Herniated disc weak hand syndrome is another one of the many anatomical deficits blamed on mostly cervical herniated discs. In rare circumstances, a bulging disc can impinge on a cervical nerve root causing weakness or numbness in the neck, upper back, shoulder, arm, hands or fingers. In many other cases, the herniation is coincidental and innocent of causing any painful symptoms and is simply being used as a scapegoat by a care provider who has misdiagnosed the condition. There are many other possible explanations for weakness to exist in the hands.
This article will detail the link between disc protrusions in the neck and subsequent weakness in the hands. We will also look at alternative reasons for similar symptomatic expressions to exist coincidental to any discs issues which may be present.
Herniated Disc Weak Hand Relationship
Weakness in the hand may result from a pinched nerve in the cervical spine. However, in these cases, the weakness will be confined to the area served by the affected nerve root and is usually accompanied by objective numbness. There will be actual physical dysfunction. This is not typical of most patient complaints. Far more often, the expression consists of subjective weakness and numbness, often accompanied by pain and intermittent tingling.
These symptoms are not consistent with true nerve compression and are far more logically blamed on a muscular issue, like thoracic outlet syndrome, or far more commonly, an ischemia pain condition driven by a psychosomatic process. This is particularly true for patients who report worse symptoms in relation to work activities.
Central canal stenosis can certainly produce weakness in large and often variable locations in the anatomy. While disc bulges usually do not elicit stenosis by themselves, this can occur and is more likely when other contributory canal narrowing factors exist at the same level.
Of course, diagnosticians must not discount more localized reasons for weakness, including tendonitis, arthritis in the hands, carpal tunnel syndrome or muscular concerns in the hands themselves.
Herniated Disc Weak Hand Alternative Explanations
Weakness can be caused by neurological issues, circulatory issues or muscular issues. Often, there are components of all these causative factors responsible, such as in regional oxygen deprivation syndromes. In these ischemic cases, the subconscious uses the autonomic system to purposefully reduce blood flow to the smallest of arteries, enacting oxygen deprivation in all the soft tissues in a localized area. This causes the nerves to signal improperly, since their integrity has been compromised by the lack of oxygen.
Continued ischemia causes the muscular agony and spasms so common to back pain sufferers. This is the same type of back pain and sciatica which plagued me for 18 years and resisted all forms of treatment, since it had nothing to do with all my diagnosed herniated discs. This was pure iatrogenic error on the part of my treating doctors.
When ischemia symptoms exist in the hand, it is usually because the spinal nerve roots responsible for innervating the region are affected. This is also the reason why so many patients might demonstrate a coincidental herniation, but express symptoms in far too many areas of the shoulders, arms and hands to possibly come from any singular structural source. The ischemia can affect many nerve roots at once and truly cause the most diverse symptoms in many patients.
Herniated Disc Hand Weakness
If you have been diagnosed with a weak hand syndrome blamed on a herniated disc in the neck or upper back, you owe it to yourself to thoroughly research the condition before agreeing to any drastic treatment modality. Most herniated disc treatments fail so often for a reason and this reason is typically simple misdiagnosis.
Correctly identified disc issues can resolve quite easily and permanently in most cases using indicated care. If your pain, tingling, numbness or weakness persist despite a plethora of therapy practices, consider the very real possibility that you, like countless other millions, have been misdiagnosed.
Remember that a herniation-induced pinched nerve in the neck will produce a definite symptomatic pattern. Make sure to correlate the symptoms to the diagnosis with a qualified neurologist to lessen the chances of being inaccurately diagnosed.
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