Cervical Herniation Research Paper

Nerves from each segment of the spinal cord connect to specific regions of the body. The cervical region or neck are referred to as C1 through C8; they control signals to the neck, arms, and hands. The segments in thoracic or upper back region T1 through T12 relay signals to the torso and some parts of the arms. The segments in the upper lumbar or mid-back region just below the ribs, L1 through L5, control signals to the hips and legs. Last, the sacral segments S1 through S5 lie just below the lumbar segments in the mid-back and control signals to the groin, toes, and some parts of the legs. The effects of spinal cord injury at different segments reflect this organization.(SC-Basic Anatomy of Spine-http://www.goes.com/billr/html/_anatomy_of_a_spinal_cord.html)

When it affects your neck, it takes place in the top seven vertebrae in your spine, known as the cervical spine. Over time, or if you suffer an injury, your discs can break down. Oftentimes, the proteins contained within the disc space can cause a good amount of inflammation, which can result in pain, tingling, and numbness in your neck, shoulders, arms, and even hands.

A professional cervical disc neurosurgeon Plano TX will always exhaust non-surgical treatments for neck pain before resorting to an operation. While surgery is sometimes the best way to deal with herniated and degenerating discs, neck and shoulder pain can often be alleviated through less invasive means, including injecting corticosteroids into the affected area or participating in physical therapy. Only if severe pain persists after attempting these treatments will a neurosurgeon recommend a discectomy and replacement or a fusion procedure.

Scharf utilized Diagnosis Related Estimate cervical category II and assigned an 8% Whole Person Impairment. Dr. Scharf noted the MRI study of the cervical spine right disc extrusion at C5-C6, but there are no verifiable radicular symptoms in light of the result of the EMG/NCV studies, despite the applicant’s subjective complaints of radicular symptoms into the bilateral upper extremities. Since there are no verifiable radicular symptoms, the placement into DRE category II seems appropriate.

Cervical degenerative disc disease is a common cause of neck pain and radiating arm pain. It develops when one or more of the cushioning discs in the cervical spine starts to break down due to wear and tear. There may be a genetic factor that predisposes some people to more rapid wear. Injury may also contribute and sometimes can cause the development of the degenerative changes. When cervical degenerative disc disease becomes indicated, the pain might develop slowly over time or appear suddenly. The signs can range from mild annoying neck aches to debilitating pain, numbness, and/or weakness that radiates into the arm and hand.

Carey reported that she experienced occasional numbness of the upper extremities and that she would occasionally drop objects from both hands. Upon physical examination, Dr. Abiera noted that Ms. Carey’s range of motion of the cervical spine was decreased on flexion and tenderness on palpation of posterior cervical muscles with spasms and trigger points was present. In addition, Dr. Abiera noted that the range of motion of lumbar spine was within normal range, however there was still some tenderness on palpation of thoracic paraspinals muscles.

Possible symptoms of a herniated disc include pain that radiates through the back and possible down the arms or legs, depending on the location of the herniation. There can also be noted numbness and weakness of the arms and neck. Some people may not even know that they have a herniated disc because not all cases present with leg or back pain. Other signs and symptoms of a herniated disc may include muscle spasms or deep muscle pain. In extreme cases, a patient may present with weakness in both legs and/or the loss of bladder control and bowel control. This is a serious problem called cauda equine syndrome and requires immediate medical attention.

(-- removed HTML --) Arm Pain - If the herniated disk is in yourneck, the pain will be felt in the arms and the shoulder area (-- removed HTML --)

Herniated discs are particularly brutal, due to their position directly behind the spinal cord. When a disc ruptures, the ‘jelly’ inside can spill out into the nerves. This results in severe pain that radiates through the back and sometimes down the legs, as in my case. For more than two years, it felt like I had a knife embedded in my lower back.

In case of a pinched nerve condition the signal is by some means interrupted along the way and is consequently not capable to transmit the message. The significant areas of the body that are more susceptible to nerve compression include the neck or lower back caused by a herniated disc, arthritis, bone spurs, or spinal stenoisis. The main causes of pinched nerve include nerve pressure; injury, poor posture, osteoarthritis, sports activities, and obesity. Due to these conditions the tissue are compressed resulting in

To determine the level of injury, SCI is further divided by location of the injury by the vertebra closest to the injury: cervical, thoracic, and lumbosacral. Injury to the cervical area usually leads to partial or full paralysis, loss of breathing, loss of function at biceps, shoulders, wrists, and/or hands. Complete injuries at the thoracic level cause paralysis and inability to control abdominal muscles with functions of the upper limbs unaffected. Injuries to the lumbosacral region lead to reduced control of the legs, hips, urinary system, and anus.

Degenerative or spondylitic changes to the cervical spine occur with age. In some people, this change results in impaction on the spine or exiting nerve roots. Surgical methods have been proposed to treat these patients, the most common and well accepted being Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF). It is well documented that this is a proven and successful operation, when done appropriately(1). Artificial disc replacement (ADR) has however been suggested as an alternative procedure in selected patients, to prevent the biomechanical complications associated with an ACDF(1). There is debate as to whether this approach to treatment is superior to an ACDF. I will summarise the current data on the topic to establish whether ADR is superior to ACDF.

Weakness – The affected nerves that stem from the herniated disc will weaken the connected muscles.

A herniated disc causes pain because the disc presses against a nerve in your spine. This is called compressing the nerve, and one treatment for it is decompression.

Cervical degenerative disc disease is less common than the lumbar area and it often called cervical spondylosis, the stresses of the changes in ligaments and facet joints to enlarge become hypertrophy as they need to spread the load over a larger area leading to compression of the spinal cord and nerves causing some symptoms that can be range from mild to severe this is starting with pain and over the years the symptom gets worse like spread out of the pain from the region that is affected to shoulders and base of the skull, also down from arms to the hands ending in fingers and this is because of compression to the nerves that courses down to supply the hands, the pain may get worse