Cervical Radiculopathy by Senior Physiotherapist Daniel Browne

CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY

WHAT IS IT?

Pain that is coming from a pinched or irritated nerve in your neck can refer down into your shoulder, arm, hands or fingers, and even into the middle of back (shoulder blade region).

 

HOW CAN PAIN IN MY ARM BE COMING FROM MY NECK?

Structurally speaking, our nerves originate from our spinal cord and travel from this central location outwards to different parts of our body to perform different functions. At times, on their journey they can be pinched, irritated or damaged due to the small passages they need to pass through. This can result in pain, decreased or altered sensation, and muscle weakness. When explaining this to patients I often use the analogy of a garden hose – if there’s a kink the hose, some flow of water still gets through, however the flow isn’t quite as strong. This is representative of the signal travelling along the nerve pathway being ‘kinked’ or ‘pinched’ resulting in less flow and is expressed as a change in the neurological symptoms outlined below.

 

 

HOW DOES THIS GET DIAGNOSED?

Your physiotherapist will complete a series of tests including Cervical, thoracic and upper limb range of motion, joint palpation, muscle strength testing of the upper limb, and depending on symptoms may look at upper limb reflexes and neural tensioning tests to develop a well-rounded picture of your symptoms. Finally, if you have previously had relevant imaging, then physiotherapists will also review these as part of the overall clinical assessment.

 

WHAT TREATMENT IS INVOLVED?

From here, depending on your symptoms, consultations will include a degree of manual therapy, exercise prescription and education to form a structured home exercise program, provide education on any task modification (whether that be for work or home), as well pain-relieving techniques and general management strategies.

If you feel you have these symptoms the team at Select Physiotherapy and Pilates would love to help you become symptom free!