If severe, it may cause pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots with subsequent sensory or motor disturbances, such as pain, paresthesia, imbalance, and muscle weakness in the limbs.

When the space between two adjacent vertebrae narrows, compression of a nerve root emerging from the spinal cord may result in radiculopathy.

[1] Radiculopathy is characterized by sensory and motor disturbances, such as severe pain in the neck, shoulder, arm, back, or leg, accompanied by muscle weakness.

The patient may experience shocks (paresthesia) in hands and legs because of nerve compression and lack of blood flow.

Therefore, Spurling's test, which take advantage of this phenomenon, is performed by extending and laterally flexing the patient's head and placing downward pressure on it to narrow the intervertebral foramen.

Degenerative process of spondylosis such as disc bulging, osteophyte formation, and hypertrophy of the superior articular process all contributes to the narrowing of the spinal canal and intervertebral foramen, leading to compression of these spinal nerves that results in radiculopathy-related symptoms.

Congenital cervical spine stenosis commonly occurs due to short pedicles (that form the vertebral arch).

The abnormal stress causes the body to form new bone in order to compensate for the new weight distribution.

[9] Degeneration of the intervertebral disc, facet joints, and its capsules, and ligamentum flavum all can also cause spinal canal narrowing.

[2] MRI and CT scans are helpful for diagnosis but generally are not definitive and must be considered together with physical examinations and history.

CT myelography is useful when the person is contraindicated to MRI scan due to presence of pacemaker or infusion pump in the body.

[10] Surgery is advocated for cervical radiculopathy in patients who have intractable pain, progressive symptoms, or weakness that fails to improve with conservative therapy.

However, physical therapy and osteopathy cannot "cure" the degeneration, and some people view that strong compliance with postural modification is necessary to realize maximum benefit from decompression, adjustments and flexibility rehabilitation.

Another option is to use a brace for a lumbar support and to minimize unnecessary harmful movements while promoting good posture.

[12] Current surgical procedures used to treat spondylosis aim to alleviate the signs and symptoms of the disease by decreasing pressure in the spinal canal (decompression surgery) and/or by controlling spine movement (fusion surgery) but the evidence is limited in support of some aspects of these procedures.

If the cervical spine is in a fixed kyphotic position and with one to two involved spinal segments, posterior approaches such as laminoplasty (removal of lamina with a bone graft or metal plate as replacement) or laminectomy (removal of lamina without any replacement) with or without fusion can be used for decompression.