ehealthyland.com

Cervical disk disease is a gradual process that occurs with aging, though poor posture, repeated lifting, and tobacco use can hasten its course. Symptoms include pain when moving the neck and limited neck movement. The condition can also affect the hand, shoulder, and arm resulting in pain, numbness/tingling, and weakness. If the spinal cord itself is affected, these symptoms may occur in the legs. Loss of bowel or bladder control may also occur.

The disc (or intervetebral disc) is a structure that is found in between the spinal vertebral bodies from the neck to the sacrum (tailbone). The disc serves as a cushion and helps the spine to move. A single disc and its two vertebral bodies does not have much ability to move, however, when put together along the length of the spine, the amount of movement provided is considerable. Each disc is composed of two parts, the nucleus pulposus (the central part) and the annulus fibrosis (the outer part). The nucleus pulposus provides the padding and it is contained by the annulus fibrosis which forms a ring around the nucleus pulposus and also attaches to the vertebral bodies above and below.

A number of problems with the discs in the neck (cervical discs) can cause symptoms in patients. The two most commonly seen problems are disc herniations (abnormal protrusions of a portion of the disc material) and disc degeneration (changes in the disc seen in normal aging and also in injury). There are seven vertebral bodies in the cervical spine. The first two are fairly specialized. The rest are quite similar to one another. The most common levels for disc problems are in descending order C6-C7 (C refers to cervical and the number refers to the number of the vertebral body counting from the top), C5-C6, C7-T1 (here the T refers to the thoracic spine, the part that the ribs attach to), C4-C5 and very rarely C3-C4. Pressure on a nerve root is referred to as cervical radiculopathy.

Cervical disc herniations can press on the spinal cord and cause a problem called cervical myelopathy. This group of symptoms differs from the symptoms caused by pressure on the nerve roots. In general, cervical myelopathy is a more urgent problem than cervical radiculopathy.

Degenerative disc disease is a misunderstood condition, despite being one of the leading sources of back pain and neck pain. This condition is not actually a disease it is part of the normal aging of the spine. In this condition, the discs in the spine (the pillow-like pads between the bones) lose their cushioning. When this happens, it can cause persistent pain in the lower back, legs, neck or arms. Treatments for pain caused by degenerative disc disease can include medications and physical therapy. Sometimes back surgery is needed if the pain is severe and causes a person the inability to participate in everyday activities.

Disc degeneration is characterized by a loss of moisture retaining ability in the nucleus pulposus. This makes the disc shrink in height, diameter and mass. It is common for small annular tears to develop in the outer disc wall, especially in people who are very active or athletic. Small disc bulges are common and even ruptured discs affect many people without any painful symptoms. The most common area to experience disc degeneration is the lower lumbar spine, at levels L4/L5 and L5/S1. It is also very common to experience disc degeneration in the cervical spine, as well.