Cervicothoracic Junction Disc Herniations Respond to Brooks Chiropractic

Thoracic disc herniations. They are not very ordinary. They’re not mentioned much. But thoracic disc herniations do exist. The C7/T1 disc herniations are even more unusual and are reported in the spine literature more because of their unusualness. Soft Health and Healing Clinic welcomes unusual! Unusual merits care and attention. Soft Health and Healing Clinic tends to unusual presentations like thoracic disc herniations, especially those at the C7/T1 spinal level aka the cervicothoracic junction where the neck links with the upper back.

C7/T1 disc herniations are unusual from their adjacent segments, cervical disc herniations (neck) and thoracic disc herniations (mid-back). Why? They tend to herniate laterally (out to the side) rather than centrally. What makes that unusual? The C7/T1 disc level doesn’t normally have Luschka joints. These joints hold the intervertebral discs in place and lessen the risk of herniation. They allow flexion and extension and restrain the amount of lateral flexion in the cervical spine. There is a report of a rare occurrence of a central C7/T1 disc herniation that caused lower extremity numbness and weakness along with gait disturbance though in a patient who tells of no or very little hand pain or numbness that would otherwise be anticipated. (1) Know that your Brooks chiropractor will do a careful examination and discern the root cause of your pain with awareness of unusual occurrences like this.

C7/T1 disc herniations account for 3.5% to 4% of all herniated cervical discs. (2,3) They tend to be misdiagnosed due to their unusual neurological findings. C7/T1 disc herniations (aka herniations of the C8 disc) instigate weakness in hand muscles.  The C8 nerve roots exit between the C7 vertebra and the T1 vertebra. (4) These nerves are positioned above the C8 disc making it unusual for a disc herniation to press on the C8 nerve. (5) Nonetheless when it does, a C7/T1 disc herniation usually shoots pain down the arm into the ring and pinky fingers (which sometimes confuses the case as pain here also suggests of ulnar neuropathy). (3,4) It will not be confusing to your Brooks chiropractor though! Soft Health and Healing Clinic knows the tests to do and questions to ask to make the diagnosis.

Listen to a podcast about neck pain helped with Cox Technic.