14 Potential Symptoms of Cervical Radiculopathy

A cervical radiculopathy can cause symptoms to occur which tend to radiate out and away from the neck. This means that even though the problem is in the spine, the symptoms may also be felt into the shoulder, further along into the arm, and right down into the hand.

The symptoms will usually be felt most prominently in the area where the nerve is located or where it travels. There are lots of potential symptoms that someone with cervical radiculopathy can expect to experience and 8 of those symptoms are listed and expanded upon here.

One person may experience all of these symptoms whilst another may experience one or two. The list is here for information purposes only and anyone who suspects that they might have a cervical radiculopathy would be best advised to seek medical help and advice at the earliest possible opportunity.

Don’t suffer in silence or try to get through the pain if you have any of these symptoms.

1. Swelling

Swelling is one possible symptom of this condition that people could quite happily do without. Swelling in the neck can make movement really difficult for anyone.

There are a few activities which become virtually impossible when cervical radiculopathy causes swelling. These activities include driving, which must be avoided should serious swelling occur. The reason for this is that even if you tell yourself you’re operating well enough through the pain barrier, the limitations of the swelling in terms of rotation and bending will cause too much of a blockage for you when you’re looking to see if a road is clear of it’s safe to enter a roundabout or a junction.

Not everyone with a cervical radiculopathy will develop swelling and swelling in the neck is not always a sign of cervical radiculopathy. It could be, but then again you might have just been stung by a bee. Swelling though, it’s not fun at all.