Cervical disc disease- causes and cures

Author: bmd | Posted: 09.05.2012

Are you suffering from neck or shoulder pain, or weakness or tingling numbness in your arms? This Neck pain is may be caused by disc degeneration, narrowing of the spinal canal, arthritis, and, in rare cases, cancer or meningitis. Consult a neurologist if this neck pain is regular and you have any of these conditions:

• It occurs after an injury or blow to the head

• Fever or headache accompanies the neck pain

• Stiff neck prevents you from touching your chin to your chest

• Pain shoots down one arm

• There is tingling, numbness or weakness in your arms or hands

• Neck symptoms associated with leg weakness or loss of coordination in arms or legs.

• Your pain does not respond to over-the-counter pain medication

• Pain does not improve after a week

There can be many factors behind cervical disc disease like age, injury, poor posture, or diseases such as arthritis. Any of these can lead to degeneration of the bones or joints of the cervical spine, causing disc herniation. Sudden severe injury to the neck may also contribute to disc herniation, whiplash, blood vessel destruction, vertebral injury, and, in extreme cases, permanent paralysis. Herniated discs or bone spurs may cause a narrowing of the spinal canal or the small openings through which spinal nerve roots exit.

Pressure on the spinal cord in the cervical region can be a very serious problem because virtually all of the nerves to the rest of the body have to pass through the neck to reach their final destination (arms, chest, abdomen, legs). This can potentially compromise the function of many important organs or may lead to paralysis.

To avoid such condition you should consult a neurologist who is a doctor concerned in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system, for the correct treatment of the disease.

Doctors first prescribe conservative method like bed rest, pain medication, trying another chair for correcting sitting posture or rest from activities to cure cervical disc disease but if it’s not working then they go for surgery. Another option is disc replacement surgery but it is avoided in children.

There are many good neurosurgeons in Delhi and any of them can be consulted for treatment of your back pain. This disorder is not found in children but they also suffer from certain neurological problems like Spina bifida, Parkinson's disease Alzheimer's disease, Degenerative diseases, where nerve cells are damaged or die and are treated by pediatric neurologist.



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