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Abstract: Students are a group prone to cervical spine strain due to their heavy academic workload. Today, a 16-year-old student patient presented to the hospital with complaints of neck stiffness, soreness, dizziness, and nausea, and an MRI suggestive of cervical spine strain. The patient was recommended to be admitted to the hospital for comprehensive conservative treatment, including cervical braking, massage and traction. After 1 week of active treatment, the patient’s neck stiffness and soreness were significantly relieved or even disappeared, and he no longer had dizziness and nausea.
[Basic information] Male, 16 years old
Disease Type】Cervical strain injury
Hospital】Harbin First Hospital
Date of consultation】04/2022
Treatment plan】Cervical spine braking, massage, traction and other conservative treatment
Treatment Period】7 days of inpatient treatment and 3 months of outpatient follow-up
Effectiveness】Significant relief of neck stiffness and soreness, disappearance of dizziness and nausea
I. Initial consultation
A 16-year-old student patient came to the clinic complaining of stiffness, soreness, dizziness and nausea in the neck, with no clinical manifestations such as radiated pain, numbness and weakness in the extremities, and normal bowel function. The magnetic resonance showed mild compression of the dural sac at the anterior edge of the cervical spinal cord, but no degeneration of the spinal nerves occurred, so spinal cord compression was not considered. It was considered that the change in cervical curvature and spasm of the vertebral artery had occurred, resulting in reduced blood supply to the brain, which caused the related symptoms, and the final diagnosis was cervical strain. The patient was recommended to be admitted to hospital for comprehensive conservative treatment to improve cervical muscle strain and restore blood supply to the vertebral artery so as not to affect brain function.
II. Treatment history
After the patient was diagnosed with cervical spine strain, cervical spine braking was first applied to avoid flexion and extension activities and rotation activities of the cervical spine to reduce stimulation of the vertebral artery, thereby relieving spasm of the vertebral artery, restoring blood supply to the vertebral artery, increasing blood flow to the brain, and protecting brain function. Since it is the stiffness of the neck muscles caused by cervical strain that causes the vertebral artery to be compressed and spasmed, the symptoms can be relieved by comprehensive conservative treatment, including continuous traction of the cervical spine, tui-na massage and hot compresses, which can also improve the performance of soreness, pain and stiffness caused by cervical strain. Patients also need to take appropriate bed rest for about 1 week to reduce the pressure on the cervical spine and gain time for the recovery of cervical spine muscles, ligaments and other structures.
III. Treatment effect
The patient’s clinical symptoms such as stiffness, soreness, pain and dizziness in the neck were significantly relieved or even disappeared after about 1 week of conservative treatment through hospitalization, and there was no significant recurrence of symptoms even after 1-2 hours of continuous study, and the strength of the neck muscles was strengthened and the cervical spine rarely experienced fatigue again. Patients are recommended to be followed up within 3 months after discharge so that doctors can assess the recovery of patients, clarify whether there is any recurrence and progress of the disease, and adjust or change the neck exercise measures in time.
IV. Precautions
Since the patient is young and the lesion development is not serious, the treating physician feels happy for the patient that the symptoms are relieved or even disappeared after short-term treatment. However, the patient still needs to pay great attention to avoid continuously maintaining a fixed posture during the study process and should move the neck frequently to prevent ischemia of the neck muscles, ligaments and other structures, which can produce aseptic inflammation and consequently cervical strain injury. It should also be noted that active movement of the cervical spine and active exercise of the neck muscles need to be maintained for a long time in order to improve the stability of the cervical spine, thereby protecting the cervical spine and preventing the occurrence of cervical spine diseases. And a single cervical exercise is easy to interrupt and not good to adhere to, you can alternate between local cervical exercise and whole body exercise, such as cervical m exercise combined with swimming, running exercise, etc.
V. Personal insight
Cervical spine strain is a signal, often suggesting that the neck needs to be maintained, need to draw the attention of patients and timely treatment. If treatment and intervention can be carried out as early as this patient, the development of the disease can often be controlled, so that the clinical symptoms caused by cervical spine strain can be relieved or even disappear, and will not affect daily life, work and study. If you feel stiffness and pain in the cervical spine, accompanied by sensory disorders or movement disorders in the limbs, you should be alert to the aggravation of cervical spine strain, resulting in cervical spine neuropathy, and you need to seek medical consultation and appropriate treatment in a timely manner.