Cervical spondylosis, one of the common diseases of modern people, especially among middle-aged people and even young white-collar workers, seriously affects people’s life, work and study. So, are all neck pain, dizziness and numbness of limbs cervical spondylosis? In fact, many times these symptoms are only local symptoms caused by degeneration of the cervical spine or symptoms caused by other reasons, and most of them cannot be diagnosed as cervical spondylosis yet, now let’s get to know cervical spondylosis. There are 7 cervical vertebrae in our cervical spine, of which the first cervical vertebra is called atlantoaxial vertebrae and the second cervical vertebra is called pivotal vertebrae. These two cervical vertebrae are special in shape and function, so they are called special cervical vertebrae. Most of the cervical spondylosis is caused by degeneration and protrusion of the intervertebral disc and compression of the spinal cord, nerves and blood vessels by the formation of hyperplasia and osteophytes on the posterior upper and lower edges of the vertebral body. Then, the symptoms caused by different compression locations are different, and there are many kinds of cervical spondylosis subtypes, and our most common subtypes are: local, neurogenic, spinal, vertebral artery and mixed, among which local and neurogenic types account for about 80-90% of all cervical spine, while spinal and vertebral artery types are relatively few, especially vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis is rare. Below we explain the different types of cervical spondylosis separately. 1.Localized cervical spondylosis Localized cervical spondylosis is the most common, and this type of cervical spondylosis is mainly caused by the degeneration of the intervertebral disc and the reduction of height, which leads to the relaxation of the cervical intervertebral joints and the increase of joint mobility, resulting in the fatigue and chronic strain on the joint capsule, ligaments and soft tissues around the intervertebral disc, resulting in localized discomfort and occasional pain in the neck, and some people have Some people have acute symptoms of “falling pillow”; on physical examination, there is only localized pressure pain but no manifestation of nerve compression damage; on X-ray, there is mild degeneration of the cervical spine, straightening of the physiological curvature or even retroflexion; on MRI examination, there is no obvious protrusion or mild bulging of the intervertebral disc, but the spinal cord and nerve roots are not compressed. This type of cervical spondylosis is the localized type of cervical spondylosis. Neurogenic cervical spondylosis Neurogenic cervical spondylosis is the second most common cervical spondylosis. This type of cervical spondylosis is caused by the protrusion of the intervertebral disc or the compression of the nerve roots by the bone redundancy, resulting in pain, numbness, weakness and other symptoms in the area innervated by the nerve roots, and patients mostly have pain in one side of the neck and shoulder and pain and numbness in one upper limb, while there is no discomfort in the other upper limb and bilateral lower limbs. Patients with acute severe cervical radiculopathy will have severe pain and even affect sleep. When examining the body, it can be found that the sensation and muscle strength of the area innervated by the nerve roots are clearly reduced, and the MRI of cervical spine can see the herniated disc or the bone flab compressing the nerve roots on one side or both sides. 3.Spinal cord cervical spondylosis The incidence of spinal cord cervical spondylosis is not very common, but this type of cervical spondylosis is mostly due to the symptoms of impaired spinal cord function caused by spinal cord compression, and most patients show neck and shoulder pain, numbness and weakness of bilateral upper limbs, difficulty in fine movements of both hands, weakness of both lower limbs, a feeling of stepping on cotton and instability in walking, and some patients have changes in urinary and fecal functions and even paralysis of both lower limbs. Symptoms, cervical spine degeneration, hyperplasia, bone superfluous formation and spinal space narrowing can be seen on X-ray, and disc protrusion or bone superfluous compression of the spinal cord can be seen on MRI, and there are even spinal cord signal changes. The condition of this type of cervical spondylosis is more serious and more dangerous. 4.Vertebral artery cervical spondylosis Vertebral artery cervical spondylosis is a rare type of cervical spondylosis, mostly caused by the compression of the vertebral artery by the bone superfluous, or dynamic instability of the cervical spine, etc. The vertebral artery becomes thin or spasms after compression, resulting in reduced blood supply, and the main manifestations of this type of cervical spine are neck and shoulder discomfort, dizziness, headache, and some patients will have walking instability. On X ray, cervical spine hyperplasia can be seen, especially hyperplasia of the hook vertebral joint, and on MRA, the vertebral artery is narrowed at the vertebral artery foramen. For localized cervical spondylosis, surgery is not required, and generally after regular conservative treatment, most patients can achieve good results; for neurogenic cervical spondylosis, about 80% of patients do not need surgery, and surgery is suitable for patients with acute disc prolapse compressing nerve roots causing severe intractable pain, numbness Patients with weakness, or patients with muscle atrophy. Spinal cord type cervical spondylosis generally requires surgery due to damage to the spinal cord, and early surgery is preferable for better recovery and prognosis. However, the results of surgery in this type of patient are not yet very reliable.