Cervical spondylosis is a syndrome of a series of clinical symptoms caused by degenerative degeneration of the cervical disc and osteophytes of the cervical spine, which often manifests clinically as pain in the neck, shoulder arm, upper back of the scapula and chest area arm, hand numbness muscle atrophy or even tetraplegia, and can occur at any age in middle-aged and elderly people. The disease is characterized by high incidence, long treatment time, and very easy recurrence after treatment. Cervical spondylosis is the root cause of many diseases, and its degenerative pathology is a long-term, slow process and not a one-day cold.
Cervical cervical spondylosis
Symptoms: pain and stiffness in the neck, pain and stiffness in the whole shoulder and back, head flexion and rotation are restricted in a sloping neck position, and the neck and trunk must rotate together when turning back. A few patients may have reflex shoulder, arm and hand pain and symptoms such as swelling and numbness, but there is no increase in upper limb radiation when coughing or sneezing.
Signs: In the acute stage, cervical spine movement is obviously restricted, muscle spasm at the lesion with pressure pain, intervertebral foramen squeeze test and nerve root pull test are normal
Nerve root type cervical spondylosis
Symptoms: persistent tight arm pain with paroxysmal exacerbation The affected upper limb may show obvious radicular symptoms such as finger pain, numbness, weakness, muscle atrophy, etc. Paroxysmal exacerbation of symptoms in the affected limb can be triggered by coughing and deep breathing.
Signs: restriction of neck movement, paraspinal pressure pain with radiating pain
Tendon reflex changes.
1. lesion-biceps reflex.
2, lesion-radial periosteal reflex.
3. lesion-triceps reflex
Skin perception changes: 1.
1, lesion – triceps, upper arm lateral skin sensation is reduced.
2. lesions – diminished skin sensation on the radial side of the forearm and thumb side of the hand.
3. lesions – hyperalgesia of the skin of the middle finger.
4.T lesion- decreased skin sensation at the ulnar side of the forearm and the little finger
Muscle strength.
1.Weakness of shoulder joint abduction.
2.Weakness in wrist extension.
3.Weakness in wrist flexion and finger extension.
4.Weakness in flexion of the fingers.
5.Weakness in finger abduction and adduction
Myasthenia gravis: atrophy of spinal nerve innervated muscles
Spinal cord type cervical spondylosis
This type has a high rate of disability. In mild cases, partial loss of work capacity can occur, and in severe cases, quadriplegia and complete loss of work capacity can occur. It is characterized by only slight abnormal sensation in the neck at the beginning of the disease, or even no symptoms at all, and lack of neurological localization signs in the extremities, so it is often considered as neurological disorder, and the patient loses the opportunity of early diagnosis and early treatment without proper treatment; at a later stage, spastic paralysis of the limbs and pathological reflexes appear and then it is too late for treatment.
Symptoms: The clinical symptoms of spinal cord cervical spondylosis are numerous with a variety of manifestations of sensory, motor, sympathetic nerve and vascular involvement basically can be summarized as follows.
Vertebral body bundle compression or anterior spinal artery spasm ischemia: lower limb weakness, heavy gait clumsy, trembling toes can not leave the ground easy to fall limb muscle twitching late stage can appear spastic paralysis.