We are not strangers to cervical spondylosis, and many advertisements on TV talk about cervical spondylosis, but do you really understand cervical spondylosis? How about the prevention of whiplash? What should I do if I get cervical spondylosis? The following gives you a detailed introduction.
A. What is cervical spondylosis?
Cervical spondylosis is a variety of symptoms and signs caused by the stimulation or compression of cervical nerve roots, cervical spinal cord, vertebral artery and cervical sympathetic nerve after degenerative changes and secondary changes of cervical intervertebral disc. It is common in middle-aged and elderly people and white-collar workers in offices.
Cervical spondylosis includes: cervical spine osteophytes, cervical spine osteoarthritis, cervical disc protrusion or prolapse, etc. Its main symptoms are: head, neck, shoulder, back and arm pain, stiff neck and neck, and restricted movement.
Second, the symptoms of strong spondylosis
1.Neck and shoulder pain can be radiated to the head and occipital area and upper limbs.
2.Sense of heaviness in the back of one shoulder, weakness of the upper limbs, numbness of the fingers, loss of sensation of the skin of the limbs, weakness of holding things in the hands, and sometimes unconscious holding of things on the ground.
3.Serious typical manifestations are: weakness of the lower limbs, unstable walking, numbness of the second foot, and the feeling of stepping on cotton when walking.
4. In the most serious cases, there is even loss of control of bowel movements and urination, sexual dysfunction, and even tetraplegia.
5, often accompanied by head, neck, shoulder, back and arm pain, neck and neck stiffness, limited movement.
6.Some of them are accompanied by dizziness, house rotation, heavy cases are accompanied by nausea and vomiting, bedridden, a few may have vertigo and sudden collapse.
7.When cervical spondylosis involves sympathetic nerve, dizziness, headache, blurred vision, swelling of both eyes, dryness, inability to open both eyes, tinnitus, ear blockage, loss of balance, tachycardia, panic, tightness in the chest, some even have symptoms such as gastrointestinal distention. There are also symptoms such as difficulty in swallowing and pronunciation.
III. Types of cervical spondylosis
Cervical spondylosis can be divided into five types, each with different symptoms, as follows.
1, nerve root type: manifested as frequent soreness and stiffness in the back of the neck, shoulders, often “pillow”, numbness and weakness of the hands.
2, spinal cord type: manifested as lower limb weakness, numbness, muscle pain, clumsy gait, easy to fall. The limbs are swollen and cold, and the bowels are not smooth.
3.Vertebral artery type: manifesting as headache and dizziness, tinnitus and deafness, blurred vision. Nausea and vomiting, excessive sweating, no sweating, tachycardia, fast and slow breathing, and sudden weakness of upper or lower limbs.
4.Sympathetic nerve type: manifesting as upper “eyelid” weakness, blurred vision, eye swelling and pain, tinnitus and deafness, throat discomfort. Precordial pain, bradycardia and tachycardia, sometimes slow. Cold and numbness in the limbs, redness and heat in the limbs, excessive sweating, fear of cold and heat. Gastrointestinal tract dysfunction, urination disorder.
5. Mixed type: manifesting symptoms of all the above types. Of course, these symptoms may not always be manifested in a patient.
Fourth, the cause of cervical spondylosis?
Cervical spondylosis is one of the most common orthopedic diseases. In daily life, many bad habits are very easy to trigger cervical spondylosis, so what causes the appearance of strong spondylosis?
1, head and neck trauma: 50% of medullary cervical spondylosis is related to neck trauma. Some patients due to cervical spine osteophytes, cervical disc bulge, soft tissue lesions in the spinal canal, etc. so that the cervical spinal canal in a narrow critical state, cervical trauma is easy to trigger the symptoms.
2, bad posture: such as lying in bed watching TV, reading books, high pillow, sleeping in a sitting position, etc.; sleeping on a recumbent car, poor muscle protection when sleeping, braking is prone to neck injury, leading to the emergence of cervical spondylosis.
3, chronic infection: mainly pharyngitis, followed by dental caries, periodontitis, otitis media, etc. It is believed that chronic pharyngeal infection is an important pathogenetic factor of cervical spondylosis, which may be aggravated by the interaction with soft tissue chronic strain inflammation. This is also a factor in the etiology of cervical spondylosis.
4, wind, cold and wet factors: wind, cold and wet factors in the external environment can reduce the body’s tolerance to pain, which can cause muscle spasm, small blood vessel constriction, slowed lymphatic flow, impaired soft tissue blood circulation in cervical spondylosis patients, followed by aseptic inflammation.
