What is a herniated disc? The spine consists of the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and coccygeal vertebrae. The disc-shaped structure between the vertebrae, called the intervertebral disc, acts as a cushion against gravity and external forces. It is surrounded by a dense fibrous ring. After degenerative changes of various parts of the lumbar intervertebral disc (including the nucleus pulposus, fibrous ring and cartilage plate), especially the nucleus pulposus, under the action of various factors, the fibrous ring of the intervertebral disc ruptures and the nucleus pulposus tissue protrudes (or exits) from the rupture in the posterior or spinal canal, resulting in irritation or compression of the adjacent spinal nerve roots, resulting in a series of back pain, numbness and pain in one or both lower extremities, etc. This results in a series of clinical symptoms such as back pain, numbness and pain in one or both lower limbs. Herniated discs often involve the cervical and lumbar spine, causing cervical disc herniation and lumbar disc herniation. The incidence of cervical and lumbar disc herniation has continued to rise in the population in recent years, reaching 15.2% at present, with a trend towards lower age. How to classify herniated disc 1, according to the number of protruding discs, there can be a protrusion and double (multiple) protrusion; 2, according to the degree of protrusion, there are four types of bulging, protrusion, prolapse and free type. 3. According to the location of protrusion, there are central type, lateral type and far lateral type, etc. What is cervical spondylosis? Cervical spondylosis is a disease in which degeneration of the cervical spine causes deformation and narrowing of the cervical spinal canal or intervertebral foramen, stimulating and compressing the cervical spinal cord and nerve roots, and causing corresponding clinical symptoms. What are the causes of the disease? 1, mostly caused by cervical disc degeneration, cervical spine osteophytes, long-term local muscle, ligament, joint capsule injury, can cause local hemorrhagic edema, inflammatory changes, in the lesion area gradually appear inflammatory mechanization, and the formation of osteophytes. Previously seen in the elderly, in recent years there is a tendency to younger; 2, bad posture is another major cause of cervical spine injury. Long hours of low work, lying in bed watching TV, reading, like high pillows, long hours of computer operation, violent rotation of the neck or head, sleeping in a moving car, these poor posture will make the neck muscles in a long-term fatigue state, prone to injury. In the past, it was an occupational disease for accountants and teachers, but now it is a common disease in offices. The pathogenesis? Degeneration of the intervertebral disc is the basic pathological change, which leads to a series of pathological changes: 1. Early dehydration of the cervical intervertebral disc, reduction of the water content of the nucleus pulposus and swelling of the fibers of the annulus fibrosus, followed by degeneration and even rupture. After the degeneration of the cervical disc, the resistance to compression and the resistance to pulling are reduced. Restricted or widespread bulging around can occur, narrowing the intervertebral disc space, overlapping and misalignment of the articular processes, and reducing the longitudinal diameter of the intervertebral foramen. 2, causing secondary intervertebral instability, increased intervertebral mobility and mild slippage of the vertebral body, followed by osteophytes of the posterior tuberosity, hook vertebral joint and vertebral plate, degeneration of the ligamentum flavum and collar ligament, chondrogenesis and ossification, and other changes. The gap formed between the vertebral body and the protruding intervertebral disc and ligamentous tissue, due to the accumulation of tissue fluid, coupled with the bleeding shaped by microscopic injury, causes this bloody fluid to mechanize and then calcify and ossify, thus forming a bone superfluous. 3, the laxity of the front and rear ligaments of the vertebral body, and make the cervical spine unstable, and increase the chance of trauma, so that the bone superfluous gradually increase. The bone superfluous together with the bulging fibrous ring, posterior longitudinal ligament and edema or fibrous scar tissue caused by the reaction to trauma, forms a mixture of protrusion into the spinal canal at the equivalent of the intervertebral disc, which has a compressive effect on the cervical nerve or spinal cord. The bony flab of the hook vertebral joint may protrude anteriorly to posteriorly into the intervertebral foramen to compress the nerve roots and vertebral artery.