Neck and arm pain with numbness and tingling can be caused by a cervical rib. This is an extra rib attached to the lowest bone in the neck or cervical spine. There are seven bones in the neck. Normally, there aren’t any ribs attached to these bones, and ribs are attached to the bones of the spine (vertebra) starting in the thoracic (chest) region.
The first rib normally attaches to the eighth vertebra in the spine. This is the first vertebra in the thoracic spine. The first rib comes around from the spine, under the collarbone. It attaches in the front to the breastbone.
In the case of a cervical rib, the lowest bone in the cervical spine has an actual rib attached. Sometimes, the cervical rib is formed by extra bone growth of the transverse process, which juts out on each side of the vertebra.
For the first time ever, doctors in Turkey have measured the transverse process in a large number of adults. They did this to identify when a transverse process is a normal length and when it is long enough to be called a cervical rib. They found that more people have cervical ribs than expected.
Before this study, it was reported that one percent of the adult population has a cervical rib. This new study shows that six percent is more accurate in Turkey. Even more startling is that when someone has a cervical rib, there is a much greater chance of having another condition called sacralization. In sacralization, the last bone in the base of the spine is fused or connected to the sacrum. (The sacrum is the triangular “tailbone” situated between the two pelvic bones.)
People with neck or low back pain may have a cervical rib or sacralization of the lumbar spine. The presence of one condition alerts the doctor to the possibility of the other. These conditions can be found with a simple X-ray. This may save the patient from more expensive, high-tech testing.