What is radiculopathy?
Radiculopathy includes a range of symptoms that result when a nerve root in your spinal column is pinched. Your spine contains vertebrae and the central nerves that branch out and travel between these vertebrae.
The nerve pinching can happen in any area along your spine. There are three primary types of radiculopathy:
Lumbar radiculopathy
More commonly known as sciatica, lumbar radiculopathy causes pain in your lower back.
Cervical radiculopathy
This nerve compression occurs in the neck, causing pain or numbness in your hands and arms.
Thoracic radiculopathy
When the compressed nerve root occurs in the upper back, it causes pain and numbness that can travel around the front of your body.
What are the symptoms of radiculopathy?
Symptoms of radiculopathy depend on where the pinching of the nerve root occurs. Common symptoms include:
- Sharp pain in the back, legs, arms, or shoulders
- Weakness or loss of movement in your arms or legs
- Pins and needles sensations in your arms or legs
- Burning sensations
In some cases, you may have radiculopathy without symptoms. Or you may experience a worsening of symptoms when you’re active or move suddenly, such as with a sneeze or cough.
What causes radiculopathy?
As the tissues change around the spinal vertebrae due to the natural aging process, disease, or injury, the spaces around your nerve root can narrow. This narrowing causes pressure on the nerve, producing pain and other symptoms.
Some common causes of radiculopathy include bone spurs, herniated discs, and cancerous growths. Radiculopathy may also appear alongside other medical conditions, or as the result of an accident or disease.
How is radiculopathy treated?
If pain from radiculopathy is interfering with your life, your provider at Michigan Pain Specialists may use conventional treatments like epidural corticosteroid injections or oral medications to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation around the affected nerve.
If these conservative therapies aren’t enough to relieve your pain, you might be a candidate for radiofrequency ablation. This minimally invasive procedure involves ablating, or burning, the nerve fibers to prevent pain signals from traveling to your brain.
Radiofrequency ablation can provide you with long-lasting pain relief, so you can engage in physical therapy to prevent new symptoms of radiculopathy. Book a consultation with Michigan Pain Specialists online or by phone today to learn more.
