Pinched Nerve in Neck Symptoms

Pain in the neck and shoulder region is often dismissed as muscle pain. However, it may not always be so. Neck pain may sometimes extend to the arm and fingers, which may be a cause of severe discomfort. This could be one of the many symptoms of pinched nerve in neck.

What is Pinched Nerve in Neck?

Sometimes the nerves radiating from intervertebral areas in the neck get compressed; there could be many causes behind nerves getting compressed. This compression leads to stress on the nerve, which emanates pain in the neck and adjoining areas like shoulders, arms & fingers and upper & lower back. Pinched nerve in neck is also known as cervical radiculopathy.

Causes of Pinched Nerve in Neck

Spinal arthritis: More commonly known as neck arthritis, this condition results from wear & tear of the joints or onset of osteoarthritis, which can become aggravated due to wrong neck postures. Often, there is the formation of bone spurs that lead to nerve compression or pinching.

Degenerative disc disease: Mostly seen in elderly people, the degenerative disc disease is viewed as a normal aging process of the disc where, due to continuous wear and tear, thickness of the disc decreases leading to increased proximity of the cervical vertebrae with the nerve getting trapped in between.

Herniated disc: Often referred to as slipped disc, a herniated disc is one, in which the center core of the disc extrudes into the spinal canal, forming a bulge that leads to compression of nerve. Although this commonly occurs in the lumbar region, it may also occur in the neck.

Sudden injury or trauma due to an accident: An impact-driven blow in the region of head and neck may cause irreversible damage to the spinal disc or cervical vertebrae, leading to pinching of nerve.

Pinched Nerve in Neck Symptoms

• Pain is usually one of the first few signs observed in case of pinched nerve in neck. This may be a sign that occurs before any other symptoms, which prompts patients to dismiss it as muscle pain or muscle fatigue.
• Simple numbness, tingling or burning sensation in the adjoining areas like shoulder region, arms and fingers, without mild pain, may be one of the signs. This radiating pain is often called referred pain. Conversely, there may be an increase in sensitivity observed in some cases.
• Muscle spasm in adjoining areas is accompanied by severe pain.
• Sometimes, pain and other symptoms may be seen in one or both arms in a patient. This condition is referred to as cervicobrachial syndrome. The radiating pain experienced in upper limbs may be acute and sharp-shooting (which is an indication of involvement of the dorsal root ganglion) or dull-aching in nature (which is a sign of involvement of nerve root).
• Sometimes the pain that is diffused in upper parts of the body spreads out in shoulder and upper arm region, which makes it difficult for patients to pin point the painful areas and exact source of pain.
• Headaches in the back region of head (the occipital region) or in temple region.
• The occipital headaches are responsible for causing pain in areas behind the eyes.
• Pain may be felt individually in each finger, which assists in the diagnosis of nerve that is getting pinched.
• There may be a delayed reflex response or feeling of weakness in muscles.
• All the symptoms of pinched nerve in neck can worsen instantly due to sudden jerky movements like coughing, sneezing, etc.

These are some of the symptoms of pinched nerve in neck. Although most cases do not need surgery and can be cured with a decent success rate, it is of utmost importance that, if any patient exhibits symptoms of pinched nerve in neck, his/her case be diagnosed at the earliest to avoid further complications.