What’s the Connection Between Nerve Pain and Spinal Conditions?

TL;DR: Nerve pain that shoots, burns, or tingles in the arms or legs often stems from spinal conditions that compress or inflame nearby nerves. These disruptions can affect sensation, movement, and overall quality of life.

• Spine–nerve link: The Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System work together, so spinal damage easily impacts nerve function.

• Main causes: Herniated discs, spinal stenosis, degeneration, arthritis, and foraminal narrowing.

• Key symptoms: Radiating pain, tingling, numbness, muscle weakness, and loss of coordination.

• Primary care: Physical therapy, anti-inflammatory or nerve medications, posture correction, and targeted injections.

• Advanced care: Procedures such as minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery can decompress nerves and speed recovery.

Nerve pain is often caused by spinal conditions. But why?

Many people are surprised to learn that the spine and nervous system are connected, so when spinal structures get inflamed or damaged, they can compress nerves nearby, causing various unwanted symptoms in the process that can affect sensation, motor skills, and even autonomic processes such as bladder function or digestive function.

Regardless of the specific issues you may be experiencing, nerve pain almost always decreases one’s quality of life and is rarely fun. That said, treatment methods often depend on what is causing the pain. So, let’s explore how spinal conditions may be contributing to your nerve pain now.

We hope that this information sheds light on why you may be experiencingnerve pain alongside back or neck pain. But remember – ultimately, the only way to receive a proper diagnosis and individualized treatment plan is to schedule a consultation with a qualified spine surgeon.

How are the Spine and Nerves Connected?

Technically, the nervous system and spine are one and the same. It’s true that in the human body, the nervous system consists of much more than only the spine. But it’s also true that the spine is in fact a part of the nervous system. How is that possible? When many people refer to the “nervous system”, they actually mean the peripheral nervous system and not the entire nervous system.

The human body has a nervous system that is broken into two branches: 1) the central nervous system (CNS) and 2) the peripheral nervous system (PNS).

• The CNS is comprised of two main components, the brain and spinal cord, and it controls both the processing of sensory information (such as when you touch something or feel temperature) and motor control (including both voluntary and involuntary movements).

• The PNS is kind of like an extension of the CNS. It extends from the brain to various parts of the body. This is the part of the nervous system that contains nerves and sensory receptors that pick up on sensory stimuli. These signals eventually get processed by the CNS.

When parts of the spine (CNS) such as intervertebral discs, facet joints, or surrounding ligaments become injured for any reason or degenerate due to age-related wear-and-tear, they can put pressure on the nerves (PNS). This is why spinal conditions (again, CNS) often cause nerve pain (PNS).

Which Spinal Conditions Cause Nerve Pain?

As Penn Medicine notes, nerve root pain such as that experienced in the extremities is most often caused by spinal nerve compression from herniated discs, arthritis, or spinal stenosis.

Back or neck pain, whether radiating or localized, often has similar causes.

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, common causes of spine and nerve pain include herniated discs, degenerative spondylolisthesis, and spinal stenosis, among other culprits.

Where symptoms present (i.e. in the fingers vs. feet. vs. back) simply depends on which muscles, nerves, and joints a spinal condition impacts.

That said, while each individual’s presenting symptoms may be different, these spine conditions are often the overarching cause of back or nerve pain:

• Herniated discs: This occurs when the jelly-like center of an intervertebral disc pushes through its tough outer layer, pressing on a nearby nerve root.

• Spinal stenosis: This is a narrowing of the spinal canal, which can squeeze the spinal cord or the nerves that branch out from it.

• Degenerative disc disease: As discs age, they can lose water and shrink, leading to reduced shock absorption and inflammation, which can irritate nerves.

• Spondylosis (spinal arthritis): This condition involves the development of bone spurs on the vertebrae, which can crowd the space available for nerves.

• Foraminal narrowing: The small holes where spinal nerves exit become constricted, leading to pinched nerves.

What Symptoms Do These Conditions Cause?

Conditions such as those listed above may cause only back or neck pain, only nerve pain, or a combination of both. Nerve-related symptoms usually include:

• Shooting pain that travels down the arms or legs.

• Numbness or tingling sensations in the fingers, hands, feet, or toes.

• Muscle weakness.

• A burning or electric shock-like feeling.

• Stiffness or a loss of coordination.

What Are My Treatment Options?

In many cases, nerve pain caused by spinal conditions can be treated successfully, sometimes without surgery, and very often with minimally invasive surgery.

At Desert Spine and Scoliosis Center, we always recommend non-surgical treatments first.

If you haven’t yet tried physical therapy, pain management with NSAIDs or nerve medications, steroid injections or nerve blogs, postural and lifestyle adjustments, or ice and heat therapy, we can recommend a non-surgical treatment plan.

However, for those individuals who have tried conservative treatments with little success, surgery might be the next best step. This is especially true if symptoms worsen or interfere with things like balance, walking, or daily function.

Thankfully, if this is the case – or if imaging shows severe nerve compression – endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) may be a far less invasive alternative to traditional spine fusion. Instead of removing large chunks of bone and tissue, ESS uses a small camera and tiny tools to decompress nerves via miniscule 3-5 millimeter incisions. Insofar as surgery goes, ESS is ultra-minimally-invasive.

In practice, that often equates to benefits like same day discharge, minimal scarring, faster return to normal activity, and much more.

Read how endoscopic spine procedures relieve nerve pain without fusion here.

Get Relief from Nerve Pain Now

There’s no reason to suffer when treatment options for back, or neck, nd nerve pain abound.

If you continue to experience persistent back, neck, or nerve pain, radiating pain down your extremities, numbness, tingling or muscle weakness, and your symptoms don’t improve with rest or therapy, it’s time to seek out professional help.

Schedule a complimentary 45-minute consultation now with Dr. Baig to uncover the real reason for your nerve pain and get a customized treatment plan to experience pain relief once and for all.