What should I do about cervical spondylosis?

Written by Na Hong Wei
Orthopedics
Updated on September 08, 2024
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Having cervical spondylosis is not a big deal as long as you understand two things, which basically suffices. The first point is to determine the specific type of cervical spondylosis, as the treatment depends on the type, and different strategies are adopted for different types. The second point is to have a clear concept that once cervical spondylosis occurs, it is basically incurable. Therefore, it is essential to understand the concepts of healthcare and prevention. Let's discuss the types of cervical spondylosis. Clinically, cervical spondylosis is categorized into six types: cervical type, nerve root type, spinal type, sympathetic type, vertebral artery type, and mixed type. Cervical type cervical spondylosis generally does not require surgical treatment. The nerve root type responds best to traction. The spinal type generally requires surgical treatment. Vertebral artery type treatment involves treating both the cervical spine and arteriosclerosis. The mixed type involves the coexistence of two or more types of cervical spondylosis, and they are treated together. As for prevention, which is crucial for cervical spondylosis, it is important to pay attention to rest, maintain good sitting and standing postures, protect the cervical spine from cold, and perform appropriate cervical spine exercises to strengthen neck muscles. If cervical spondylosis episodes occur, remember not to self-medicate and seek proper treatment plans from a hospital.

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Written by Na Hong Wei
Orthopedics
1min 25sec home-news-image

Treatment of Cervical Spondylosis

The treatment of cervical spondylosis is divided into surgical treatment and non-surgical treatment. Currently, it is reported that 95% of patients with cervical spondylosis can be cured or relieved after non-surgical treatment. Only a small number of patients, whose conditions worsen after ineffective non-surgical treatment, require surgical intervention. Conservative treatments include traditional Chinese medicine and herbal treatments, external application of herbal medicine, massage and bone-setting, acupuncture, rehabilitation therapy, traction therapy, physical therapy, and exercise therapy. Surgical treatments are mainly for patients with myelopathic or radiculopathic cervical spondylosis whose symptoms have worsened significantly affecting work and life, or who have experienced muscle dysfunction or even muscle atrophy. Furthermore, other types of cervical spondylosis that are ineffective in conservative treatment, have poor results, or are recurrent, all fall within the scope of surgical treatments. Surgical treatments include minimally invasive procedures and conventional procedures, with the conventional procedures being divided into anterior cervical and posterior cervical approaches. Minimally invasive treatments include nucleolysis, percutaneous nucleotomy, PFDD, and radiofrequency ablation.

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Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
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How to exercise for cervical spondylosis

In general, for patients with cervical spondylosis, exercises such as swimming, playing badminton, flying kites, or performing "Mi Zi" exercises can effectively strengthen the neck muscles and thereby better protect the cervical spine. These are the exercise methods for cervical spondylosis. Additionally, patients should also pay attention to rest and protection, apply local heat, and combine treatments such as acupuncture, massage, traction, electrical stimulation, and cupping. For severe pain, topical ointments that invigorate blood and remove stasis can be used, along with oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, drugs that invigorate blood and remove stasis, and drugs that nourish the nerves. (Specific medications should be taken under the guidance of a physician.)

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Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
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How to determine cervical spondylosis

The diagnosis is mainly based on the patient's clinical symptoms, physical signs, and auxiliary examinations. If the patient presents with neck pain, discomfort, or a stiff sensation, along with dizziness, headache, blurred vision, decreased hearing, numbness in the arms, weakness, swelling pain, unsteady walking, a feeling of stepping on cotton, and even symptoms like palpitations, chest tightness, loss of appetite, and profuse sweating, cervical spondylosis is highly suspected. To confirm whether it is cervical spondylosis, further auxiliary examinations are needed, such as CT scans and MRI of the cervical spine.

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Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
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Is cervical spondylosis serious?

The severity of cervical spondylosis largely depends on the clinical symptoms of the patient. If the patient with cervical spondylosis experiences discomfort and stiffness in the neck, along with headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, hearing loss, unsteady walking, a sensation of stepping on cotton, numbness and weakness in both upper limbs, and swelling pain, it indicates that the cervical spondylosis is very serious and has caused significant compression on the vertebral artery and spinal nerve roots. Such patients need to be actively treated, and if necessary, surgical treatment should be carried out, involving the removal of the intervertebral disc and decompressive surgery to expand the spinal canal.

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Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
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How to treat cervical spondylosis?

The treatment plan primarily depends on the severity of the patient's cervical spondylosis. If the cervical spondylosis is very severe and there is significant compression on the spinal nerve roots, resulting in symptoms such as pain, numbness, and weakness in the legs, numbness and swelling pain in the arms, abnormal bladder and bowel functions, and evident spinal stenosis, then it is necessary to aggressively pursue surgical treatment. This usually involves the removal of the intervertebral disc, decompression and expansion of the spinal canal, and surgical treatment with intervertebral bone grafting and internal fixation. For cases where the disc herniation is not very large and the neck pain is not very severe, conservative treatment may be chosen. This includes measures like rest and protection, local heat application, and combining therapies such as acupuncture, electrotherapy, cupping, and traction.