Cervical Symptoms from a Herniated Cervical Disc

A herniated cervical disc occurs when a nerve root is irritated and/or pinched as a result of a cervical disc’s inner core extruding through the outer core and coming in contact with the nerve root. Depending on the location of the cervical disc herniation and which cervical nerve is affected (most often C6, C7; sometimes C5, C8), various cervical symptoms may occur.

For example, when the following cervical nerve is compressed as a result of a herniated disc, patient symptoms may include:

• C5 – shoulder pain, deltoid weakness, small amount of shoulder numbness, and/or diminished biceps reflex
• C6 – weakness in the biceps and wrist extensors, radiating arm pain/numbness in the thumb, and/or diminished brachioradialis reflex (mid-forearm)
• C7 – radiating arm pain/numbness to the middle finger and/or a diminished triceps reflex
• C8 – hand dysfunction, pain/numbness on the outside of the hand and/or impaired reflexes in the hand.

If standard non-surgical treatments (exercise, NSAIDs, etc.) do not provide relief in a 6-12 week period for symptoms from a cervical disc herniation, a surgery that removes the pressure on the irritated nerve and creates more room for it to heal and function may be recommended.

Cervical Symptoms from Cervical Stenosis

Cervical stenosis refers to when the spinal cord in the neck is compressed, potentially resulting in no symptoms at all or rather noticeable symptoms including:

• Radicular arm pain
• A heavy feeling in the legs
• An inability to walk at a brisk pace
• Fine motor skill deterioration
• Intermittent shooting pain in the arms and legs
• Pain that is made worse with certain positions (called cervical foraminal stenosis) such as when holding the neck in extension.

Spinal cord compression that results in dysfunction is described as cervical stenosis with myelopathy.

• Article written By:
• Dr. Peter F. Ullrich, Jr., MD

October 1, 2009

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