Cervical Herniation Research Paper

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.

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)

Human spine consists of twenty six vertebrae separated by twenty four intervertebral disks. These disks absorb shock during everyday activities such as running, walking, sitting, turning, and bending. The intervertebral disks have two parts: an outside part called annulus fibrosus, which is made up of strong fibrous cartilage; and inner part called nucleus pulposus, which consists of water and collagen fibers and is often described as “gelatinous” substance. When outer annulus fibrosus thins out due to an injury or age-related weakening, the inner nucleus pulposus can slip out, causing pain and discomfort because it can press on the spinal cord and nerves. This condition is called herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP).

(-- 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 --)

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

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.

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.

To understand cervical spinal stenosis, one must understand the process of disc degeneration and the effect it has on your spine. As people age, the disc between the vertebra begin to lose a percentage of its water contact, thus effecting its ability to absorb shock. At first, the changes occur in the annulus of the disc (Cervical Spinal Stenosis, 2013). These tears in the outer ring of the disc might not caused any symptoms and heal by the formation of scar tissue. However, if this scar tissue is repeatedly subject to tears, it wears down and loses all its ability to absorb shock.

Our spine is made out of vertebrates and soft cushion in between. When the spine weakens, it allows this flexible area to be damaged, allowing the leakage of the gel within the spine to bulge. This is called a Herniated Disc. It can occur at all levels of the spine, where the lumbar spine being the most common. Secondly, this event seldomly occurs in the cervical spine, which is the neck area, and in the upper back, which is part of the thoracic spinal area.

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.

When a certain nerve is affected, you might have numbness in your arms, hand weakness, and problems with dexterity. A different nerve compression could cause numbness in your feet, and burning pain in your leg. A more serious form of nerve compression could even affect your ability to control your bladder and bowels. You might notice some of these symptoms, such as pain, right after the accident, but when the compression is made worse by swelling that crowds the nerve, your symptoms might be worse hours later. That's why you should see your chiropractor for an evaluation soon after you've had an injury that affects your

Discs are made of strands of collagen, and over time, they can weaken, making it more difficult for the outer portion of the disc to contain the inner portion. At this point, a disc can herniate or rupture as the nucleus pulposus pushes through the weakened annulus fibrosis. A herniated disc can push on a nerve, causing pain. Discs can also start to dehydrate; they lose water and proteoglycan, which together help make the disc an effective cushion for movement” (John Hopkins 2). Next in the chain of events is,” If your intervertebral disc is changing, then it's harder for the disc to handle movement.

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

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

For instance, sciatica is primarily characterized by a pain that shoots along the path of the sciatic nerve, extending past the lower spine to the buttocks and down the back of the legs, possibly reaching the foot. This pain may vary at times, alternating between shooting or burning, sharp or dull, continuous, or sporadic. Symptoms might worsen, causing even more discomfort, whenever the affected individual sneezes, coughs, strains, bends or lifts something. In rare cases, when a severely herniated disc is the root of the problem, a person might be confined to bed for numerous days. Another uncommon but possible occurrence is the disturbance of bowel and bladder control caused by pressure on the nerves located in the lumbar spine. A few other symptoms of sciatica include but are not limited to muscle weakness, reflex abnormalities, numbness or tingling in affected leg or foot, and localized back