This is the working condition of many people in the workplace nowadays, and in the long run, cervical spondylosis will quietly come to us. In order to better understand cervical spondylosis, we should first understand the structure and function of the cervical spine. The human spine is divided into four parts: the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacrococcygeal vertebrae, with the cervical vertebrae being the uppermost part, located between the head and the thoracic vertebrae, and it is the diseases from these seven short cervical vertebrae that plunge many people into the abyss of pain.
The human spine, between each vertebrae, is a joint. With this joint, in order to have a soft degree of mobility. The most important part between each vertebra is the intervertebral disc. It’s a bit like a spring, it’s flexible and soft. The reason the disc works like a spring is because of its very complex internal structure, and usually the more complex the structure, the more likely something is to go wrong.
The pathogenesis of cervical spondylosis.
When people nod their heads and shake their heads, the cervical spine activity is the greatest; when people sit down, stand up and do bending movements, the lumbar spine activity is also very large.
How many times do people nod their heads, shake their heads and bend their waists in their lifetime? Countless. So over the years, the intervertebral disc will degenerate. What will happen after the degeneration? The elasticity will first decline, the elasticity will decline, a change will occur, called a herniated disc, beyond the edge of the vertebral body, protruding backwards, behind the spinal cord and nerves, the protruding disc will compress the spinal cord and nerves.
We all know that it is the spinal cord and nerves that transmit the brain’s instructions to the limbs or internal organs, so if the nerves are compressed, some pathological changes will occur. If the nerves responsible for sensation are compressed, we will feel pain and numbness; if the nerves that govern muscle movement are compressed, the muscles they govern will be paralyzed.
Bad habits in life
We all know that there is an idiom called high pillow, so many people think that a higher pillow is certainly beneficial to health, in fact, this is very wrong. Like the pillow cushion very high people, wake up after the neck is very easy to pillow.
The height of the pillow in the end how high it is appropriate? Tell you a simple way to judge, lying in bed, the head and neck angle should be similar to the upright position. If you are sleeping on your back, you should be able to see the ceiling, you can not lie in bed can also see the TV on the wall, the same when lying on your side, as long as the neck can be kept straight after lying down, is a healthy pillow height.
We can also make a small cylindrical pillow, the diameter is about 10 to 12 cm, put it on the back of the neck, pillow after the head will be gently tilted back, because cervical spondylosis is often because the head is too much time to bend forward, so the treatment you have to try to make it back, there will be better results.
Some people also advocate using a beer bottle pillow to the back of the neck, theoretically speaking is also possible, after the pillow on this beer bottle, as long as you do not feel too hard, feel more comfortable, it is completely possible.
Then there is the ambulatory work, every half an hour to stop and move the neck, but this activity is not the greater the better?
Our advice is: if you are young, the range of activities can be larger; if you are middle-aged or older, the cervical spine has begun to degenerate, it is not suitable to do a wide range of actions. As long as the work stops, relax the neck, before and after the angle is not too large, so that the tense muscles get a rest on it.
Now many people are inseparable from the computer, work, study, entertainment, Internet chatting, long hours staring at the computer screen, the cervical spine in a fixed position, over time will also lead to cervical degeneration. There are also some lesbians knitting sweaters, with a long time, concentrating on knitting, the cervical vertebrae are always in a bent posture, it is also easy to cause cervical spondylosis. There are also people playing mahjong for recreational purposes, staring at the mahjong tiles for a long time, the cervical spine is also in a bent position.
Common symptoms of cervical spondylosis
Cervical spondylosis can be divided into many types, the most common type is called nerve root type, the common symptoms of this type appear in the upper limbs, such as pain, numbness, soreness, inflexibility of finger movement, etc. Pain in the upper limbs can appear in many parts, the most common is the neck and shoulder area, called neck and shoulder pain. Some people also have pain in the front of the chest, and some people have pain around the scapula.
In addition, any part of the arm may have pain, soreness and other uncomfortable feelings, so when you find pain in the upper limbs, you should think about whether there is a problem with the cervical spine and have a cervical spine examination first.
There is another type of cervical spondylosis called spinal cord. This type is a little difficult to diagnose, and it is generally characterized by stiffness and inflexibility of the lower limbs first.
Other people are prone to fall when they walk a little faster, and then they slowly develop symptoms of numbness and inflexibility of the upper limbs, and they do not feel the same as before when they perform delicate movements such as holding chopsticks and tying buttons.
