Intervertebral Disc Damage (Discopathy): Symptoms, Complaints, Signs

The following symptoms and complaints may indicate discopathy (disc damage):

Back pain, usually affecting the lumbar region (lumbar spine) (lumbalgia).
Radiating back pain
Postural dysfunction (pain-induced relieving posture → evasive scoliosis/painful scoliosis).
Restricted mobility (movement restrictions of the spine).
Sensory deficits in the affected dermatome (skin area supplied by the sensitive fibers of a spinal nerve root; here: Paresthesias / numbness, tingling).
Muscle weakness or paralysis of certain muscles.

Compression of roots of the spinal cord nerves may cause further discomfort, depending on the location:

Cervicobrachial syndrome (synonym: shoulder-arm syndrome) – pain in the neck, shoulder girdle and upper extremities. The cause is often the compression or irritation of spinal nerves (spinal cord nerves) of the cervical spine; most common causes are myofascial complaints (pain in the musculoskeletal system, which do not originate from joints, periosteum, muscle diseases or other neurological diseases), for example, due to myogelosis (muscle hardening) or muscle imbalance of the cervical spine.
Sciatica syndrome (lumboischialgia) – root irritation syndrome in which pain occurs in the lumbar spine and in the supply area of the ischiadic nerve.
Kauda syndrome – it is a cross-sectional syndrome at the level of the cauda equina (anatomical structure located inside the spine in a sac of hard meninges (dura mater) and the arachnoid mater adjacent to it inside); this leads to damage to the nerve fibers below the conus medullaris (name for the conical, caudal end of the spinal cord), which is accompanied by flaccid paresis (paralysis) of the legs, often with urinary bladder and rectal dysfunction.

The above symptoms are usually unilateral, but can be bilateral in large herniated discs.

Radiculopathies

A radiculopathy is a chronic or acute irritation or damage to a nerve root (radix) with resulting sensory disturbances, pain, or paresis (paralysis).

Common forms of cervical radiculopathy (nerve root lesion/nerve root damage in the cervical spine) include

Complaints

Common forms of lumbar radiculopathy (nerve root lesion in the lumbar spine; sciatica syndrome).

Complaints