Cervical spondylosis is a common and frequent disease in orthopedics, and many of these patients have neck and shoulder pain symptoms, which account for more than 10% of the orthopedic outpatient volume. When receiving such patients, I also found that many patients and even some doctors have many misconceptions about this disease, and many patients choose the wrong consultation and treatment methods. Some of these misunderstandings at the time of consultation are caused by the patient’s lack of knowledge of the disease, while some are guiding errors caused by the doctor’s unclear understanding of the disease, which is often found in hospitals where surgical clinics are not registered in specialized disciplines, and in these hospitals, patients with cervical spondylosis are often seen by surgeons who are not specialized in orthopedic or spinal surgery. The consequence is that the lighter ones delay the disease, increase unnecessary medical expenses and delay the best time for treatment; the more serious ones lead to paralysis and other consequences because of wrong treatment. Diagnostic misconceptions: The diagnostic name of cervical spondylosis has been established since the 1984 Guilin Symposium on Cervical Spondylosis, and is an independent diagnostic term referring to a series of clinical symptoms caused by pressure on the tissues surrounding the cervical intervertebral disc caused by cervical disc degeneration and secondary intervertebral joint degeneration. The main types of cervical spondylosis are as follows: 1. cervical type: the patient has abnormal sensations such as head, neck and shoulder pain with corresponding pressure points; 2. nerve root type: the main manifestation is numbness and pain in the neck and shoulder as well as the upper limbs; 3. spinal cord type: the manifestation of cervical spinal cord damage, i.e., movement disorders of the limbs or difficulty in urination and defecation; 4. vertebral artery type: caused by compression of the vertebral artery, there are sudden collapse attacks, and 5. sympathetic nerve type: clinical manifestations include dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, hand numbness, tachycardia, precordial pain and a series of other symptoms; 6. other types: cervical vertebral body in front of the osteophyte compression of the esophagus causes swallowing difficulties (need to be confirmed by barium examination of the esophagus), etc. However, in clinical practice, we often see some doctors diagnose this disease as cervical disc herniation (syndrome), which may be influenced by certain imaging reports. In fact, these are two completely different diseases, which should not be easily confused. Their treatment methods and treatment principles are fundamentally different, and the latter is actually not very common in clinical practice. Misconceptions in selecting ancillary examinations: After careful history taking by the doctor and detailed clinical examination, combined with cervical orthogonal and lateral radiographs (sometimes additional hyperextension and hyperflexion photographs are required), the vast majority of cervical spondylosis will be correctly diagnosed. CT and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) are generally not required if other neurological disorders are not suspected. In particular, it should be noted that CT of the cervical spine provides very limited diagnostic information and has a high rate of false positives, and is not a recommended test in the diagnosis of cervical spondylosis, but the author sees most patients who have already undergone this test when seen in the clinic. If the patient’s symptoms are severe, the doctor may propose surgery. Before performing surgery, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) should be done as much as possible to determine the diagnosis, to understand the spinal cord compression and lesions and other conditions of the cervical spinal canal, and also to rule out other neurological diseases, if available. However, this expensive test is not necessary at all for patients with mild symptoms who are not considering surgical treatment just to make a diagnosis of cervical spondylosis. In short, please try not to choose CT for patients with cervical spondylosis because it is not necessary for diagnosis alone, and the information that CT can provide is insufficient for a full understanding of the situation before surgery, and MRI should be recommended. Misconceptions about the choice of treatment: Many patients may have seen the advertisements of certain individual doctors, saying that there are special effects in the treatment of osteophytes. In reality, cervical spine osteophytes are a problem in almost every adult, and we obviously cannot say that every adult has cervical spondylosis. The term “treatment of osteophytes” is unscientific from a clinical medical point of view, because “osteophytes” without symptoms do not require treatment, and even if the so-called “osteophytes Even if certain symptoms are caused by the so-called “osteophytes” (the actual situation is secondary osteophytes after cervical disc degeneration, which is a reaction of the body to keep the cervical spine stable), it has evolved into a disease, such as cervical spondylosis, and cannot be generalized as “osteophytes”. Most patients with cervical spondylosis can obtain relief for a period of time or even a long period of time by means of cervical traction and medication, thus avoiding surgery. But from the current state of clinical treatment, it is impossible to completely cure cervical spondylosis with conservative therapies such as traction, massage, acupuncture, physical therapy and taking drugs, etc. This is not to ask patients with cervical spondylosis to undergo surgery, but in response to many advertisements promoting the miraculous efficacy of a certain therapy or a certain drug for cervical spondylosis. The therapeutic effect of these treatments and drugs on cervical spondylosis cannot be denied, but it is common to see patients who refuse to undergo surgery because they are afraid of surgery and believe in the advertisements, resulting in increased damage to the spinal cord or degeneration and loss of recovery opportunities. Therefore, it is very harmful to overstate the efficacy of a certain treatment or a certain drug because it can mislead patients. At present, the following drugs are mainly used for the treatment of cervical spondylosis: 1. blood-stasis-activating herbal medicines, which play an anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving role and help to relieve the symptoms of cervical spondylosis; 2. muscle relaxants, which relieve pain by relaxing the tense neck and shoulder muscles; 3. non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects and are used to relieve the symptoms of cervical spondylosis; 4. neurotrophic drugs, such as vitamin B1, vitamin B12, methyl cobalamin, etc., are used to improve nerve function and promote recovery of nerve function. These drugs can be used appropriately in the early stage of cervical spondylosis or for some patients who are not suitable for surgery, but they only have the effect of relieving symptoms and do not have the effect of curing cervical spondylosis, so taking these drugs can only be used as an auxiliary treatment means, and their effects should not be exaggerated, and do not believe in the propaganda that “so-and-so drug is a special drug for cervical spondylosis Do not believe the propaganda of “so-and-so medicine is the special medicine for cervical spondylosis”. Physical therapy, acupuncture, massage and other therapies have a certain alleviating effect on the neck and shoulder pain symptoms of cervical and neurogenic cervical spondylosis, but they are basically ineffective for spinal cervical spondylosis. It is especially important to note that some doctors perform massage or wrenching treatment for cervical spondylosis patients. The danger lies precisely in the fact that these doctors are not particularly clear about the pathology of cervical spondylosis and the anatomical characteristics of the neck, and sometimes extremely bad consequences, such as paralysis and death, can occur. Therefore, patients are reminded to pay special attention not to accept massage, especially rough massage treatment, gentle massage is sometimes acceptable, but the technique must not be too heavy. Patients with neurogenic cervical spondylosis whose symptoms are severe and affect normal life can receive surgery, while patients with spinal cord cervical spondylosis with severe symptoms should receive early surgery to avoid irreversible damage to the spinal cord, which has been carried out in many hospitals, so do not lose the time for surgery because of fear of surgery or superstition in a particular treatment. In short, cervical spondylosis patients should try to avoid the above-mentioned misunderstandings in the process of seeking medical treatment to reduce the cost of treatment as well as the loss of treatment results. We wish patients with cervical spondylosis the best of luck in recovering their health as soon as possible.