Another type is the vertebral artery type, which is relatively rare and is mainly characterized by vertigo.
This type of vertigo is also called cervical vertigo, which is characterized by vertigo attacks when your head turns. For example, when you are walking and an acquaintance greets you from behind, you turn your head and suddenly experience vertigo.
Treatment of cervical spondylosis
Dizziness, pain in the upper limbs, and even inflexibility of the legs and feet may be the pain caused by cervical spondylosis, and it seems that there are many names for cervical spondylosis, and the symptoms must be treated at the root, so that the cause of the disease can be clarified and the right medicine can be prescribed.
Traction: mechanically speaking, the distance between the vertebrae is pulled apart by traction, so that the deformed intervertebral discs can recover as much as possible to reduce the pressure on the nerves, traction is suitable for most patients with cervical spondylosis, especially for the nerve root type. If you usually work very busy, not much time to go to the hospital, and recently found around the arm or shoulder always feel a little numb, sore, uncomfortable, may wish to try to do a traction.
Exercise therapy: through fitness activities to restore the elasticity of the cervical spine is also a very good way. When the weather is good, flying a kite, head up to look at the kite action is a therapeutic action; playing badminton is also a very good treatment of cervical spondylosis exercise, the neck to often lean back, while the waist will also have a backward movement, the lumbar back muscles and neck muscles are very good; then swimming, a standard breaststroke position, head up for air, the head and cervical vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae are a backward movement The head, cervical spine and lumbar vertebrae are all leaned back.
But it should be noted that exercise therapy is mainly applicable to the basic relief of cervical spondylosis symptoms, or a chronic state, if the symptoms are in the acute attack period, it is not recommended to use this method. Especially those who have more obvious spinal cord compression symptoms, should not use this method.
Physiotherapy: there are many methods of physiotherapy, including the people say baking electricity. If the symptoms of cervical spondylosis are heavy and the effect of traction is slow, it is recommended that you go to the rehabilitation department or physiotherapy department in the hospital and ask a professional doctor to help you choose a suitable physiotherapy method.
Medication: The first one is painkillers. The first is the pain medication, because many cervical spondylosis pain is more obvious, common pain medication such as diclofenac, fenbid, celebrex, paracetamol, etc., can play a good role in pain, but in taking some contraindications to pay attention to the situation. For example, some drugs should not be taken by heart patients, or taken with caution; some drugs should not be taken by people with stomach problems; some drugs should not be taken for more than five days in a row, and some drugs should not be taken for more than three weeks in a row. These are the ones that have fewer side effects, but you should be careful and read the instructions carefully.
The second is a nerve-nourishing drug, now more commonly used and cheaper a drug called methylcobalamin, cervical spondylosis because of nerve compression, stimulation after the symptoms, so the nerve-nourishing drugs can improve the symptoms. There are also some more commonly used and cheaper ones such as vitamin B1 and vitamin B6, which can also nourish the nerves.
The third type of medicine is to improve blood circulation, because the nerve is under pressure, so the blood circulation of the nerve itself is also poor, many of the drugs to improve blood circulation belong to Chinese medicine, and it is also more convenient to take.
Surgery: If you have used the methods described above, but the effect is still not good, you should consider surgery.
Generally people sound afraid of surgery, but there are many patients who really need surgery, such as the spinal cord type of cervical spondylosis, and usually the effect of conservative treatment is not very satisfactory, so it is generally recommended to operate as soon as possible. Because the spinal cord type of cervical spondylosis is due to the direct compression of the spinal cord after the disc protrusion, resulting in inflexible lower limbs, clumsy walking, and poor bowel control in some patients. If the pressure is prolonged, it becomes irreversible changes.
People are afraid of surgery mainly because they are afraid of causing paralysis, but this kind of patient is actually a kind of paralysis, only it is an incomplete paralysis, is there any risk of paralysis by surgery? There is indeed a risk of paralysis with surgery, but with the development of medical technology, the probability of paralysis with such surgery should be very low.
Finally, it is recommended that you should always take care of your cervical spine in your normal life, for example, when working, you should often stop to rest, relax and move around, and when sleeping, you must pay attention to your pillow. If the symptoms are more obvious, more serious, through self-care methods can not, must come to the hospital, find specialist treatment!