Myelopathy - Types, Causes And Symptoms

Myelopathy refers to any neurological deficit in the spinal cord. The three most common types of myelopathy are cervical myelopathy, lumbar myelopathy and thoracic myelopathy. Here are the causes and symptoms of myelopathy.

Causes

1. Injury

This is a very common cause of myelopathy. Any type of accident or even a traumatic event can cause myelopathy and perhaps even paralysis.

2. Spinal stenosis

This is a condition in which the spinal cord narrows. It is one of the leading causes of myelopathy.

3. Degenerative disc disorders

As you get older, these get more likely as well as other conditions which affect the spinal column such as osteoporosis.

4. Tumor

It is a little known fact that tumors very often do cause myelopathy.

5. Multiple sclerosis

There are many other diseases which may cause myelopathy and multiple sclerosis is one of them.

Symptoms

There are many indications that you are having a form of myelopathy and should consult a medical expert. Here are some of them :

1. Changes in coordination

What this means is that all of a sudden you may find it harder to move certain limbs the way you want to. Sometimes, this can affect the whole body.

2. Sudden muscle weakness

It is highly likely that if you have myelopathy then you will have sudden weakness in your muscles.

3. Decreased hand-eye coordination

This is perhaps the biggest indicator of myelopathy since hand eye coordination is directly linked to your spinal cord and brain and if they are not functioning properly then hand-eye coordination will be worse.

These are just some of the symptoms of myelopathy, however the doctor cannot diagnose myelopathy until he does certain tests. These tests include MRI scans and other tests as well as a regular physical check-up in addition to a look at your medical history.