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Radiculopathy
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TOPIC: Radiculopathy

Radiculopathy 18 years, 3 months ago #245

  • DocSarah
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Hi everyone, Kim has asked me to post something on Radiculopathy

Radiculopathy is the fancy medical term for any abnormality of nerve roots, which are the message pathways for sensory and motor information from the spinal cord to the body.

There are many different causes for radiculopathy and it can affect any part of the spine, so there is cervical radiculopathy that tends to affect the arms/shoulders; thoracic (less common) affecting the chest/abdomen; lumbar, affecting the pelvis and legs.

Common causes for radiculopathy include slipped discs.

Generally, doctors can tell which nerve root(s) is (are) affected, so will label the problem as ,for example, L5 radiculopathy. This is because each nerve root supplies a discrete area of sensory information (known as a dermatome) or movement (known as a myotome).

Arachnoiditis is a type of radiculopathy, because the affected nerve roots are like overcooked spaghetti sticking together, which scrambles the messages the roots carry.

Symptoms of radiculopathy include:

1. Sensory: Pain, tingling, odd sensations, electric shock etc.
2. Motor: weakness, cramps
3. If bladder/bowel nerves are affected (cauda equina syndrome) dysfunction (incontinence/loss of sensation/retention)

Some acute radiculopathy can be reversed by treatment (e.g. surgery like discectomy to remove a disc compressing the nerve root) but arachnoiditis is a chronic problem that unfortunately cannot be effectively cured.

I hope this clarifies this medical jargon. Let me know if you have any questions!

Regards,

DocSarah
[b]DocSarah
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