Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsDiagnosisCausesTreatments

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Symptoms

Diagnosis

Causes

Treatments

Spinal cord compression can occur anywhere in the spine, including in the neck (cervical spine) and the torso (thoracic spine). The condition is treatable, and treatment can include supportive therapies, medication, and surgery.

This article explores the causes and symptoms of spinal cord compression, as well as how it’s diagnosed and treated.

Spinal Cord Compression Symptoms

Depending on the cause of spinal cord compression, symptoms may develop slowly or quickly. Some injuries may cause immediate symptoms. Some health conditions—such as a tumor or infection—may cause symptoms that come on gradually over days or even weeks. Wear and tear of the spine takes years to develop.

Symptoms depend on where the pressure is located in the spinal cord. Pain is often the first symptom and more than 90% of people with spinal cord compression experience pain.

Common symptoms of spinal cord compression include:

The spinal cord is the bundle of nerves running down the middle of the back. It sends send messages back and forth from the brain to muscles and soft tissues.

Spinal cord compression may affect fine motor skills and coordination. This includes the coordination of fine muscles and daily activities, such as handwriting or buttoning a shirt. Spinal cord compression may also affect gait (how a person walks), reflexes, range of motion, and muscle movement.

Julie Bang / Verywell

Cauda Equina Syndrome

Pressure on the lower back can cause more serious symptoms, characteristic of a condition calledcauda equinasyndrome. Cauda equina syndrome is an emergency and warrants a trip to the emergency room.

Symptoms include:

In people with cauda equina syndrome, compression is confined to the lumbar spine (low back) below theconus medullaris(the lower part of the spinal cord).

You do not need to experience all the signs of cauda equina syndrome for a diagnosis to be made or for you to seek out immediate medical attention. Immediate medical attention is important so as to prevent lasting damage and possible permanent paralysis of the legs.

Diagnosing Spinal Cord Compression

To make a diagnosis, your healthcare provider will ask questions about your symptoms and do a complete physical exam. The exam will look for signs that indicate spinal compression, including abnormal reflexes, weakness, and loss of feeling in the legs and arms.

Tests that may help to make a diagnosis of spinal cord compression include:

What Causes Spinal Cord Compression?

Spinal cord compression has numerous possible causes. In some cases, however, compression can come on suddenly and no known cause can be determined.

Potential causes of spinal cord compression include:

Degenerative Conditions

Degenerative disc diseaseis a normal part of aging. This occurs when the disks of the vertebrae in your neck or back wear out.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis(RA) is a disease where the immune system attacks its own healthy tissues. In RA, immune cells attack the synovium, the thin membrane lining the joints. This process is called inflammation, and as the synovium becomes inflamed, you will feel pain and stiffness.

Long-term inflammation in the cervical spine can destroy the facet joints. Your facet joints are the joints in the spine that make your back flexible and allow you to bend and twist. When this occurs, the upper vertebra slides on top of the lower vertebra, causing compression.

Disk Herniation

A disk herniates when its jelly-like center—called thenucleus pulposus—pushes against its outer ring (annulus fibrosus). If the disk is severely worn or injured, the nucleus may squeeze all the way out. When a herniated disk bulges out towards the spinal cord, it puts pressure on the spinal cord, causing compression. Disk herniation can also occur with lifting, pulling, bending, and twisting movements.

Injuries

Anyinjury to the spine—such as a car accident, sports injury, or fall—can lead to spinal cord compression.

Bone Spurs

As a person ages, the disks in their spine start to lose height and begin to bulge. They also lose water content, dry out, and become stiff. The result is the collapse of disk space and loss of space height.

Tumors

Cancerous and benign (noncancerous) tumors sometimes grow in the space near the spinal cord. The tumor may put pressure on the cord, causing compression.

Spinal tumors potentially can cause paralysis and neurological problems. Sometimes, these growths are life-threatening and can lead to permanent disability.

Treatment is necessary for most tumors and may include surgery and medications. If a tumor is cancerous, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy are recommended.

Risk Factors

Anyone can injure their spinal cord or develop a health condition that leads to spinal cord compression. While injury is the main source, some causes are also risk factors that may increase the risk for the development of spinal cord compression.

For example, poor lifting practices can increase a person’s risk of injuring their neck or back, leading to spinal cord compression. Furthermore, people who have osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis have an increased risk of developing spinal cord compression.

Prevalence

Research shows that there are around 18,000 traumatic spinal cord injuries every year in the United States.Spinal cord injury incidence (i.e., newly diagnosed cases) in 2019 is estimated to have been 909,000 cases per one million people globally and 54 cases per million in the U.S.

Men account for more than 80% of all spinal cord injuries, and close to 90% of these aresports-related, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Both genders are equally affected when it comes to automobile accidents, falls, and gunshots. Incidences in women are often related to medical and surgical complications.

