RA & Cervial Spine | Arthritis Information

I found this article interesting.

http://www.allaboutbackandneckpain.com/html/spinesub.asp?id=200

Excerpts from other sites:

Rheumatoid arthritis can destroy joints in the neck and cause severe stiffness and pain. Rheumatoid arthritis typically occurs in the upper neck area.
Cervical spine is involved in a significant proportion of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Although cervical spine disease may often be ‘benign’, neurological complications are not uncommon. Patients of rheumatoid arthritis should be screened for cervical spine involvement and appropriately treated with combination of anti-rheumatic drugs. We report a case of quadriparesis secondary to subluxation and disc herniation at C4-C5 level in a young woman with rheumatoid arthritis of short duration.

Hi Joonie, scary stuff, I have had MRI scans of my whole spine including my cervical spine, I do have degenerative disc disease, osteophytes and facet joint inflammation which is the only part that is related to RA. Everyone should get checked out periodically especially if you have neck trouble. Best of luck, Janie. [QUOTE=janiefx]Hi Joonie, scary stuff, I have had MRI scans of my whole spine including my cervical spine, I do have degenerative disc disease, osteophytes and facet joint inflammation which is the only part that is related to RA. Everyone should get checked out periodically especially if you have neck trouble. Best of luck, Janie. [/QUOTE]

That's me too, except I'm not sure about the facet joint inflammation and I have herniated discs as well. But I was under the impression those things are not RA related at all. It makes sense to me that it would be. Janie, did your RD tell you your cervical spine issues are RA related?