Neck Pain and symptoms associated with Cervical Radiculopathy

Ask Yourself Why do we you get neck pain?

A sports physiotherapy based management of Injury. Neck pain can be related with so many differential causes but in this informative article you will learn what is neck pain and how its associated by cervical radiculopathy. At MY Sports Injury Clinic in Manchester our clinical team of Sports Physiotherapy experts, provide you great knowledge and insight into this condition and how Sports Physiotherapy can improve acute neck trauma and pain management.

What science says about Cervical Radiculopathy? What Exactly is it?

Radiculopathy is linked up to symptoms that you are likely to bear when there is a spinal nerve root compression. The Nerve roots becomes irritated and inflamed resulting in neurological dysfunction for example the sensation of numbness, tingling, weakness or change in motor reflexes; this can radiate from the neck into the shoulders or forearm as far as the fingertips!  

Let’s Dive a little a bit further into cervical radiculopathy

The Are two common types of Cervical Radiculopathy which include:

1.    Cervical foraminal stenosis.  

This is where the nerve root canal exits the vertebral spine and becomes narrower reducing the space between the vertebrae joint and nerve exit which irritates and inflames the joint. This can lead to cervical disc degeneration or osteoarthritis.

2.    Cervical herniated disc.   

Cervical discs can also leak out fluid like substance which can further irritate and inflame Neighbouring nerves resulting in cervical radiculopathy. Disc herniations in the neck most commonly occur from a direct Injury i.e road traffic incidents, high intensity rugby tackles, boxing punch to the neck / head leading to cervical radiculopathy of pain down the forearm.

Nerve compression is tied in to degenerative changes in the spine also known as Spondylosis or disc herniation may take place after a trauma or without a previous one. Our Sports Injury specialists will let you know one thing very clear and it is that not every disc herniation can yield pain or nerve compression.    

• Nerves in your neck give strength and sensation to your arms.
• On the other hand, nerves in your lower back give strength and sensation to your legs.

Remember these takeaways.

Indeed, some people have neck pain that can radiate to the shoulder and arm. This kind of pain is often generated by an injury near the root of a nerve in the spinal cord (spinal nerve). An injury to the nerve root is sometimes called a "pinched" nerve.

How can we know that our neck pain is related to Cervical Radiculopathy?  What are the symptoms?

In general radiculopathy is described as a condition in which the nerve is compressed as we mentioned it before. However the symptoms caused by this condition can be overlooked and be confounded with another neck aches and conditions, for this reason it is appropriately necessary to attend to a private healthcare Sports Injury Clinic. MY Sports Injury Clinic | Manchester provides free phone consultations to complex Injuries and can be treated by our team of professional health practitioners.

Sports Physiotherapy treatment and intervention can help tackle this to firstly understand what are the symptoms and causes of cervical radiculopathy precisely, or further explore Neck Pain Acupuncture to obtain pain relief and self management aftercare.

Acupuncture's Effectiveness for Cervical Radiculopathy?

“Great outcomes were viewed over 90% of the cases; the prognosis is quite good on applying acupuncture treatment as a conservative management to relieve upper limbs and neck pain caused by Cervical Spondylotic Radiculopathy (CSR)” Motohiro Inoue, Hiroshi Kitakoji, Megumi Itoi and Miwa Nakajima (2013).

What are the Cervical Radiculopathy symptoms and causes ins and outs?

Tingling or numbness displaying leg/foot or arm/hand sensory changes.

Bowel and bladder changes displaying incontinence and missing control of bowel and bladder function caused by the nerve compressed itself or for other anatomy structure.

Pain that radiates down the arm, sometimes back to the scapula and definitely the neck area.

Individuals who happen to have such symptoms, treatments such as sports massage, deep tissue treatments, physical manual therapy can be beneficial in reducing these on-going symptoms.

Is it possible to have both sides (bilateral) pain over my neck?

Yes, it is possible. In the setting, you may have bilateral pain but it is seldom when you are in bilateral neck pain. Overall, it is unilateral. It can aggravate sitting for long periods of time, sneezing or coughing. Do not wait anymore to take control over your condition and make the right choices which will impact your lifestyle.

Attend Sports Injury Specialist Clinic in Manchester, what are you waiting for?

How Sports massage can benefit your Recovery? Is it really effective?

Warren Magnus; Omar Viswanath; Fassil B. Mesfin pointed out that “You can accomplish extraordinary results treating your Cervical Radiculopathy condition by non-surgical process such as sport massages in Manchester; studies have shown that closely to 85% of acute C.R patients can be addressed with unspecific and non-surgical process during a period of time nearby of 8-12weeks.

In order to set a stepwise sports massage approach to acute cervical radiculopathy it is imperative to take into account anti-inflammatory drugs, Sports physical therapy and complementing sports massages treatments amongst further certisone steroid injections for more comples cases of injury” (2020) per source.

