In life, many people suffer from cervical spondylosis, but there are many who do not pay attention to it. Recently the population suffering from cervical spondylosis is becoming younger and younger, and the symptoms of the disease are becoming more and more numerous. Cervical spondylosis is very cunning and can be disguised as other diseases if you are not careful, so that you can not find the cause of the disease. Therefore, friends with the following symptoms should pay attention to whether cervical spondylosis is the cause of the trouble, and to promptly go to the hospital to carry out treatment.
Symptoms of cervical spondylosis
1. Elevated blood pressure.
Osteomalacia and degeneration of the cervical spine and misalignment of the middle and lower cervical spine may lead to strain, stimulation or compression of soft tissues such as blood vessels and nerves in the neck, resulting in increased or decreased blood pressure. However, the former is more common and is called cervical hypertension. Patients with cervical hypertension do not have organic lesions such as blood vessels, heart, brain and kidney, and treatment with antihypertensive drugs is ineffective, and often accompanied by neck pain and numbness in the upper limbs.
2. Cerebral arteriosclerosis or cerebellar disorders.
Due to the cervical spine proliferative changes compressing the vertebral artery causing basilar artery blood supply disorder, resulting in temporary cerebral blood supply deficiency. Patients may fall during walking due to sudden head twisting and loss of body support, accompanied by severe vertigo, headache, nausea, vomiting, sweating and other symptoms. However, unlike cerebral arteriosclerosis, patients with cervical spondylosis will wake up and stand up soon after the onset of fall due to the change of neck position, without coma and without sequelae. Patients can have their brain MRI and cervical spine MRI checked at the same time when they visit the clinic.
3. Morning dizziness.
If the mind is groggy or dizzy after waking up in the morning, the patient may have a cervical spine lesion that compresses the cervical artery and affects the blood supply to the brain. Therefore, those who are dizzy and lightheaded in the morning may have cervical spondylosis.
4. Angina pectoris or cardiac arrhythmia.
The stimulation and compression of the nerve roots in the back of the neck by the cervical spine spurs can trigger angina symptoms such as pain in the precordial region, chest tightness and shortness of breath, as well as tachycardia or bradycardia. Patients are often misdiagnosed when their neck symptoms are not obvious but their cardiovascular symptoms are more severe. Unlike coronary artery disease, suspected angina symptoms in patients with cervical spondylosis tend to occur after prolonged head-down work, sudden head twisting or head tossing, and patients also feel restricted neck movement and cervical spine with pressure pain. This kind of patients need to do a neck X-ray examination when they seek medical attention.
5. Lower limb paralysis or defecation disorder.
Due to stimulation or compression of the lateral bundle of the vertebrae, resulting in lower limb movement and sensory disorders, patients may experience lower limb numbness, pain, limp, some patients have the feeling of stepping on cotton when walking, individual patients may also be accompanied by defecation and urination disorders, such as frequent urination, urgent urination, poor urination or incontinence. After excluding cerebrovascular lesions by head CT, the possibility of cervical spondylosis should be considered.
6. Difficulty in swallowing.
At first, it feels itchy and foreign body sensation in the throat, and then feels difficulty in swallowing, with intermittent episodes, sometimes light and sometimes heavy, which is easily misdiagnosed as esophageal cancer, but this similar manifestation may also appear at the early stage of cervical spondylosis.
7.Visual impairment.
When cervical spondylosis causes autonomic nerve dysfunction, it will cause visual impairment, manifested as vision loss, intermittent blurred vision, swelling and pain in one or both eyes, photophobia, lacrimation, and even visual field reduction and sharp loss of vision, and blindness may occur in individual patients. However, most of them are accompanied by other symptoms of cervical spondylosis, such as neck and shoulder pain and limited neck movement. It is recommended that when the above mentioned eye symptoms occur and no eye problems are detected, it is best to have a neck X-ray to rule out cervical spine problems.
Expert tips
Due to incomplete knowledge of cervical spondylosis, most people only think of cervical spondylosis when they have symptoms such as stiff neck and shoulder pain, but rarely consider it when they have symptoms such as angina, itchy eyes, or loss of vision. Therefore, patients suffering from cervical spondylosis must go to a regular hospital for examination and treatment as early as possible, and choose a suitable treatment method according to their condition. And it is important to pay attention to the prevention of cervical spondylosis and the protection of the cervical spine in daily life.
Protecting the cervical spine and preventing cervical spondylosis
1.Avoid cervical spine injury
The human cervical spine is in constant motion, and thus has more chances of injury. After cervical spine injury, the tissues will have pathological processes such as hematoma, ligament injury and intervertebral disc injury, which will lead to cervical spondylosis. In order to prevent neck injury, people should be fully prepared before strenuous activities such as labor and sports, so that the joints, ligaments and muscles of the neck are fully relaxed to prevent injury.
2.Pay attention to posture
For people engaged in office and desk work, due to long time low head, so that the neck muscles in an abnormal state of stress, easy to cause soft tissue strain and injury of the neck. At the same time, when people flex their necks and heads down, the front edges of the cervical vertebrae are close to each other, resulting in friction or collision of tissues, causing cervical spondylosis. So you should pay attention to your posture when working, keep your chest straight and head slightly tilted forward. In order to avoid excessive neck flexion, the seat can be properly adjusted down, or the table is properly padded.
3.Strengthen the functional exercise of the neck
Through the functional exercise of the neck, the tension and spasm of the muscles and ligaments can be relieved. At the same time, the strengthening of the neck muscle strength is also conducive to maintaining the stability of the cervical spine. Because, the instability of the cervical spine is also one of the reasons for the occurrence of cervical spondylosis.
4.Pay attention to a reasonable diet
Chinese medicine has a long history of observation of the relationship between diet and bone metabolism, and has accumulated a wealth of experience. It is recognized that foods such as walnut, raw earth and black sesame have the effect of tonifying the kidney and benefiting the marrow, which can be taken reasonably to strengthen the muscles and bones, prevent and delay the effect of osteophytes, thus preventing the occurrence of cervical spondylosis.