Myelopathy

Cervical myelopathy refers to this compression of the cervical spinal cord as a result of spinal stenosis. Cervical spinal stenosis with myelopathy is more common in elderly patients.

People with cervical stenosis with myelopathy may note one or more of the following spinal stenosis symptoms:

• Heavy feeling in the legs
• Inability to walk at a brisk pace
• Deterioration in fine motor skills (such as handwriting or buttoning a shirt)
• Intermittent shooting pains into the arms and legs (like an electrical shock), especially when bending their head forward (known as Lermitte’s phenomenon)
• Arm pain (cervical radiculopathy).

Often with cervical stenosis symptoms, it is the arm pain that prompts someone with this condition to seek medical treatment. At this point, the cervical stenosis with myelopathy is then discovered through medical history and physical exam.

Content courtesy of spine-health.com