Symptoms
Signs that the long nerve tracts inside the spinal cord are affected include:
- Tightness in the muscle tone of the legs
- Deep tendon reflexes in the knee and ankle are heightened
- When the ankle is forced to extend, the foot beats up and down rapidly
- When the sole of the foot is scratched, the reflex of the big toe goes up instead of down
- Flicking the middle finger may cause the thumb and index finger to flex
- Coordination problems, including difficulty walking and placing one foot in front of the other foot
Causes and Risk Factors
A nerve can become pinched for a variety of reasons, including:
- Getting trapped between bones, tendons or ligaments
- Inflammation of the bones of the spine that may cause a narrowing of the canal through which the spinal cord runs
- Bone spurs or roughness inside the spinal canal that irritate the nerve
- Injuries
Conditions such as cervical or spinal stenosis may cause myelopathy.