Various Cervical conditions can lead to shoulder, neck, or arm pain. This is because your cervical neck or spine is the most flexible part of your spinal column that allows you to move your head in a vast range of directions. This makes the cervical spine to be more susceptible to injuries and discomforts. Many cervical conditions affect the neck, and for that reason, Jeff Pan, MD, an experienced neurosurgeon, offers a specialized diagnosis of Edison cervical conditions through an integrative and conservative approach. These conditions include:
Spinal Tumors
They are abnormal growths within your spinal canal or your spine bones. As the tumor grows, you may experience different symptoms as it can affect the nerve roots, spinal cord, spinal bones, or blood vessels. These symptoms include:
Back pain that can radiate to other parts of the body or gets worse at night
Pain at the site of the tumor
Muscle weakness
Feeling less sensitive to pain, heat, and cold.
Cervical Radiculopathy
This is a painful condition that happens due to an irritation or a pinch in your spinal nerve. This can be a result of disc damage, cervical spondylosis, and growth. You may experience headaches, numbness, or tingling sensations in your neck or arms.
Craniocervical instability
This is a complication that leads to increased mobility and instability at the craniocervical junction. This is the joint where the skull and the cervical spine are joined together. If you have been recently diagnosed with this condition and would like to learn more about it, you may wish to take a look at CCI 101 – a book about Craniocervical Instability.
Cervical Strains and Sprains
These are among the main contributors to neck pain and are primarily caused by poor posture. They can also occur due to an auto accident that can cause whiplash.
Cervical Stenosis
This is a condition where the cervical spine narrows down, inserting pressure on the spinal cord or the spinal roots.
Cervical Disk Herniation
This complication occurs when the soft gel-like component of the intervertebral disk pushes through the tough exterior and presses on your spinal canal or nerves. Cervical disk herniation can also occur when the core of the disc releases chemicals that aggravate the adjacent nerves, as this causes pain and inflammation.
Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease (DDD)
This is a condition that can be contributed to by the natural aging process. As you get older, the intervertebral discs that make up your cervical spine can become dry, shrink, or lose strength and resilience. This can cause some effects on your neck.
How Cervical Conditions are Evaluated
Should you experience complications in your neck, shoulder, or arm pain, you may need to consult a medical professional like Dr Timothy Steel. This may include evaluating your symptoms, physical exams, and diagnostic testing such as x-rays, CT scans, or MRIs. Nerve conduction studies can also be recommended where you experience numbing or tingling in your arms or hands.
Some of the questions you can expect from your provider about your symptoms include what type of pain you were experiencing when it began and under what circumstances it worsens.
Cervical Conditions Treatments
The treatments primarily depend on the underlying cause. They include non-surgical interventions such as physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, pain medications, and injections.
Where the non-surgical alternatives fail to deliver results, surgical interventions can be recommended. They include decompressive laminectomy, Laminoplasty, anterior cervical discectomy, fusion (ACDF), laminotomy, cervical spinal fusion, discectomy, and artificial disc replacement.
