Sensitivity disorders /Dermatoms | Symptoms of a slipped disc of the cervical spine

Sensitivity disorders /Dermatoms

The dermatomes of the cervical spine are the areas of skin that are supplied by the nerve fibres of a specific spinal cord root. In the area of the cervical spine, 8 spinal cord roots originate from C1 – C8. However, there is no dermatome that can be assigned to the first spinal cord root, as this does not supply a specific skin area, but only mediates the control of movements.

In the case of herniated discs in the cervical spine, the dermatomes are very helpful for diagnosis, since in the case of sensory disturbances or numbness in the skin areas of the individual dermatomes, the location of the defective disc can be inferred. Miss sensations, which are expressed in the area of the thumbs and index fingers, would indicate increased pressure of the intervertebral disc on the nerve root C6. Sensory disturbances in the middle fingers indicate a herniated disc at a height of C7 and sensory disturbances in the ring and little fingers at C8.