Ok, so now that you've determined there's a high probably you may have cervical radiculopathy, what do you do about it? Lucky for your, there's a host of treatment options available. And by far the BEST TREATMENT is to AVOID THOSE THINGS THAT PISS IT OFF!! First, a little background anatomy on the cervical spine. The nerve roots responsible for cervical radiculopathy run through little spaces called intervertebral foramen in the cervical spine. As we discussed early, when space occupying lesions like herniated disc material or arthritic osteophytes get into this space, it can lead to nerve root compression. And due to this compression, inflammation arises in the intervertebral foraman and around the nerve root, causing your symptoms. So, if we can alleviate the trigger ie the compression causing the inflammation, we can alleviate your pain! We can EASILY do this by PREVENTING THOSE MOTIONS THAT CLOSE THE INTERVERTEBRAL FORAMAN, namely EXTENSION, ROTATION to the side, and SIDEBEND to the side. All of these motions cause the IVF to get smaller, and subsequently compress the nerve root! So, if you have right sided cervical radiculopathy, STOP LOOKING TO THE RIGHT!!! • When standing, turn your body instead of your neck! • If you're at work, try to position your screen and other objects of interest on the OPPOSITE side so you don't have to look to the right! Furthermore, LOOKING UP or extension usually is an aggravating position. So try your best to look up with your EYES and your thoracic spine. One of the worse things you can do at the computer is to let your head come forward. When you do so, you are essentially extending at the cervical spine to keep your eyes forward on the screen! OUCH!!
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