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Gilmer, TX
A 27-year-old female asked:

If not properly treated, how does cervical and lumbar radiculopathy progress, or does it? could it lead to permanent damage or disability?

1 doctor answer3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Stephen Southard
Internal Medicine 17 years experience
It depends: This is very difficult to answer as it depends on what the cause of your radiculopathies are. They do tend to resolve with time without significant intervention but there are some cases where permanent damage/disability can occur - this tends to be the more rare outcome. Your best bet is to review this with a spine surgeon, for a more detailed review.
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Dr. Eric Weisman
Neurology 38 years experience
After 2 weeks you can identify sub-clinical muscle changes on EMG examination prior to any clinically detectable loss of motor function
Aug 18, 2014
Last updated Oct 5, 2019

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