The epidemiological findings confirm that cervical spondylosis is a common and frequent disease, affecting a wide range of people, with a prevalence of over 64.52% from 21-83 years of age. Generally speaking, cervical spondylosis is a common disease among middle-aged and elderly people, with a high prevalence at the age of 40-60 and a prevalence of 90% after the age of 70. However, recent studies have shown that the prevalence of cervical spondylosis is trending younger.
A lot of research data shows that the occurrence of cervical spondylosis is closely related to poor posture, emotional tension, humidity, fatigue and trauma.
The survey shows that: ambulatory workers, typists, draftsmen, assembly workers on the assembly line, operating room nurses, teachers, traffic police, etc. are more likely to develop the disease. Work tension, long-term ambulatory people accounted for 59.75%.
In addition, poor sleep posture also has an important impact on the increase in the prevalence of cervical spondylosis. Such as high, medium pillow position, accounting for 80. 03%. The survey did not find a significant relationship between the onset of cervical spondylosis and different lying positions (left-sided, right-sided lying and prone in the suppressed position. The standard of sleeping pillow height is: low pillow <6 cm, medium pillow 6-12 cm, high pillow >12 cm.
Types of cervical spondylosis
1, cervical cervical spondylosis: pain in the neck, shoulder and occipital area, head and neck activities are restricted due to pain. It often develops in the morning when waking up. There is tension in the cervical muscles, pressure points, and restricted head movement. The X-ray film shows changes in cervical curvature and instability and loosening of intervertebral joints.
2.Neurogenic cervical spondylosis: with typical radicular symptoms, soreness in the neck and shoulder, the back of the neck, and radiating downward to the forearm and fingers, sometimes with skin hypersensitivity and a touching sensation of electricity; with numbness and hypesthesia. The X-ray orthopantomogram shows hyperplasia of the hook vertebral joint. The intervertebral foramen is narrowed, etc.
3, spinal cord type cervical spondylosis:: consciously feel no discomfort in the neck, but clumsy hand movements, failure of small movements, poor coordination. X-ray shows narrowing of the lesion gap and bone at the posterior edge of the vertebral body. MRI can make a clear diagnosis.
4, vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis: vertigo occurs when the head and neck rotate, and even sudden collapse. X-rays show vertebral instability and joint hyperplasia, etc. Vertebral arteriogram and vertebral artery blood flow test can assist in localization but cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis.
Mixed type, sympathetic type, etc.
Each activity is performed for 10-15 min, 3-4 times a day. The amplitude of movement should be reduced or withheld when the pain increases.
If the headache or back pain is only temporary and does not occur frequently, there is no need to be overly nervous; if it is repeated many times, it is necessary to seek medical attention.
Why does it hurt?
1, strain: long-term head and neck in a single posture position, such as long hours of low work, prone to cervical spondylosis. Less than 30 years old cervical spine patients, more engaged in low-headed work.
2, head and neck trauma: 50% of medullary cervical spondylosis is related to neck trauma. Some patients have cervical spine osteophytes, cervical spine disc bulge, soft tissue lesions in the spinal canal, etc., so that the cervical spinal canal is in a narrow critical state, cervical trauma often induces pain and other symptoms.
3., bad posture: such as lying in bed watching TV, reading books, high pillow, sleeping in a sitting position, etc.; sleeping on a recumbent car, poor muscle protection when sleeping, easy to neck injury when braking.
4., Diffuse infection: mainly pharyngitis, followed by dental caries, periodontitis, otitis media, etc.. Inflammation in these areas stimulates the soft tissues of the neck or causes soft tissue lesions in the neck and occipital area through the rich lymphatic system. It is believed that chronic pharyngeal infection is an important factor in the pathogenesis of cervical spondylosis, which may be aggravated by the interaction of soft tissue chronic strain and inflammation.
5, wind, cold and wet factors: wind, cold and wet factors of the external environment can reduce the body’s tolerance to pain, can make muscle spasm, small blood vessel constriction, slow lymphatic flow, soft tissue blood circulation disorders, followed by aseptic inflammation. Therefore, wind, cold and damp factors are not only causative factors, but also can be used as a cause to cause lesions to produce symptoms.
6, cervical spine structure dysplasia: congenital small spinal canal, cervical degeneration, etc. is the basis for the pathogenesis of some cervical spondylosis. Foreign statistics 40-50 years old with degeneration accounted for 25%, more than 55 years old with degeneration accounted for 85.5%. The incidence of cervical spondylosis is one times higher in people with a narrow central cervical spinal canal and nerve root canal than in normal people.
Common misconceptions about treatment
Inappropriate massage: Old Hu has often felt neck and shoulder pain recently. “Maybe I’m too tired recently, let someone massage it and it’s fine.” So, he came to a private massage clinic, began the “massage therapy”. Just after the massage, he felt relaxed neck and shoulder, very comfortable, but the night asked him to wake up by the neck pain, the condition significantly aggravated. Then later, he could not lie down because of neck and shoulder pain, and could only lean on the sofa to sleep half-lying. Finally, after more than 40 days of regular acupuncture, tui-na and other TCM comprehensive treatment in the hospital, he was able to get rid of the pain.