What types of sports massage services are offered at MY Sports Injury Clinic Manchester?

Here are some of your options: Deep tissue massage therapy or also called sports massage. Sports massage in Manchester city centre focuses deep tissue techniques to prime the soft tissues in their recovery process. This enhances the physiological state of the muscles tissues and help to prevent future injuries or symptom regressions.

What are the physiological effects of sports massage on the human body?

• Creates favorable conditions for optimal recovery of sports injuries.
• Relaxes and removes tension from the muscular system.
• Sports massage favors the increase in the level of preparation, increases the development of physical qualities.  
• Recovers and increases the general and special work capacity for each part of the body and the entire organism. ·      Eliminate pain sensations caused by sports injuries.
• Prepare the athlete as well as possible for competition.
• Increases work capacity due to increased exchange in muscle.
• Calms discomfort and improves joint mobility.
• Muscle relaxation, all these physiological effects of sports massage are due to the implementation of based management sports injuries.

Do you know the difference between sports massage and swedish massage?

While Swedish massage focuses on improving lymphatic blood circulation and relaxing superficial muscles; deep tissue massage focuses on connective tissue, and the goal is to produce changes in freedom of movement and posture, that is the main difference.

Do you prefer surgical treatment plus physiotherapy or only physical therapy to treat your cervical radiculopathy? Which is more effective?

“A random study was made in a period of time from 5 to 8 years; results of surgical treatment against conservative treatment in patients sustaining cervical radiculopathy were that the anterior cervical decompression and fusion surgery compounded with sports massage and physical therapy reduced and improved neck disability and pain comparing to physical therapy and just sports massages the first one procedure showed effectively outcomes. Patient self-assessment about treatment results was higher in the surgery group, too. There were not significant discrepancies between both groups of patients regarding to health outcomes and aches related” (2017) study published by Bengt Lind, Markus Engquist, Ludek Vavruch, Håkan Löfgren, Anne Söderlund, Birgitta Öberg, Anneli Peolsson,  Anders Holtz.

How can sports or deep tissue massage help with post recovery?

A post recovery deep tissue massage or sports massage right after sports competition or training is designed to: ·      Help you recover from physical effort. ·      Eliminate lactic acid build-up. ·      Reduce pain after exercise. ·      Restore range of motion and blood flow to tight muscles. ·      It can also give the athlete a great psychological boost. ·      A post-event massage is administered on site during the end of the event for approximately 10-15 minutes.

Why should you take sports massages sessions?

Whether you are a professional athlete or an amateur athlete and you are looking to improve your physical condition, as well as improve your athletic performance, the ideal would be to include a deep tissue sports massage as part of your weekly training plan as a preventive measure against injuries and for rehabilitation and sports recovery.

What is the frequency of sports massage treatment? How long should sports massages last? This type of massage lasts approximately one hour and a quarter when it comes to maintenance sports massage that has the purpose of maintaining or improving movement and muscle flexibility, the preparatory one lasts 30 minutes, which seeks to improve performance during the sporting event, and the recovery one that lasts approximately one hour, its primary function is to reduce muscle spasms and the metabolic increase that occurs with rigorous exercise, helping the athlete to recover to be able to return to training as soon as possible or to compete.

How many days should you wait between every sports massages session at sports injury clinic Manchester?

  REFERENCES ·     

·  Peolsson A, Peterson G, Hermansen A, Ludvigsson ML, Dedering Å, Löfgren H. Physiotherapy after anterior cervical spine surgery for cervical disc disease: study protocol of a prospective randomised study to compare internet-based neck-specific exercise with prescribed physical activity. BMJ Open. 2019 Feb 19;9(2):e027387.

·      Hassan KZ, Sherman Al. StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing; Treasure Island (FL): Jul 20, 2020. Epidural Steroids.

·      Doughty CT, Bowley MP. Entrapment Neuropathies of the Upper Extremity. Med Clin North Am. 2019 Mar;103(2):357-370.

·      Carlesso LC, Macdermid JC, Gross AR, Walton DM, Santaguida PL. Treatment preferences amongst physical therapists and chiropractors for the management of neck pain: results of an international survey. Chiropr Man Therap. 2014 Mar 24;22(1):11.

·      Zhu LG, Wei X, Wang SQ. Does cervical spine manipulation reduce pain in people with degenerative cervical radiculopathy? A systematic review of the evidence, and a meta-analysis. Clin Rehabilit 2016;30:145–55.

·      Cui XJ, Yao M, Ye XL, et al. Shi-style cervical manipulations for cervical radiculopathy: a multicenter randomized-controlled clinical trial. Medicine 2017;96:72–6.

·      Fong Seong K. Clinical study on non-operative composite therapy for cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. J Nanjing Univ Chin Med 2013.