MRI Scan of a Trapped Nerve in Neck

I came across a great educational video today showing you what a trapped nerve in your neck (a.k.a. cervical spine) looks like on a MRI scan. There are so many times a patient will come into to see the chiropractor carrying their MRI films of their neck, but do not understand what all the grey pictures means.

I think if you have had a MRI scan done on your neck before in order to try diagnose a trapped nerve pain condition in your neck, then you will enjoy the following video. It should hopefully explain to you in more detail what exactly or the grey MRI scan images of your neck mean.

MRI Scan of your Neck

MRI ~ The Trapped Nerve Scanner

Video of Cervical MRI Scan

The video below is by chiropractor and medical doctor, Dr Donald Corenman. Donald talks about the MRI done on a patient with a right arm pain. In this case a pinched spinal nerve root was the cause of the arm pain.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyWEXDSt7xY&

MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging and is a very detailed scan done by doctors to see the nerves and spinal discs in more detail than an x-ray.

Pinched nerves in your neck can also be called a cervical radiculopathy and do not have to cause lots of neck pain as well as the arm pain. This patient had no spinal cord compression from a herniated or bulging disc, which could cause a condition called cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Instead it was bony spurs (a.k.a. osteophytes) that were the cause of the nerve pain.

The bony spurs are a sign of osteoarthritis of the spine and degenerative changes in the disc (a.k.a. degenerative disc disease). The uncovertebral joints of the cervical spine are usually involved.

The MRI example showed this patient with these extra bony growths at their C5-6-7 spinal levels. So they could have an irritation to both the right C6 and C7 nerve roots coming out of their necks. This could cause the nerve pain.

Key Points From MRI Scans

So the key points for you if you are looking at your cervical MRI scans and the video example are that:

1. Spinal nerve roots  have small spaces to exit either side of the spine.
2. This is an example of a compressed right C7 nerve root.
3. Neck disc bulges are not always the cause of pain.
4. Degenerative bony spurs can pinch the nerve.
5. MRI scans are the best to see spinal discs and nerve roots.

Have you had an MRI scan of your neck done and been told that you have compressed nerve? Well I hope this video helped clear up some of your questions. In the meantime here are some self-help tips for trapped nerve neck pain relief you could read.