One What is cervical spondylosis? Cervical spondylosis is a disease based on degenerative pathological changes, mainly caused by long-term cervical strain, bone hyperplasia, or intervertebral disc herniation, ligament thickening, resulting in compression of the cervical spinal cord, nerve roots, or vertebral arteries, leading to a series of functional disorders.
Can cause symptoms such as neck pain and stiffness. Cervical spondylosis is often age-related, and this degenerative change can ultimately lead to intervertebral disc enlargement, thickening of facet joints, formation of small bone spurs, compression of spinal nerves or spinal cord. The treatment of cervical spondylosis depends on the severity of the symptoms, with the goal of reducing pain, helping patients maintain normal activity as much as possible, and preventing permanent damage to the spinal cord and nerves. After standardized and effective treatment, patients can effectively reduce pain and restore normal life. Early cervical spondylosis usually does not cause any symptoms, and a few patients may feel discomfort and pain in the neck and shoulders, neck bounce (the sound made by friction during cervical spine movement), and frequent pillowing. The typical symptoms of cervical spondylosis are neck pain and stiffness, which can also cause compression of the spinal cord or nerve roots, resulting in pain, numbness, and weakness in the upper and lower limbs, as well as difficulty walking.
II Why do you get cervical spondylosis?
As one ages, the bones and cartilage that make up the spine and neck gradually wear and tear. The causes of different types of cervical spondylosis are also different.
1. Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: (1) Arthritis: Arthritis can cause stiffness and pain, and when joint damage worsens and affects nerves, it leads to the onset of the disease.
(2) Bone spurs: Bone spurs can attach to joints, reduce range of motion, compress nerves, and lead to nerve root disease.
(3) Intervertebral disc disease: With age, intervertebral discs become increasingly brittle and thin, providing less protection to the spinal cord and reducing the space for nerve compression, leading to the onset of the disease.
2. Cervical spondylotic myelopathy:
Degenerative lesions: including bone spurs, disc herniation, and ligament thickening. These changes can narrow the spinal canal and damage fragile spinal cord fibers.
3. sympathetic cervical spondylosis: (1) intervertebral disc degeneration: dysfunction of the sympathetic nervous system and abnormal vertebral artery function, leading to the onset of the disease.
(2) Segmental instability of intervertebral discs: Stimulating the sympathetic nerve endings around the cervical spine can cause dysfunction of the sympathetic nervous system, leading to disease onset.
4. Vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis: (1) Degenerative lesions: Bone hyperplasia of the cervical vertebrae, compression of the vertebral artery, leading to the onset of the disease.
(2) Intervertebral disc segmental instability: The relative displacement between cervical vertebrae increases, squeezing and stimulating the vertebral arteries, leading to disease.
III What factors may trigger cervical spondylosis?
1. Age: With age, the risk of cervical spondylosis increases.
2. Career and life: Repetitive neck movements, awkward postures, and a lot of head work can all bring additional pressure to the neck.
3. Various reasons such as acute and chronic injuries to the soft tissues around the cervical spine, rheumatism, catching a cold, and degeneration of the fibrous ring and soft tissues.
4. Smoking: Smoking is associated with increased neck pain.
4 Who is prone to cervical spondylosis?
1. Individuals with a history of neck injuries: Those who have previously suffered neck injuries are at an increased risk of developing cervical spondylosis.
2. People who are prone to excessive neck pressure at work: Being in an uncomfortable position for a long time or repeating the same neck movements throughout the day can increase the risk of illness.
Five Different types of cervical spondylosis may have different symptoms:
Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy: Patients often experience increased neck pain and stiffness, as well as pain, numbness, and stabbing sensations in their hands, arms, shoulders, neck, or head.
Cervical spondylotic myelopathy: Patients often feel numbness, heaviness, clumsiness, weakness in the arms, stiffness in the legs, poor balance, urgency to urinate, neck pain, etc.
Sympathetic cervical spondylosis: Patients often present with headaches, dizziness, lack of concentration, facial numbness and swelling, eye swelling and pain, blurred vision, tinnitus, cold and hot sensations in hands and feet, pain, and burning sensation.
Cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type: Patients often present with head and neck pain, limited neck movement, dizziness, tinnitus, poor memory, visual impairment, neurasthenia, etc.
Esophageal compression type cervical spondylosis: Patients often present with discomfort in the head and neck and difficulty swallowing.
Other symptoms: Some patients experience urinary and fecal incontinence, as well as decreased sexual function.
VI How to prevent cervical spondylosis in daily life?
It has been recognized that the incidence rate of cervical spondylosis has exceeded that of lumbago and leg pain and become the most common disease in orthopedic neurosurgery and surgery clinics. In terms of occupation, the most common is the desk workers, so the incidence rate of cervical spondylosis will increase exponentially every year with the length of service. As people age, bone aging is inevitable. If not taken seriously in daily life, they are prone to cervical spondylosis, which can harm their physical and mental health. 1. When sleeping at night, it is important to choose a suitable pillow. The pillow should be placed on the neck, not just on the back of the head. The head, neck, and shoulders should maintain their natural curves and not be too low or too high. When sleeping, lie flat on the bed with a pillow height of ten centimeters, and when lying on the side, it is about half a shoulder high. 2. In terms of preventing cervical spondylosis, pay attention to keeping the neck warm and avoid letting the neck get cold. Experts say that a cold and humid environment can worsen the symptoms of cervical spondylosis, so it is necessary to wear clothing with collars or fur collars and wear scarves in winter. When working in the office in summer, do not turn the air conditioning too low. 3. Be careful not to injure your neck. Although cervical spondylosis cannot be formed by a single injury, it is a gradual accumulation of chronic injuries. So in daily life, it is important to avoid pillowing and neck sprains, and not to use chin support to sit and doze off during lunch breaks. 4. Regularly change the head and neck position, pay attention to rest, and balance work and rest. Lift your head and gently move your neck in all directions, avoiding keeping it constantly bent. It is not advisable to work at a desk for a long time at a time. If you work with your head lowered continuously for more than 2 hours, it will be difficult to effectively restore and relieve the high pressure in the cervical intervertebral space in a short period of time, which will aggravate and accelerate the degeneration of the cervical spine. 5. We should reduce our workload and take appropriate breaks. Those with severe symptoms and frequent attacks should stop working, rest absolutely, and preferably rest in bed. During the treatment of cervical spondylosis, this helps to improve the effectiveness of treatment, promote early relief of the condition, and facilitate early recovery of the body. 6. Avoid participating in heavy physical labor. When extracting heavy objects, etc., attention should be paid to protecting the neck to prevent injury. The upper limbs should avoid lifting heavy objects. When lifting heavy objects, the force can be transmitted to the cervical spine through the muscles that suspend the upper limbs, causing the cervical spine to be pulled and increasing the mutual pressure between the cervical vertebrae. 7. Pay attention to daily diet. Eat more fresh vegetables such as bean sprouts, seaweed, fungus, garlic, celery, sweet potatoes, winter melons, and mung beans. Eat a light diet, avoid greasy and salty foods, and opt for easily digestible foods. At the same time, avoid spicy and stimulating foods.