We reminded Lao Hu of the nerve root type cervical spondylosis caused by nerve root edema, which is the most common type of cervical spondylosis, accounting for about 60% of cervical spondylosis. The acute attack of the disease should not be massage, massage, traction, otherwise it will aggravate the nerve root edema and make the condition worse. The nerve root edema should be eliminated through systematic treatment first, and then be guided by a professional doctor to carry out massage, traction and other treatments.
Stop treatment when the symptoms slow down a little: Xiao Zhang came to the hospital a few days ago for dizziness and was diagnosed with vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis. Xiao Zhang discontinued the treatment without permission because she felt that her symptoms had improved significantly. But a week later, she had to return to the hospital again because of significant memory loss and symptoms of neurasthenia such as insomnia and dreaminess. The examination revealed that her condition had developed again.
We remind that vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis is a cervical spine disease caused by inflammation and edema of the cervical spine, which compresses the vertebral artery and leads to insufficient blood supply to the brain. When the symptoms improve significantly after a period of treatment, patients must not relax their vigilance, should follow medical advice to continue acupuncture, acupressure and other Chinese medicine comprehensive treatment to improve brain blood supply, otherwise it will cause chronic ischemia and hypoxia of brain tissue similar to Zhang’s brain atrophy disease.
The old Li has always had pain in his upper limbs and shoulders recently, so he took pain medication on his own. At first, the symptoms did ease, but then the power of the drug not only “failed”, but also numbness in both hands, uncomfortable activities and other symptoms. He was persuaded by his family to go to the doctor and was diagnosed with spinal cervical spondylosis, which must be treated immediately or else the consequences will be serious.
We remind that taking painkillers indiscriminately when you have neck and shoulder pain often hides the real condition. Due to the effect of painkillers, the pain symptoms are temporarily relieved, but the root of the disease is not removed, and the bulging cervical spine asks the disc to gradually compress the spinal cord, which can cause limb dysfunction, and then the heavier cases can lead to paralysis.
Small diseases are treated: Due to the complex anatomical structure of the neck, the symptoms of cervical spondylosis are also diversified, and about 5% of atypical patients are easily confused with osteoarthrosis, gastric disease, neurosis, menopausal syndrome and coronary heart disease, hypertension, and once self-treatment hides a certain danger, so patients should choose to consult a regular hospital. Some patients, especially some mild or early patients because of the lack of knowledge of cervical spondylosis prevention and treatment, but also eager to seek medical treatment, think that more drugs, with good drugs can be quickly cured, often Chinese medicine, Western medicine, a variety of drugs combined application, massage, drug external, acupuncture together, resulting in “small disease big treatment”, excessive treatment, the results are counterproductive.
Fear of surgery: Some patients with spinal cord cervical spondylosis are advised by their doctors to have surgery because of the severity of their condition, but some patients think of the difficulty and risk of surgery and back out. Unbeknownst to them, the spinal cord has no regenerative capacity, and spinal cord cervical spondylosis is the main type of cervical spondylosis that requires clinical intervention by doctors. If a patient with spinal cord cervical spondylosis still uses non-surgical methods, not only will it not be curative, but it will make the condition worse. A qualified orthopedic surgeon will only recommend surgery after thorough consideration and will listen carefully to the patient’s questions and give a full explanation.
Elimination of bone spurs: In the course of cervical spondylosis, disc metamorphosis leads to cervical spine instability, causing a series of related symptoms, but on the other hand, the body increases the contact area of the vertebral body through vertebral bone growth (bone spurs) to achieve stable compensation. Imagine if the spinal discs had only metamorphosed and not proliferated, I am afraid that the cervical joints of many patients would have worn out and become unusable. In this sense, the presence of bone spurs is a protective response for the body and brings benefits to the patient. This is also the basis for doctors’ preference for conservative treatment for most cervical spondylosis patients. There is no scientific basis for the claim by some drug sellers that they can eliminate bone spurs by taking a drug orally or applying it externally.
Take prevention lightly: The medically proven risk factors associated with cervical spondylosis are: ambient temperature and humidity, history of smoking, history of acute and chronic pharyngeal infections, soft beds and high pillows, and continuous head-down work for more than four hours a day on average.
Healthy people should shift the focus of prevention forward, especially adolescents and middle-aged people to avoid the high-risk factors for the disease, and it is important to do a good job of self-protection. Children should know about pre-care from childhood, study for a long time, get up and move around for an hour or so, and move the neck several times to change the soreness and pain caused by ischemia and hypoxia of the neck muscles caused by a single posture, and improve the blood circulation in the neck. Avoid too high pillow, to lie flat face and chest into a horizontal surface is appropriate. Pay attention to the winter neck warmth, so as not to induce or aggravate cervical spondylosis.