Question
I previously had X-Rays of my cervical spine  done and here are the results: There is a slight encroachment of the foramina on the right at C3-C4, which are region where nerves come out of the spine.  The foramina on the left are well maintained.  There is straightening of the normal cervical curvature.  What does this mean in layman terms.  Please help me, explain.  I'm having so much pain in my right arm and numbness.

Thanks

Answer
Hi Mr. Gary,

Sorry I wasn't able to get back with you immediately but we have severe flooding here in the midwest and in our house.

The foraminal encroachment is narrowing of the hole that forms between two neck bones for the nerve to exit the spine. Since it is narrowed on the right side you need to get it unnarrowed. This is accomplished with towel and home traction. Call around and find a DC that does traction to the neck with a towel and get a home traction over door unit from him. This will get you results in a week or two. All this is is a pinched nerve in the neck because the shock absorbers are shrinking in thickness, causing the diameter of the whole the nerve goes through to get smaller and compress the nerve. The disc needs to be rehydrated so it can expand affording more room for the nerve. Surgery is out of the question since this always eventually makes the patient much worse.

Cervical curve sraightening is bad because it puts greater stress on the neck joints causing arthritis. A Chiro will correct this.

Good Luck!

Dr. Timothy Durnin
drs.chiroweb.com