Dr Adriaan Liebenberg My Spine Explained | Page 17

My Spine Explained
Radicular pain
Radicular pain is caused by a pinched nerve and the pain will travel down the
length of the nerve and be most severe at the distal point of the nerve.
Radicular pain can, however, manifest at any point along the length of the
nerve. Both the physical compression of the nerve root and the inflammatory
changes in and around the nerve root are responsible for the pain.
When the nerve, for instance, between the fifth cervical vertebra and the sixth
cervical vertebra is being pinched, the pain will be experienced at the thumb
and index finger as this is where the nerve ends up. When the nerve, for
instance between the fourth lumbar vertebra and the fifth lumbar vertebra, is
being pinched, the pain will be experienced at the ankle and on the top of the
foot. It is typical that referred back pain spreads to the upper leg, but sciatica
would normally spread beyond the knee.
A pinched nerve may require surgery. Although surgery is very effective in
fixing unstable areas of the spine and loosening nerves that are being pinched,
it almost always leads to increased stress on the rest of the spine and is
believed to speed up the wear and tear of the spine.
The main aim of treating spinal pain should always be to support the normal
biological recovery processes of the body. Surgery is always the last option
and the aim of surgery would be to relieve the symptoms and to maintain the
normal biomechanical stability of the spine.
The Genetics of spinal pain
There is a definite and clear genetic trend in spinal pain that can be traced to
an inherent weakness of the cartilage of the intervertebral discs and the joints
of the spine that lead to wear - and - tear of the discs and oateoarthritis of the
joints. The wear - and - tear in the discs lead to mechanical pain and in cases
of severe damage to the discs, disc herniation and nerve root compression.
The arthitic changes in the joints lead to mechanical spinal pain.
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