Manual Therapy, Traction, And Exercise For Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy

Additionally, a physical therapist may apply cold and heat packs and recommend deep-tissue massage to reduce neck pain. Your PT may have you work through your exercises while standing in front of a mirror to make you aware of maintaining good posture, another element that can benefit a cervical disc condition.

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.

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.

The patient was compliant to all aspects of treatment and the home exercise program. There are no known alternate explanations of the outcomes of this case report. However, in comparison to the case report by Caldwell et al25., the patient in this case report displayed a faster decrease in pain and return to normal function indicated by 0/10 VAS, 0% neck disability and ability to perform all tasks for work at the last day of treatment, 3 weeks from the first day of physical therapy. Possible explanations for the faster recovery could be due to the slight difference of impairments as well as the addition to grade IV and V manipulations to the cervical and thoracic spine as suggested to have high correlation with decrease in pain and normalization

DOI: 8/24/2008. Patient is a 55-year-old female manager who sustained injury to her neck and back when she slipped and fell while walking down a set of pull out stairs. Per OMNI, she is diagnosed with cervical strain with radiculopathy and lumbar radiculopathy. She underwent C5-6 partial corpectomy and fusion in 05/31/2011.

Radiculopathy must be documented by physical examination and corroborated by imaging studies and/or electrodiagnostic testing. In addition, no more than two nerve root levels should be injected using transforaminal blocks, and no more than one interlaminar level should be injected at one session. The patient is s/p C5-C7 anterior

DOI: 1/20/2007. Patient is a 44-year-old female home attendant who sustained injuries to her neck and back, and depression while transferring a client with only 1 leg from a bed to a wheelchair. Per OMNI, she underwent cervical fusion on 11/15/12. She is treating with medications, PT, ESI/blocks, cane, and psychotherapy.

She has increased endurance to walking and increased endurance to sitting and standing, which allows her to participate in more of her activities of daily living. She has increased range of motion of both the cervical and lumbosacral spine with increased strength. However, the physical examination continues to show a residual C5-C6 and L3-L4 radiculopathy of both the right upper and lower extremities, which has failed to completely resolve under present treatment

12/16/15 Progress Report indicated that the patient wakes up with headaches. She mentioned headache in the frontal vertex or temporal occipital areas. She also feels imbalance. She denies bruxism and has no significant neck symptoms. She reported having some minor neck tightness. She was being treated with acupuncture 2 X per week and craniosacral therapy 2 X per week. She noted that she was able to read better in the past two weeks. She had difficulty scanning a written page in the past. She also mentioned that her insomnia has slightly improved since initiating these 2 therapies. Physical exam showed no palpable spasms in her cervical region over her muscles of mastication. Cervical range of motion: backward flexion 70 degrees and forward flexion 60 degrees. She was able to turn 60 degrees to each side. She is able to tilt 40 degrees to other side. Comments: Based on the absence of objective findings, she has reached a medical end result with no need for any further treatment. No additional treatment or diagnostic testing is

DOI: 8/6/2015. Patient is a 51-year-old female licensed vocational nurse who sustained a work-related injury to her back and hips while moving a client. As per OMNI, she was diagnosed with muscle spasm, pain over the low back and thoracic region. She is status post right carpal tunnel release on 02/26/16.

On 03/16/2017, the claimant presented with a constant low back pain, worse on the right side than the left, radiating into the left leg and left foot. She had needle EMG and nerve conduction velocity studies of the bilateral lower extremities to evaluate her lumbar radiculopathy. The studies showed findings compatible with mild bilateral L5 radiculopathies and a left S1 radiculopathy.

2. Cervical manual traction: The chiropractor pulls the neck to stretch the cervical spine and to lessen the stiffness. It is often done in combination with adjustment.

IW was diagnosed with sprain of the ligaments of the cervical spine. Patient has received chiropractic care. Response has been good and IW is encouraged with gains being made. Improved function and functional restoration are expected with additional treatments. Plan is for chiropractic treatment, 2 times a week for 3 weeks.

The results of this study show that both treatment interventions are just as effective in pain reduction and increased spinal mobility following a single treatment. A post boc correlation (relationship between variables) analysis was performed in order to explore the relationship between changes in pain and lumbar extension motion. Researchers analyzed the relationship between an increase in motion and decrease in pain for this study.

It has exhibited red flags that warranted me to evaluate further and seek referral. Though it is not frequent. I am always on my toes on the lookout for anything that I find suspicious in the pathological presentation during my initial touch point with the patient. Red flags can be determined and brought to light during history and physical examination, such as patient demographics, social and health habits, medical/surgical history, medications, family history, systems review, and review of systems, physical therapists have the examination data necessary to identify the need for medical referral (Ross and Boissonnault, 2010, p. 682). A detailed history assessment preceding trauma and cervical spine tenderness with notable limitation of motion prompt consideration for immediate immobilization, referral to a specialist, and further investigation utilizing diagnostic imaging. Red flags can be used as a tool to verify the diagnosis during evaluation. However, there are times that during initial imaging, patient doesn’t exhibit any signs of red flags. That is why it is therapist responsibility to take note of all the possible symptoms that might need urgent investigation to prevent further