How Is Spinal Cord Compression Treated?

Treatment for spinal cord compression depends on the cause and the type of symptoms you are experiencing.

Many cases of spinal cord compression do require surgery, but in mild cases, your healthcare provider may recommend non-surgical therapies to decrease pain and improve your quality of life, such as medication and physical therapy.

Medications

For many people, medications can help to improve symptoms. This includes:

Top 5 Medications for Treating Chronic Pain

Physical Therapy

Physical therapyexercises can help with pain, strengthening neck muscles, and increasing flexibility. It can also help with maintaining strength and endurance so that you are better able to go about your daily activities.Chiropractic manipulationis not recommended for people with spinal cord compression.

Soft Cervical Collar

A cervical collar is a padded ring that wraps around the neck and holds it in place. Your healthcare provider may recommend a cervical collar to limit neck motion and allow the muscles in your neck to rest. A short collar is only recommended for short-term wear because long-term use may reduce muscle strength in the neck.

Surgery

When non-surgical treatment does not relieve symptoms, your healthcare provider may talk to you about whether surgery can help.Spinal decompression surgeryrefers to different procedures torelieve symptoms of compressionon the spinal cord or nerve roots. What your healthcare provider recommends will depend on many factors, including symptoms experienced and what parts of the spinal cord are involved.

Surgical options include:

5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cancer Research UK.Spinal cord compression.Dias ALN, Araújo FF, Cristante AF, Marcon RM, Barros Filho TEP, Letaif OB.Epidemiology of cauda equina syndrome. What changed [since] 2015.Rev Bras Ortop. 2017;53(1):107-112. doi:10.1016/j.rboe.2017.11.006Molinares DM, Gater DR, Daniel S, Pontee NL.Nontraumatic spinal cord injury: epidemiology, etiology and management.J Pers Med. 2022;12(11):1872. doi:10.3390/jpm12111872Ding W, Hu S, Wang P, et al.Spinal cord injury: the global incidence, prevalence, and disability from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2022;47(21):1532-1540. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000004417American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Spinal cord injury.Additional ReadingMerck Manual.Compression of the spinal cord.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (spinal cord compression).Johns Hopkins Medicine.Spinal cord compression.

5 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Cancer Research UK.Spinal cord compression.Dias ALN, Araújo FF, Cristante AF, Marcon RM, Barros Filho TEP, Letaif OB.Epidemiology of cauda equina syndrome. What changed [since] 2015.Rev Bras Ortop. 2017;53(1):107-112. doi:10.1016/j.rboe.2017.11.006Molinares DM, Gater DR, Daniel S, Pontee NL.Nontraumatic spinal cord injury: epidemiology, etiology and management.J Pers Med. 2022;12(11):1872. doi:10.3390/jpm12111872Ding W, Hu S, Wang P, et al.Spinal cord injury: the global incidence, prevalence, and disability from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2022;47(21):1532-1540. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000004417American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Spinal cord injury.Additional ReadingMerck Manual.Compression of the spinal cord.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (spinal cord compression).Johns Hopkins Medicine.Spinal cord compression.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Cancer Research UK.Spinal cord compression.Dias ALN, Araújo FF, Cristante AF, Marcon RM, Barros Filho TEP, Letaif OB.Epidemiology of cauda equina syndrome. What changed [since] 2015.Rev Bras Ortop. 2017;53(1):107-112. doi:10.1016/j.rboe.2017.11.006Molinares DM, Gater DR, Daniel S, Pontee NL.Nontraumatic spinal cord injury: epidemiology, etiology and management.J Pers Med. 2022;12(11):1872. doi:10.3390/jpm12111872Ding W, Hu S, Wang P, et al.Spinal cord injury: the global incidence, prevalence, and disability from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2022;47(21):1532-1540. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000004417American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Spinal cord injury.

Cancer Research UK.Spinal cord compression.

Dias ALN, Araújo FF, Cristante AF, Marcon RM, Barros Filho TEP, Letaif OB.Epidemiology of cauda equina syndrome. What changed [since] 2015.Rev Bras Ortop. 2017;53(1):107-112. doi:10.1016/j.rboe.2017.11.006

Molinares DM, Gater DR, Daniel S, Pontee NL.Nontraumatic spinal cord injury: epidemiology, etiology and management.J Pers Med. 2022;12(11):1872. doi:10.3390/jpm12111872

Ding W, Hu S, Wang P, et al.Spinal cord injury: the global incidence, prevalence, and disability from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2022;47(21):1532-1540. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000004417

American Association of Neurological Surgeons.Spinal cord injury.

Merck Manual.Compression of the spinal cord.American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (spinal cord compression).Johns Hopkins Medicine.Spinal cord compression.

Merck Manual.Compression of the spinal cord.

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (spinal cord compression).

Johns Hopkins Medicine.Spinal cord compression.

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