Do cervical spondylosis patients fear cold?

Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
Updated on January 09, 2025
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Patients with cervical spondylosis are sensitive to cold. Exposure to cold can cause vasoconstriction and muscle contraction, thus aggravating the clinical symptoms of cervical spondylosis. Therefore, it is said that cervical spondylosis is sensitive to cold. Patients with cervical spondylosis should avoid cold environments and actively keep warm. It is recommended to persistently apply heat using a hot water bottle or salt bag twice daily, for at least thirty minutes each time for more noticeable effects. For those experiencing severe pain, oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be taken to alleviate pain. Additionally, topical plasters that activate blood circulation and disperse stasis can be used, along with therapies like acupuncture, electric heating, cupping, traction, and massage, which may progressively lead to recovery.

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Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
55sec home-news-image

What should I do about cervical spondylosis?

In clinical practice, the incidence of cervical spondylosis is relatively high, including vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis. Usually, for such patients, it is necessary to actively apply treatments such as cervical hot compresses, acupuncture, massage, traction, massages, and electrotherapy. Additionally, it is necessary to use vasodilator drugs to improve the blood supply to the vertebral artery. Furthermore, cervical spondylosis of the spinal nerve root type also has a high incidence. Patients often experience numbness in the limbs, making it necessary to actively apply nutritional neurotrophic drugs and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics for treatment. When cervical spondylosis is severe and cannot be improved through conservative treatment, it becomes necessary to proceed with surgical treatment actively.

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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 Li Jie
Orthopedics
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Is cervical spondylosis serious?

Cervical spondylosis is a relatively common clinical disease that can be divided into many types. The more common types are localized cervical spondylosis and cervical radiculopathy. Other types include spinal cervical spondylosis, vertebral artery cervical spondylosis, sympathetic cervical spondylosis, and mixed cervical spondylosis. Generally, cervical spondylosis only manifests as local pain in the cervical spine, limited neck movement, and muscle tension in the neck. Sometimes there may be radiating pain in the upper limbs. These symptoms are not particularly severe and usually do not require surgical treatment. However, more severe cases, such as severe cervical radiculopathy or spinal cervical spondylosis, compress the local nerves and spinal cord of the cervical spine, causing symptoms like weakness in the hands and feet, tightness in the lower limbs, unstable walking, poor grip strength, numbness in the limbs, difficulty walking, incontinence or urinary retention, and limb paralysis, leading to being bedridden. In these cases, cervical spondylosis is considered serious and may require surgical treatment. Like all diseases, the severity of cervical spondylosis varies and should not be generalized.

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Written by Su Zhen Bo
Orthopedics
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Is a "wealth bag" a cervical spondylosis?

In clinical practice, Dowager's hump and cervical spondylosis are two different conditions. A dowager's hump primarily results from long-term forward head posture, which increases the external force on the back of the cervical spine, leading to the formation of subcutaneous cysts in this area and the appearance of a dowager's hump. This condition commonly develops between the seventh cervical vertebra and the first thoracic vertebra. Patients with a dowager's hump typically experience localized swelling, pain, sourness, or even a feeling of chest tightness. Patients with cervical spondylosis primarily suffer from bone growth and degeneration in the cervical spine area, which compresses the spinal cord, nerve roots, and blood vessels, leading to symptoms of nerve compression damage. Therefore, when patients exhibit symptoms of either dowager’s hump or cervical spondylosis, it is imperative that they seek medical attention promptly. Doctors need to make a clear differential diagnosis and then proceed with symptomatic treatment.

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Written by Cheng Bin
Orthopedics
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How to relieve cervical spondylosis?

For the issue of alleviating cervical spondylosis, usually, patients need to pay attention to rest and protection, apply local heat, avoid looking down for long periods or keeping the neck in one position. Routine activities such as swimming, flying kites, or playing badminton can help strengthen the neck muscles and thereby better protect the cervical spine. Additionally, patients should use medications that expand blood vessels, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers, and drugs that nourish the nerves, and combine these with acupuncture, massage, traction, massage, electrotherapy, and cupping therapy. These physiotherapeutic methods are more beneficial for the clinical symptoms improvement of patients with cervical spondylosis. (Please use medication under the guidance of a doctor.)