When you’re experiencing back pain, it can feel like there’s no end in sight. However, knowing a little bit about how your back and spine works can actually go a long way in helping you to help your doctor or therapist in diagnosing your issues and thus helping you to overcome your pain and mobility issues. For example, were you aware that your entire back and spinal column acts as a huge telecommunications center from your brain to the rest of your body? While this is helpful to prevent you from getting injured or keep you out of trouble, it also means that when you are experiencing back pain, it can radiate from one part of your body and affect others. This is often referred to as Radiculopathy (Nerve Impingement).
Along the entire length of your spinal column, each one of your vertebrae has a series of nerve endings that come out of it to send signals to your body. Nerves nearer the top of your spine, known as the cervical spine, travel down through your arms to your fingers, whereas nerves in your lower back can cause your legs and feet to have pain. Essentially, when you feel pain radiating from your spine towards your extremities, you may be experiencing radiculopathic symptoms.
As with most back pain, ignoring it or trying to treat it at home is not a great idea. The longer your back pain goes undiagnosed, the longer your body has to degenerate and create bigger problems. The best course of action is to visit a specialist, who can use multiple techniques to help diagnose your symptoms and the cause of your back pain. Specialists such as Integrated Spine & Sports use many different methods to not only diagnose, but to treat your back pain, developing a plan that’s as individual as you are.
Source: https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/spine-anatomy/radiculopathy-radiculitis-and-radicular-pain
