Cervical spondylosis refers to a disease that occurs in the cervical area, and its main symptoms include neck pain, stiffness, and headache. The occurrence of cervical spondylosis is closely related to people's lifestyle, so the key to preventing and treating cervical spondylosis lies in improving lifestyle habits, maintaining good sitting, standing, and walking posture, avoiding excessive fatigue and prolonged repetitive movements.
Prevention of cervical spondylosis
The prevention measures for cervical spondylosis mainly include the following aspects:
1. Maintain correct posture
Correct sitting posture: sit firmly and evenly on a chair with both buttocks, slightly tilt the upper body back, keep the waist straight, easily spread the lower limbs, and land steadily with both feet. Make sure the desk height matches the seat height, avoid excessive bending of the neck, and a semi sloping inclined desk is better. For the cervical spine, the most stressed posture is forward bending, so it is advisable to avoid looking down when using a computer and instead look up.
2. Exercise at the right time
Do not maintain any posture for a long time, and move your body for half an hour or an hour to avoid muscle stiffness. People who work at a desk for a long time should change their head position regularly, exercise their neck and shoulder muscles regularly, and do brief neck flexion, extension, left and right rotation, and loop movements during work. The correct TV watching posture should be sitting, and every 15 minutes or so, the neck should be moved and the posture changed.
3. Choose a suitable pillow
The pillow should be placed on the neck rather than the head. For a normal person lying on their back, the pillow height should be around 8-10 centimeters, and for those lying on their side, it should be at the same height as their shoulders. The height of the pillow varies from person to person, and it is better to be at the same height as their fists. This way, the spine remains in a straight line during sleep, effectively relieving tension in the neck and shoulder muscles.
4. Keep the neck warm and avoid catching a cold. In autumn and winter, it is best to wear high necked clothes or bring a scarf; When the weather is cold and sleeping at night, attention should be paid to preventing the neck and shoulders from getting cold; During hot seasons, the air conditioning temperature should not be too low, and it is absolutely necessary to avoid blowing the cold air conditioning vents directly into the neck.
5. Avoid carrying heavy objects
Avoid carrying heavy shoulder bags or hanging accessories. Women should avoid wearing ill fitting underwear.
6. Strengthened exercise
It is also a good way to strengthen the neck muscles by strengthening exercises at ordinary times. Actively do cervical gymnastics, play badminton, kite flying and swimming exercises every day to strengthen the strength of the neck muscles, so as to better protect the cervical spine and effectively prevent the occurrence of cervical spondylosis. At the same time, pay attention to step by step to avoid trauma.
The treatment of cervical spondylosis
There are also many treatment methods for cervical spondylosis, and the specific treatment plan should be selected based on the patient's symptoms and the severity of the disease.
1. General treatment
① Improve and adjust sleep posture, and the pillow should not be too high or too low, preferably in a physiological position. In addition, the shape of the pillow is preferably low in the middle and high at both ends. The ideal sleeping position should be to keep the entire spine in a natural curvature, with hip and knee joints in a flexed state, allowing the muscles throughout the body to relax. Reasonable choice of bed, it is recommended to sleep on a hard board bed and use breathable and soft cushions.
② Correcting and changing poor posture at work, regularly changing head and neck positions, regularly adjusting farsightedness, and adjusting the height or tilt of the desktop or workbench. Work and rest on schedule.
2. Medication treatment
It is necessary to seek medical attention at a hospital and have a physician prescribe medication according to the condition.
3. Physical therapy
① Cervical traction. Effectively restoring cervical curvature, the entrapment and misalignment of the posterior facet joints can also be corrected through traction.
② Massage and massage. The massage therapy for cervical spondylosis is generally 20-30 times. When doing activities, do not make big movements and prioritize comfort. Massage has the effects of relaxing tendons, promoting blood circulation, dispersing stasis, reducing swelling, and relieving pain. However, it is important to choose a reputable institution for massage and ensure that the operators have professional qualifications.
③ Manual therapy. Perform professional and appropriate pushing, pulling, rotating, etc. on the neck to relax the neck joints and improve their function. But professional doctors should be sought for treatment to avoid irreversible damage to the neck.
④ Corrective braces. It can be used to fix the neck and protect it. Common tools include collars, neck braces, and neck correctors to avoid further damage caused by poor cervical movement. But the use of braces should not be too long, in order to avoid causing neck muscle weakness or poor mobility due to prolonged fixation of the neck muscles.
4. Surgical treatment
For patients with very severe cervical spondylosis, if the effects of medication and physical therapy are not significant, or if nerve damage has already occurred, surgical treatment is needed to reduce the burden on the cervical spine and alleviate the symptoms of cervical spondylosis.
In short, improving our lifestyle habits and maintaining good posture are the best ways to prevent cervical spondylosis. Only by maintaining good lifestyle habits can we avoid the occurrence of cervical spondylosis. At the same time, for patients who have already suffered from cervical spondylosis, we should choose appropriate treatment methods to fundamentally solve their symptoms, and while receiving treatment, we should also pay attention to maintaining good lifestyle habits to avoid the recurrence of cervical spondylosis.