Spinal pathologies

Cervical Radicular Pain

Cervical radicular pain or cervicobrachialgia is a painful condition caused by irritation, inflammation or compression of a cervical nerve root, producing pain radiating from the neck to the shoulder, arm, forearm or hand.

This condition can be accompanied by tingling, loss of sensation, muscle weakness, and functional limitation of the upper limb, significantly affecting the patient’s quality of life and daily activities.

Cervical radicular pain is one of the most frequent manifestations of degenerative pathologies of the cervical spine.

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What are the most frequent causes?

Compression or irritation of the cervical nerve roots can be caused by multiple factors, including:

Cervical disc herniation
Cervical disc protrusion
Cervical foraminal stenosis
Cervical osteoarthritis
Facet and ligamentous hypertrophy
Cervical degenerative disc disease
Vertebral instability
Periradicular fibrosis or adhesions

Sustained compression of the nerve root can generate neural inflammation and alterations in nerve conduction responsible for painful and neurological symptoms.

What are the most common symptoms?

Symptoms may vary depending on the affected nerve root and the degree of neural compression.
The most common symptoms include:

Neck pain radiating down the arm
Burning, electric shock, or stabbing pain
Tingling or paresthesia in the upper extremity
Loss of sensitivity
Muscle weakness
Cervical stiffness
Scapular or interscapular pain
Functional limitation of the arm and hand

In advanced cases, progressive neurological deficits may appear that require urgent specialized evaluation.

Specialized diagnosis

The diagnosis requires a detailed clinical and neurological assessment along with imaging studies and additional tests.

The correlation between clinical and radiological findings is fundamental to identifying the nerve root responsible for the pain.

Treatment of cervical radicular pain

Treatment will depend on the cause of the neural compression, the intensity of the symptoms, and the patient’s clinical evolution.

At VERTEBRA SpinePain & Regenerative SURGERY CENTERS we perform a comprehensive and personalized approach to cervical radicular pain by combining conservative, interventional and minimally invasive surgical treatments.
Among the available therapeutic options, the following stand out:

Specialized pharmacological treatment
Physiotherapy and cervical rehabilitation
Postural re-education and muscle strengthening
Selective root blocks
Radiofrequency and neuromodulation
Minimally invasive disc decompression techniques
Regenerative and Orthobiological Treatments
Minimally invasive and endoscopic cervical surgery in selected cases

The goal of treatment is to relieve nerve compression, reduce pain, and preserve the patient’s neurological and functional capacity.

At VERTEBRA SpinePain & Regenerative SURGERY CENTERS we have a specialized unit in cervical pathology and image-guided spinal intervention, offering advanced and personalized treatments for the comprehensive management of cervical and radicular pain, proven over a long experience of more than four decades.