of all people middle-aged and older have worn disks and pinched nerves that do not produce painful symptoms.
It is not clear why some patients develop symptoms and others do not.
Herniated disk
A disk herniates (protrudes) when its jelly-like center (nucleus) presses against its outer ring (annulus).
If the disk is very worn or injured, the nucleus may force it’s the way through.
When the herniated disk protrudes out toward the spinal canal, it places pressure on the sensitive nerve root, producing pain and weakness in the area the nerve provides
Symptoms
In most cases, the pain of cervical radiculopathy begins at the neck and moves down the arm in the area innervated by the injured nerve.
This pain is normally depicted as burning or sharp.
Certain neck movements like extending or stretching the neck or turning the head may raise the pain.
Other symptoms are:
1. Tingling or the sensation of "pins and needles" in the fingers or hand
2. Loss of strength in the muscles of the arm, shoulder, or hand
3. Loss of feeling
4. Some patients report that pain reduces when they put their hands on top of their head.
The doctor may also request the patient to do certain neck and arm movements to try to reproduce and alleviate the symptoms
An MRI of the neck can show if the nerve compression is produced by injury to soft tissues such as a herniated disk.
Electromyography evaluates the electrical impulses of the muscles at rest and during contractions.
Nerve conduction studies are often done along with EMG to find out if a nerve is functioning normally.
These tests can assist the doctor find out whether the symptoms are produced by pressure on spinal nerve roots and nerve injury or by another disorder that produces injury to nerves, such as diabetes.
Treatment
The treatment can start with local icing, NSAIDs, physical therapy and measures that decrease the forces compressing the nerve root
Non-operative treatment is successful in 80-90% of patients.
Surgery is indicated only when non-operative treatment has failed.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Cervical Radiculopathy
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Herniated Disk
Chapter 8 Brachial nerve Injury
Epilogue