With the modern way of life, study, work and environmental changes, the incidence of cervical spondylosis is increasing, and the number of patients who need surgery and have been operated is also increasing year by year. The maintenance and rehabilitation after surgery is very important in the whole disease treatment process. Many patients are not very clear about the rehabilitation and maintenance after cervical spine surgery, so I would like to introduce you here so as to provide a reference for post-surgery rehabilitation.
The rehabilitation after cervical spine surgery is an important part of the treatment, and the methods of rehabilitation and maintenance are different according to the way and type of surgery, especially the medical rehabilitation process within 3 months after surgery, which is very different for different surgical methods. Cervical spine surgery is generally required because of disease or trauma that destabilizes the cervical spine and damages the spinal cord and nerve roots, and the risk of surgery is high. The purpose of rehabilitation after surgery is generally to provide a suitable and stable environment for nerve function recovery or bone healing, and there are various types of cervical spine surgery: including anterior cervical spine surgery and posterior spine surgery, and anterior surgery includes fusion surgery and disc replacement. The posterior cervical surgery includes simple spinal canal decompression surgery, spinal canal decompression and fixation surgery, spinal canal decompression surgery, atlantoaxial spine fixation and fusion surgery, occipital fusion surgery, etc. The period from surgery to three months after surgery is the early stage after surgery, and the medical rehabilitation methods are different for different surgical methods. The medical rehabilitation methods for different surgical methods are different, and are introduced separately.
Wearing time of cervical brace
Patients need to wear a cervical brace after cervical spine surgery, but the time and manner of wearing a cervical brace differs for different surgical methods and approaches.
1.Cervical artificial disc replacement surgery. You need to wear a cervical brace for 10 days after surgery, and you can wear a cervical brace without a cervical brace during indoor activities at home or office from 10 days to 3 weeks, and you need to wear a cervical brace when you go out and take transportation, and you can wear a cervical brace without a cervical brace after 3 weeks.
2.Discectomy and fusion surgery. Because the normal bony structure of human body is not much damaged, the fusion device and plate fixation is more reliable, for 1-2 segments of short segment surgery we generally wear neck brace strictly for 2-3 weeks, 3 weeks to 6 weeks of this time at home or office indoor activities can not wear a neck brace, when going out and taking transportation need to wear a neck brace, after 6 weeks you can not wear a neck brace. For the long segment surgery of 3-4 segments, it is necessary to wear the neck brace for 4-6 weeks more strictly, and the neck brace can be removed after 8 weeks.
3.Sub-total vertebral body resection surgery. In general, the wearing time of cervical brace is 3-4 weeks for subtotal resection of one vertebral body, 4 weeks to 6 weeks for indoor activities at home or office, and 6 weeks for wearing cervical brace when going out and taking transportation. For 2 vertebrae or even 3 vertebrae of subtotal resection surgery to wear neck brace need longer time, generally 4-6 weeks of strict wearing neck brace time, 6-12 weeks at home or office indoor activities can not wear neck brace, need to wear neck brace when going out and take transportation, after 12 weeks to the hospital to review the bone healing can not wear neck brace.
4.Posterior cervical decompression surgery and decompression and fixation surgery. In general, it is necessary to strictly wear the neck brace for 2-3 weeks, 3-4 weeks at home or office indoor activities can not wear the neck brace, when going out and taking transportation need to wear the neck brace, after 4 weeks can not wear the neck brace.
5.Posterior cervical spinal canal opening surgery. In general, it is necessary to strictly wear a cervical brace for 2 weeks, and in 2-3 weeks, it is possible to go without a cervical brace at home or during indoor activities in the office, and it is necessary to wear a cervical brace when going out and taking transportation, and after 3-4 weeks, it is possible to go without a cervical brace.
6.Atlantoaxial fixed fusion surgery and occipitocervical fusion surgery. These surgeries require relatively high requirements for bone fusion, and generally need to strictly wear a neck brace for 6-8 weeks, and can be worn without a neck brace at home or indoor activities in the office for 8-12 weeks, but need to wear a neck brace when going out and taking transportation, and can be worn without a neck brace after coming to the hospital for review of bone fusion after 12 weeks.
Application of pillow
The application of pillow during sleep after cervical spine surgery is very important. Generally, there is no strict requirement for the position of the patient to rest in bed after surgery, and the patient can lie on his or her side for comfort. And different positions have certain requirements for the height of the pillow, in general, the pillow should be comfortable soft pillow when lying down, according to the patient’s height and fat and thin different pillow height is generally 15-20 cm height, one of the simplest way is the height of their own fist is appropriate, the pillow should be put to the shoulder, so that the head slightly back comfort is appropriate. For side lying pillow height should be the same height as one shoulder is appropriate
Cervical muscle isometric strength training
For patients after cervical spine surgery, cervical muscle training is necessary. Generally, muscle isometric training can be started 2-3 weeks after surgery, and the training method is mainly to keep the head and neck stable in the non-motor situation of the neck muscle contraction force training. The training period is from 3 months to 6 months.
Extremity muscle training
Muscle strength and mobility training of both upper limbs can be started the day after surgery. This includes
1. training the strength and flexibility of both hands with a grip ball (circle).
2.Stretch and tension training of both upper limbs
3, the second day after surgery began to exercise the strength of both lower limbs, you can practice leg lifting movements in bed
4.The second day after surgery, if the muscle strength and tone of the limbs are normal, you can get out of bed and exercise the strength of the bilateral deltoids, biceps, triceps and forearm extension and flexion muscles.
5. Shoulder joint function exercise, you can start shoulder joint function exercise 1 week after surgery, you can do shoulder joint pulling, abduction and rotation function exercise.
The significance of hyperbaric oxygen for spinal cord rehabilitation
For patients with serious spinal cord injury, early postoperative hyperbaric oxygen therapy is good for the recovery of spinal cord function, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be started 3-5 days after surgery.
Daily life needs attention
There are 7 cervical spine segments in the human body, and surgery has lifted the lesion of the diseased segment or the most serious segment, but if the cause of the disease and the bad life and work habits continue, it can still lead to the disease of the unoperated segment or the adjacent segment again. The number one killer of cervical spondylosis is prolonged ambulation and prolonged head-down work, as well as prolonged use of computers and television, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to do less head-down, avoid prolonged ambulation and watch less computer and television in daily life. The main forms of exercise that are beneficial to the human cervical spine are swimming, jogging, badminton and so on.