What is radiculopathy?
Radiculopathy can cause pain, numbness, or tingling in the area of a spinal nerve.
There are 3 types of radiculopathy:
- Cervical;
- Thoracic;
- Lumbar.
This diagnosis means that a nerve root is irritated or compressed.
No one is immune to radiculopathy, but the disease is more common in people over 50 years of age.
It is a rare disease; although neck, back, and lower back pain are very common complaints, it is rare for it to be caused by radiculopathy.
The following symptoms are characteristic:
- Pain in the area of the damaged nerve;
- A tingling sensation;
- Numbness;
- Muscle weakness.
Possible causes include:
- Trauma, such as a fall or accident;
- Bone spurs;
- Disc herniation.
In some clinical cases, the cause is age, biological aging, and no other pathological risk factors are identified. As you know, with age, the bone and spinal disc lose their shape and elasticity. This natural degeneration and weakness is quite enough to damage the nerve.
Source:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22564-radiculopathy
