As people’s living standards improve, their life expectancy increases, but the degeneration of various parts of the human body, organs, bones and joints also increases with age. In daily life and work, people often feel uncomfortable in the neck, numbness in the hands, and in serious cases, weakness in walking and even paralysis, which are so common and so serious.
1.What is cervical spondylosis?
Cervical spondylosis is usually considered to be degeneration (aging) of the intervertebral joints of the cervical spine following degenerative changes in the cervical disc tissue, which involves the adjacent tissues, such as the spinal cord, nerve roots, vertebral artery, sympathetic nerve, etc., and the associated clinical symptoms and signs, combined with imaging changes, are called cervical spondylosis.
This concept contains four elements.
(1) Degeneration of cervical intervertebral discs and intervertebral joints.
(2) Clinical symptoms and signs are present.
(3) Involvement of the spinal cord, nerves, and vascular tissues.4 Imaging changes.
Cervical spondylosis is a common disease that seriously endangers people’s health, especially the middle-aged people According to incomplete statistics, 25% of people around 50 years old suffer from this disease, and up to 50% of those over 60 years old.
2.What are the types of cervical spondylosis? What are the characteristics of each type?
Types: At present, there are: nerve root type, spinal cord type, vertebral artery type, sympathetic nerve, mixed type. Features
(1) Nerve root type cervical spondylosis: the most common type, accounting for about 60%. Symptoms, headache, neck, shoulder and arm pain, numbness, and neck stiffness are caused by degenerative hyperplasia of the cervical spine, which stimulates or compresses the cervical nerve roots.
(2) Vertebral cervical spondylosis: a more serious type, caused by cervical disc protrusion vertebral body posterior metaphyseal hyperplasia, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, spinal stenosis, direct compression of the spinal cord, numbness of the upper or lower extremities, soreness and weakness, a sense of stepping on cotton in both lower extremities, a sense of thoracolumbar girdle, urinary retention, and in severe cases, paralysis.
(3) Vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis: accounts for 15%-20% of patients with cervical spondylosis. Symptoms: vertigo, headache, visual impairment, vertigo after head and neck rotation, numbness of limbs, weakness and sudden collapse in severe cases (characterized by clear consciousness).
(4) Sympathetic cervical spondylosis: accounting for 3% of the total, due to cervical degeneration causing sympathetic nerve stimulation, head and neck pain, dizziness or headache, panic, chest tightness, cold limbs, decreased skin temperature or hand and foot fever.
(5) Mixed cervical spondylosis: clinically, the above types rarely appear alone, and several types appear mixed, which we call mixed type.
3.What are the causes of cervical spondylosis?
Common causes
(1) Degenerative lesion: degeneration of the intervertebral disc occurs with age.
(2) Chronic strain injury.
(1) poor sleep, dysfunction of paravertebral muscles, ligaments and small joints, accelerating degeneration.
(2) improper work posture, especially long-term low head, posterior cervical muscle ligament strain.
③Inappropriate physical exercise.
(3) Head and neck trauma: traffic accidents, sports injuries, accidents at work, other accidents, improper pushing and massage.
(4) Inflammation of the pharynx: acute and chronic inflammation of the pharynx can induce cervical spine degeneration and instability. (Relaxation of the muscle ligaments of the neck).
(5) Spinal stenosis: developmental or secondary spinal stenosis can lead to compression of the spinal cord to produce CSM.
(6) Congenital malformation: congenital cervical fusion of the cervical spine and cranial depression, producing cervical spondylosis.
4.Why does cervical spondylosis appear in the head, neck and shoulder symptoms?
There are 7 cervical vertebrae in the human body and 8 pairs of cervical nerves. The upper 4 pairs of cervical nerve roots are compressed and stimulated to radiate to the head and neck, resulting in neck symptoms such as pain, numbness, compression of the vertebral artery and insufficient blood supply, resulting in dizziness, nausea and other symptoms. The lower 4 pairs of cervical nerves have some branches that innervate the thorax, back, axilla and back of shoulder, so cervical spondylosis also appears as symptoms between the upper thorax, axilla, shoulder and back of shoulder.
5.How can cervical spondylosis be treated?
First of all, a correct diagnosis must be made. Without diagnosis, there is no treatment, and the diagnosis must be confirmed according to the medical history, weight and imaging examination, and only then can a perfect treatment plan be completed.
(1) Conservative treatment (the purpose is to promote the inflammation of local blood vessels, nerves and muscle tissue to subside). There are many methods: cervical traction (cervical brace), physiotherapy, Chinese medicine, local treatment, and closure.
(2) Surgery: Surgery is often divided into two categories: anterior and posterior cervical surgery.
(1) Anterior surgery: Where the pressure-causing object comes from the anterior wall of the spinal canal (intervertebral disc, bone spur, ligament ossification) the dislocated vertebrae and simple cervical instability are suitable for anterior cervical surgery.
②Posterior surgery: posterior surgery is suitable for those who have a posterior wall, continuous ligamentous ossification, post-traumatic joint protrusions and lamellar bone dismantling blocks caught in the spinal canal, and developmental cervical spinal stenosis.