The Causes And Treatment Of A Cervical Herniated Disc
A cervical herniated disc seems to be a common problem in a large number of people, especially between the ages of 30 and 50 years. This disc basically causes pain in the neck, arms or shoulders.
Reasons for the cervical herniated disc:
Various factors may cause a cervical herniated disc. We can take a look at some of them:
Though we may not realize it but our lifestyle plays an important role in regards to our health. Inactivity and lack of exercise, indiscriminate use of tobacco and poor intake of essential nutrients, all combine to have a negative effect on the condition of the disc. Age is an inevitable factor which brings about biochemical changes in the body. There is less fluid and this leads to the drying of the cervical disc seriously affecting its strength. Spine problems are also most commonly caused by bad or poor posture. Carelessness regarding posture leads to cervical herniated discs. Very often, injury in the cervical spine due to a fall ruptures the disc. Also, incorrect lifting of weights like luggage or heavy objects and normal wear and tear of the body causes cervical herniated discs. How to recognize the symptoms: The symptoms may be varied but usually any sort of injury or trauma in the cervical spine is the main reason of a herniated disc and this condition manifests itself in many neurological ways: *C4-C5 - These nerve roots (C5) causes pain in the shoulder and weakness in the upper arms. The deltoid muscle is especially affected. *C5-C6 - The most common of cervical herniated discs, its (C6 nerve root) symptoms may include numbness and tingling and the biceps may feel weak. The wrist extensor muscle may also experience loss of energy. *C6-C7 - Common symptoms are numbness and tingling moving from the triceps to the middle finger and weakness in the finger extensor muscle as well as the triceps. This is a common C7 nerve root disorder. *C7-T1 (C8 nerve root) - Symptoms include numbness, tingling and pain radiating from the arm to the little finger of the hand. The handgrip becomes weak. Other signs of a cervical herniated disc are numbness, tingling in shoulders or arms, pain in shoulder blades, dull or acute pain in the neck and pain running from arms to fingers or hands. Cervical disc herniation occurs in four stages:
1. Disc degeneration: Biochemical changes take place in the body due to age and this makes the disc weak.
2. Prolapse: In this the disc tends to change its shape and bulges out or protrudes. It puts pressure on the nerve roots in the spinal cord.
3. Extrusion: A gel-like nucleus pulposus breaks down from the 'annulus fibrous' which is a tire-like wall but remains within the disc.
4. Sequestered Disc: In this stage, the nucleus pulpous comes out of the annulus fibrous but now lies outside the spinal cord instead of inside the cord.
More Health Information Treatment: The course of action to be taken in treating this problem is decided upon after a thorough diagnosis and examination. If the pain is not very severe, then it is first treated by exercise and oral medication. If the pain is acute then the patient may be advised to go in for surgery.
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