I had an MRI examination of my neck a couple of weeks ago. I had discovered some difficulties lifting my leftie upper arm. Specifically, the deltoid muscle was paretic (meaning that it was weakened, but not completely paralyzed). In addition there was some (not severe) shoulder pain, and occasional tingling in the left arm.
So, my GP ordered an MRI, and this is what they found:
The left image is a longitudinal section taken from the side, and you can clearly see that the intervertebral discs betweenf the third and fourth cervical vertebra and below are protruding backwards, to some degree pressing on the spinal choird (the grey thingy). But that's not a particular significant find, and not enough to explain the symptoms.
The culprit is visible in the right image, which is a transversal section. between the 4rth and 5th vertebra. On the left side you can see that the opening out from the spinal canal (marked with an arrow) is very narrow, compared to the other side. This is exactly where the nerve roots supporting my left deltoid leave the spinal chord. This is caused by ostearthritis in the area, a sign that I'm growing old.
So, now we know why. And we also know what to do with it: Nothing. They (the neurosurgeons) could operate, but they (the neurosurgeons) won't operate. Except for the weakening of my left shoulder, the condition doesn't affect me much (no pain now), so, the risk of complications clearly exceeds the possible benefits of surgery.
For the record, I had a similar condition in the lower spinal canal a few years ago., This affected my walking (silly walk), and because of that they (the neurosurgeons) decided that an operation would be beneficial. And it turned out that indeed it was.
a pibbur who after this may have difficulties placing suitcases on the shelves above seats in trains, but is not much troubled by it
PS. If any of you get confused by me referring to the left opening, when it's clearly to the right side in the image: 1) We always refer to right and left from the perspective of the patient. 2) We look at transverse sections from below. DS.