Prevention is better than cure Avoid suffering from cervical spondylosis Prevention of cervical spondylosis is more important than treatment. If you can protect the cervical spine and exercise the neck reasonably and scientifically, you can try to avoid the suffering of cervical spondylosis. Professor Shen suggested that the following points should be noted in daily life: First, improve and adjust the sleep state. “High pillow may not be worry-free”, when sleeping if the pillow is too high, it will change the physiological curvature of the cervical spine, just like sitting with the head down, a night’s sleep, but let the cervical spine is very tired. So sleep with a pillow not too high, in line with the physiological curvature of the cervical spine is appropriate, it is best to choose a small pillow, it is appropriate to pillow in the back of the neck rather than pillow in the head, which can play a certain preventive role. Second, correct and improve the bad habitual body position at work. The staff should be regular or timely correction of the head and neck strain posture, its working time should not exceed 1 hour continuously, and pay attention to read, write or work to straighten the waist, try to maintain a relaxed neck posture. Third, appropriate exercise. (1) Self-traction. If you suddenly feel neck pain, or shoulder back and upper limbs have radiating pain, you can cross your hands together, lift it over the head on the occipital neck, after the head back, hands gradually force to the head direction traction 5 ~ 10 seconds, so 3 ~ 4 times in a row can play a role in relieving the pressure of the intervertebral space. The principle is to use the force of the hands upward traction, so that the cervical spine gap away, so that the nucleus pulposus of the posterior protrusion may be returned, can also change the cervical joint line and play a role in relieving symptoms. (2) Aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise can take away the body’s bad metabolites, neck muscle strain will also produce metabolites similar to lactic acid, exercise sweating can excrete it, it can relieve the symptoms of discomfort. The best exercise is swimming, swimming cervical spine will not be affected by gravity, and swimming head up for air, neck back, not only exercise the muscles of the neck, but also the protruding disc pressure back, long-term persistence can even cure mild cervical disc herniation. (3) walk backwards. Hold slightly backward stretching neck backwards, is also a reverse movement, can relieve the rear muscle tension. Fourth, avoid dozing off when sitting in the car. When sitting in a long-distance car, you can wear a neck brace or pillow a neck pillow to do proper protection. Treatment of cervical spondylosis Overall 95% of patients with cervical spondylosis can take conservative treatment, only 5% of patients need surgery, and only about 2% of outpatients actually perform surgery. (1) Braking. Early patients can wear a cervical brace for immobilization to allow the head and neck to rest. Do not do too strenuous neck movement when the cervical spine is in trouble, and the more painful it is, the more rest is needed. (2) Cervical spine traction. It is a very good treatment method, it is recommended to do long time low weight traction, lying traction than sitting traction effect is good. Therefore, it is recommended that patients have a “pillow and jaw belt traction” at home, and traction with a weight of about 3 kg is performed at night while sleeping. (3) Acupuncture. It has a certain effect of opening the meridians and increasing blood circulation. You should be cautious about acupuncture, and you must find a qualified TCM doctor in a regular hospital to do it, rather than going to a health center to do irregular acupuncture. (4) Drugs. In case of seizures, you can take pain-relieving, nerve-nourishing, blood-stasis-activating drugs as prescribed by your doctor. (5) Surgery. For patients with severe pain that is difficult to tolerate and has seriously affected their lives, surgery can be performed. For patients with spinal cord type, once the diagnosis is clear, early surgery is recommended. At present, in the early and middle stages of cervical spondylosis, the problem can generally be solved by minimally invasive surgery in front of the neck, with minimal trauma and pain, and you can get out of bed the next day. In the late stages, more painful surgery at the back of the neck is often required to relieve the condition. In conclusion, the cervical spine is one of the most delicate motor units in the human body, but at the same time it is so flexible and orderly that damage or aging of any of its parts can lead to cervical spondylosis, and its aging lesion is a long-term, slow process that does not happen in a day. The key is to prevent the disease before it happens, to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to pay attention to self-care of the neck; once it comes to the point where surgery is needed, there is no need to be afraid, because cervical spine surgery is one of the least invasive and most definitive surgical procedures for a formally qualified and experienced spine surgeon.