5, inappropriate physical exercise: more than the neck endurance of the movement caused by trauma, so the head and neck practice to pay attention to, not brute practice, cervical spine has degenerative changes do not advocate exercise;
6, strain: so that the head and neck in a single posture position for a long time, such as prolonged head down, it is easy to trigger cervical spondylosis. Cervical spondylosis patients younger than 30 years old, most of them are engaged in ambulatory work.
7, cervical spine structure dysplasia: like congenital small spinal canal, cervical spine degeneration, etc. These are the basis for triggering cervical spondylosis to make its onset. According to foreign incomplete statistics 40-50 years old with degeneration accounted for 25% of people while 55 years old and above accounted for 85.5% of people. The central vertebral canal of the cervical spine and the narrow nerve root canal are 1 times more likely to suffer from cervical spondylosis than normal people.
V. Warning signs of cervical spondylosis
1, fall: often in standing or walking due to sudden head twisting, there is a loss of body support and sudden fall, after falling to the ground can quickly wake up and stand up, not accompanied by impaired consciousness, and no sequelae. These patients may suffer from dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, sweating and other symptoms of plant nerve dysfunction. This is due to the impaired blood supply of the basilar artery caused by the proliferative changes of the cervical spine compressing the vertebral artery, resulting in a severe shortage of cerebral blood supply for a while.
2, hypertension: cervical spondylosis can cause an increase or decrease in blood pressure, but an increase in blood pressure is common, called “cervical hypertension”. This is related to the derangement of blood supply to the basilar artery due to cervical spondylosis and the stimulation of sympathetic nerve dysfunction. Since cervical spondylosis and hypertension are both common in middle-aged and elderly people, there are many opportunities for both to coexist.
3. Swallowing disorder: obstructive feeling when swallowing, foreign body sensation in the esophagus, a few have nausea, vomiting, hoarseness, dry cough and chest tightness. This is a symptom of esophageal stenosis caused by direct compression of the posterior wall of the esophagus by the bone at the front edge of the cervical spine, or the spasm or excessive relaxation of the esophagus due to the disorder of the plant nerves caused by cervical spondylosis. It can also be caused by the stimulation reaction of the soft tissues around the esophagus due to the formation of bone spurs.
4. Visual impairment: It is manifested as decreased vision, eye distension, photophobia, lacrimation, unequal pupil size, or even reduced field of vision and sharply reduced visual acuity. This is related to the ischemic lesion of the visual center of the occipital lobe of the brain caused by autonomic dysfunction and insufficient blood supply of the vertebral basilar artery due to cervical spondylosis.
5, cervical heart syndrome: manifested as precordial pain, chest tightness, premature beats and other arrhythmias and ST-segment changes in the electrocardiogram, easily mistaken for coronary heart disease. This is caused by the posterior nerve root of the cervical dorsal nerve being stimulated and compressed by the cervical vertebrae.
These are the five major symptoms that warn of cervical spondylosis, and if you have any of the above symptoms, you should go to the hospital for examination and treatment in time to avoid delaying the excellent time for treatment.
Sixth, the treatment method of strong spondylosis
After the occurrence of cervical spondylosis disease, patients should choose early scientific methods of treatment to ensure that patients with cervical spondylosis can be cured, we must not be careless!
1, massage therapy: this is a method used by many people, we will massage after feeling sore neck, but it is best to massage in the morning, because after a night’s rest, the muscles of the neck and back are in a relatively relaxed state, which is conducive to enhancing the effect of massage.
2, physical therapy: through the application of natural and artificial various physical factors, such as sound, light, electricity, heat, magnetism and other effects on the human body, in order to achieve the purpose of treatment and prevention of disease. But its effect is also weak, can not be treated at the root. And often physical therapy is easy to produce burns on the skin.
3, exercise therapy: is to be more active, do some health exercises, the symptoms of acute attacks should be local rest, should not increase the stimulation of movement. Exercise therapy can be done two or three times a day. It also has a good effect on the prevention of cervical spondylosis.
4.Medication: You can choose to apply painkillers, sedatives, vitamins (such as B1, B12), which have certain effects on the relief of symptoms.
5.Drug patches: Many patients with cervical spondylosis will put on some ointments when they develop, and there are many better patches on the market with minimal side effects.
6, surgery method: surgery is mainly to reduce compression, eliminate irritation, improve stability and prevent progressive damage. However, there are more complications and contraindications to surgery, high risk, pain, systemic or local conditions are not suitable for surgery patients, such as older, poor health, combined cardiovascular and cerebrovascular pathology or diabetes, or patients with contraindications to anesthesia should not be treated surgically.