Pinched nerves
This is also known in medicine as cervical radiculopathy, which happens when the neck’s nerves are compressed or inflamed. The cervical spine contains nerve roots that come out of the vertebrae and can be compressed by the bony parts, mainly due to spinal disc degeneration. This causes a type of nerve dysfunction that features neck pain that radiates to the arms or another part of the body. These patients may also have muscle weakness, numbness, or tingling sensation in the skin.
A herniated disc is one of the most common causes of radiculopathy, and it happens in patients after the age of 50 years old. Another cause is arthritis, which narrows the openings in the vertebral bones. This problem is very common, especially in seniors, and the most commonly affected nerve roots are C6 and C7.
Pinched nerves usually affect one side of the body and cause pain, numbness, weakened reflexes, tingling, and muscle weakness in the shoulders, arms, chest, or upper back. The pain is often described as sharp or burning, sometimes reducing when the patient places the hands on top of the head. This cause of neck pain should be examined carefully to provide treatment according to each case, and your doctor may need to run a few imaging tests to diagnose the disease.