Tag: radicular pain

Stenosis: Episode 36

  • In this episode: Stenosis – basically it is narrowing of the spinal canal and it is quite common.

  • Chip Review: Funny-Frisch Kessel Chips Sweet Chili & Red Pepper Big Thank you to Liz Schneider for bringing these back from Germany

  • Trivia question of the week: Who was the shortest US president?

  • Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional episode specific information throughout the week.

  • Thanks for listening!!

Today we are going to be discussing stenosis and we will be reviewing the Funny-Frisch Kessel Chips Sweet Chili & Red Pepper. These chips have been delivered to us by Liz Schneider following her recent trip to Germany.
Stenosis, simply is narrowing of the spinal canal. Usually bone related but can be from other structures. Thickening of the ligamentum flavum is one. I just saw a great ligamentum flavum at the Museum of Technology in San Jose. They had a Body Works exhibit with Flamenco dancers. One of the dancers had her back opened and you could see the ligamentum flavum nicely.
The ligamentum flavum means yellow ligament. It runs along the inside of the spinal canal. If that thickens it will narrow the space and play a role in stenosis.
Stenosis is not a disk bulge, it is not disk degeneration, it has nothing to do with disks. Most people report Low back pain or Sciatica. The most common additional change you will see with it is a spondylolisthesis. This is when one vertebra is shifted forward of backward relative to the ones above or below it.
Sometime stenosis is referred to as shoppers’ disease. One of the classic symptoms is that you can walk for about 200 feet up to a half-mile the pain become to much and then you need a break. You will also see this as someone who has to bend or hunch over his or her shopping cart to prevent symptoms.
In almost all cases symptoms are reduced with sitting or other forms of spine flexion. This immediate reduction in symptoms is one of the tale-tale signs that someone is dealing with stenosis. This symptom pattern is known as neurogenic claudication.

Radicular Pain: Episode 22

  • Radicular pain occurs when a nerve root is irritated. It is most common in the lumbar spine and is often referred to as sciatica. Radicular pain does also occur in the cervical spine with symptoms being felt in the arm and hands.
  • We review Late July Snacks Green Mojo Multigrain Tortilla Chips
  • Trivia question of the week: Can you name 3 countries whose English spellings begin with D?
  • Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional episode specific information throughout the week.
  • Thanks for listening!!

 

 

Today we are reviewing Late July Mild Green Mojo Tortilla Chips compliments of Pattie Skiles and we are going to cover radicular pain. Ridiculous pain. That’s radicular pain. That’s what I said. Oh, you jokester. Haha, radicular pain.

 

Radicular pain is more common from the lumbar spine. It tends to be called sciatica at that point. That is the most common one you will hear of. That’s one of those terms, sciatica. It’s kind of like hip pointer. It’s not very definitive is it. It dose not really mean much. No.

 

You also have radicular pain cervically. Which is not as common, thankfully, but does occur. It does not have a cool name like sciatica. You can call it brachiaca. I guess. yeah you could. Compression of the bracial plexus. Then you are almost talking about thoracic outlet syndrome. We will talk about that at a later date.

 

Radicular pain typically is caused by some irritation on the nerve root. That can be a disk herniation, a bone spur, potentially following a more traumatic injury a fracture, ligament strain or tear. Often you might see a facet joint issues. But the biggest cause is inflammation.

 

In other words; radiculopathy or radicular pain is a symptom, not a diagnosis. So it is a symptom, typically where inflammation sites by the nerve root and causes irritation on that. Inflammation by itself is nothing more than an irritant. So when it sits there and irritated that nerve you get symptoms along the distribution of that nerve or group of nerves.

 

If you have nerve root irritation the pathway is not necessarily predictable like sciatica. So if you have pinching or inflammation along on nerve root anywhere along the lumbar spine. It will refer along the distribution pattern of that nerve. You can have pain in the groin, pain in your big toe, pain on the inside of your thigh. But ridiculer pain can come also if you have distal compression of the sciatic nerve. Then it will follow the distribution of the sciatic nerve, which is along the back of your thigh and into your calf.

 

The biggest one to remember there is the piriformis muscle and piriformis syndrome.

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