 Cervical disc injuries
Disc injuries can occur in any part of the spinal column, although they are most problematic in areas where a slipped disc is prone to pinching a nerve exiting the spine. The cervical spine (neck) is a region where this can unfortunately occur. Cervical disc injuries can lead to neck pain which radiates down one or both arms if a nerve is pinched. Generally the referred pain in the arm (along with weakness or numbness) is considered more serious than neck pain itself.
In football, players can often continue to play with a minor cervical disc injury, but in a case where a nerve is pinched then rest and even surgery may be required. Rest can help as slipped discs tend to dissolve over time. The goal of surgery is to remove the prolapsed fragment whilst leaving as much of the other tissues alone (especially the spinal cord and nerves). For this type of neck injury, manipulative treatment (e.g. by chiropractor) is generally not recommended as it can shift the slipped disc further and make it worse. Sometimes cortisone injections guided by a radiologist using an X-ray can shrink the inflammed tissue around the nerve and free it up.
Cervical dis c injuries are most common in rugby union forwards, who place large loads through the cervical spine during scrummaging. However the backline is not immune, Luke Rooney (panthers) suffered this injury and missed most of the 2007 season.
Read about cervical disc injuries at emedicine.com (Detailed scientific paper but comprehensive with good references).
Click on photo to enlarge. The disc (grey) slips backwards and pinches (red arrow) the spinal cord and nerve root exiting the cord (yellow).
To post a comment or ask a question about these injuries, visit the injuryupdate Forum, click here .
 Anatomical
pictures in this Website are provided by www.primalpictures.com
| LEGEND |
 Forum Post |
 Research |
 Internal Link |
 PDF Document |
 Recommended Link |
 Website Content |
 Satire |
 Magazine Article |
 Newspaper Article |
|
|
