Everyone knows the spine, but you may not really know “spondylosis”. Starting from the neck and reaching to the lower back, our spine is connected up and down to support our bodies. If your neck is sore and your back is uncomfortable, you’ll think it’s time to check your spine. But if you suddenly have trouble seeing, diarrhea or constipation, gynecological or male disorders, you may be running around to ophthalmology, neurology, gastroenterology, gynecology, and male medicine, but would you ever think that these could actually be related to the spine? In fact, “spine-related disorders” are starting to get more and more attention in the medical community, so let’s get to know it. First, let’s get to know your spine. The spine is a multifunctional pillar, the central axis of the body and the attachment site for many skeletal muscles that support weight and movement; it also provides security for our information center, the spinal cord and spinal nerves, and a suitable environment for the autonomic nerves that govern visceral activity. Therefore, if there is a problem with the spine, it will seriously affect the immediate access to the body’s vital information, which in turn affects its physical health status. The spine itself has four physiological curves: cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral, and consists of 24 vertebrae (7 cervical, 12 thoracic and 5 lumbar), one sacrum and one coccyx connected by ligaments, joints and intervertebral discs. Problems in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spine may not only cause pain and discomfort in the spine and surrounding tissues and affect motor functions, but may also affect the spinal cord, spinal nerves or autonomic nerves, resulting in a variety of symptoms. Cervical spine problems and visual impairment Cervical spine problems may cause headaches, dizziness, and even visual impairment, in addition to neck pain. For example, some people are fine, a turn around suddenly appear blind, and then rest for a dozen seconds to recover; some people double vision (double shadow), monocular vision is often reduced or disappear; others appear paroxysmal vision loss, blurred vision, visual field defects, eye blossoms and flashing colors; and these visual impairments are often accompanied by some symptoms of cervical spondylosis, such as neck stiffness, neck pain, scapular back pain, etc., then This is most likely a cervicogenic visual impairment. This kind of visual impairment is due to the patient’s cervical spine problems, resulting in plant nerve dysfunction, so patients often have varying degrees of cervical spondylosis symptoms and signs at the same time as visual impairment. And such patients mostly have no abnormalities in eye examinations, and need to be treated according to cervical spondylosis to receive better results. Thoracic spine problems and intestinal problems If we have problems with the thoracic spine, then it is easy to have chest pain, back pain, and possibly some symptoms of suspected heart and lung related diseases, but you may not know that it can also bring about some suspected digestive tract diseases, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation. In clinical practice, there are some patients who present with “irritable bowel syndrome” due to thoracic instability. Patients may have sudden abdominal pain and diarrhea, or they may be constipated for years, but no organic lesions of the digestive tract can be found. In some cases, after receiving osteopathic treatment in the tui na department, the digestive tract symptoms unexpectedly improve, and in retrospect, the patient realizes that there may be a problem with the spine, which affects the related nervous system and results in digestive tract symptoms. There are also older patients who have compression fractures of the spine due to osteoporosis. However, the patient does not have any other significant abnormalities, and even the pain is not particularly prominent, except for prolonged constipation as a symptom. After their spine problems were properly treated, their constipation was significantly improved. Lumbar spine problems and “men’s disease” If there are problems with the lumbar spine, we may have back pain, weakness in the legs and feet, and even mobility problems. But you probably wouldn’t think that some gynecological and male “unspeakable”, in fact, may also be related to the lumbar spine and even the entire spine. There is a medical condition called “cauda equina syndrome”, which is often caused by acute or chronic compression of the cauda equina nerve roots due to problems in the lumbar spine, causing low back pain, sciatica, lower limb weakness, incontinence, as well as sexual dysfunction and other manifestations. Some men go to the doctor because of ED (erectile dysfunction), but never expect that they are actually caused by lumbar spine lesions. Lumbar spine problems can also cause problems such as menstrual pain and irregular menstruation in some women. Of course, it can cause much more than these problems.