The sun is shining, you’re in your best beach attire, you’re working up a sweat (and a tan) with some beach volleyball and neck pain strikes. Don’t end up sitting this season out; make sure to avoid injuries by following these simple steps to have fun in the sun and do some great smashes over that volleyball net. Read more
Unlike lumbar and thoracic curves, cervicothoracic junction (CTJ) kyphosis, a distinctive and complex cause of neck pain and other symptoms, is not normally associated with scoliosis. Instead, CTJ deformity involves a sagittal imbalance, where the spine takes on abnormal curvature front to back rather than side to side.
Treating CTJ deformity can be difficult and likely involves back and neck surgery to reconstruct the spine in order to restore balance and realign the neck and head. Read more
Sometimes a pinched nerve in the neck can arise when an anatomical abnormality in the upper, or cervical, spine – such as a bulging disc, herniated disc, calcified ligament, or bone spur – places pressure on the spinal cord or a nerve root. Nerve compression can cause symptoms of localized pain, radiating pain, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness. The severity and frequency of your symptoms will vary from those of other patients, but it doesn’t mean that living with those symptoms will be any less difficult. There are some initial steps you can take to help relieve your symptoms and make getting through each day a little easier. Read more
A bone spur in the cervical (neck) region of the spine does not often cause recognizable symptoms. In fact, many people develop these excess growths of bone and never even realize they exist. Others might experience nothing more serious than a popping or cracking sound, known as crepitus, that arises when they turn their head left or right. Still others might begin to feel mild stiffness, especially after sleeping or after hours of sitting hunched over a computer keyboard or standing at a work station. Then, there are more severe symptoms related to a spinal bone spur. These can become debilitating, or at the very least cause a person to scale down their level of physical activity. Read more
Cervical bone spur treatment is a means to alleviate or manage symptoms associated with the growth of excess bone along the sides or edges of the vertebrae located within the neck region of the spine. Far more often than not, someone with bone spurs (osteophytes) within the spine never even realizes they are there. That’s because most bone spurs cause nothing more serious than a popping or cracking noise called crepitus, which can be heard occasionally when the head is turned.
Debilitating, chronic symptoms associated with spinal bone spurs can include pain, tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness in the upper extremities. These symptoms are caused by spinal nerve compression.
Read more
Two newly published studies have found that minimally invasive surgery for neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (NTOS) can significantly improve patients’ symptoms. This relatively uncommon condition causes neck pain, paraesthesia in the arms, neck and hands, numbness and weakness in the upper body and is more frequent in young, active and generally healthy patients.
One of the studies found that a fairly recently developed type of surgery is particularly helpful at relieving thoracic outlet syndrome in adolescents when the pinched nerves are being caused by the pectoralis minor tendon. Read more
Is your neck pain really due to RA or are you vitamin B12 deficient?
Recognizing the symptoms of spinal cord compression can lead to prompt treatment and a more positive prognosis, but what if symptoms of cord compression in the cervical spine are really being caused by an underlying vitamin B12 deficiency? Read more
It is easy to see how even slight swelling of the thyroid gland could trigger pinched nerve pain.
Learning how to treat spinal stenosis can be difficult enough, and managing the symptoms of pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness that can travel through your spine and extremities is even more frustrating. So what do you do when you’re at work, are trying to be productive, but the nagging symptoms of spinal stenosis are distracting you? For most people with mild to moderate spinal stenosis, taking time off work when symptoms flare up simply isn’t an option, so it’s important to learn how you can manage symptoms while on the job.
If you are suffering from a pinched nerve in your neck, treatment in the form of temperature therapy may help bring you relief when used in conjunction with other conservative treatments. The benefits of applying hot and cold compresses to injured areas of the body have been known for hundreds of years, and today, physical therapists employ temperature therapy as a major facet of rehabilitation for injuries, postoperative pain, and degenerative conditions like pinched nerves in the spine.