How to cure cervical spondylosis permanently?
Hello guys, hope you all are doing well. And today we have another interesting topic for you guys to have a look at. And today we will be talking about cervical spondylosis or commonly known as spondylosis. I’m sure that many of you might have heard about it and seen your parents, family, neighbours or you yourself might be suffering from it. But today we shall talk about the possible ways to cure cervical spondylosis permanently.
What is Cervical Spondylosis?
Cervical spondylosis is a standard term for age-related wear and tear impacting the spinal disks in one’s neck. As the disks dehydrate and shrink, signs of osteoarthritis grow, with the bony projections along the edges of bones (also known as bone spurs). As already mentioned that cervical spondylosis is a very standard term that can be heard among the aged and is also a common disease among them, thus as stated by mayoclinic.org less or more than 85% people who are of more than 60 years of age suffer from cervical spondylosis. Although nowadays there are many people who not even 60 yet suffer from spondylosis or cervical spondylosis and one of the reasons may be the lifestyle they follow.
Symptoms of Cervical Spondylosis:
However many people often don’t experience any symptoms when suffering from cervical spondylosis but at the same some of them do experience certain symptoms which might even become severe if not tended properly or at earliest. Thus, let’s have a quick look at the symptoms of cervical spondylosis or simply spondylosis.
- Experience pain and stiffness in the neck.
- Experience weakness, numbness in the arms, legs and hands, sometimes also feel tingly.
- Face difficulty in walking.
- Lack of co – ordination in body movements.
- Loss of bladder and bowel control.
- Feeling of heaviness in one’s head.
The above mentioned are some of the most common symptoms for cervical spondylosis. And as already mentioned that many of them may not experience any of the symptoms while suffering from cervical spondylosis but some of them might even suffer, and when they do some medications can be of help to them. Thus, whenever you my dear women face any such symptoms make sure to visit the doctor as soon as possible and get yourself treated.
And now that we know, what are the symptoms of cervical spondylosis, let’s have a look at what are the possible reasons that can cause one to suffer from spondylosis.
- Drying or dehydrated disks – Disks behave like cushions between one’s vertebrae and spine. And by the age of 40 (plus or minus) the spinal disks start drying out for most of the humans, which leads to more bone – to – bone contacts between the vertebras, thus inducing pain in the neck and some other symptoms as well.
- Herniated Disks – With age, one’s disks are often affected and cracks appear in disks thus leading to bulging or herniation of the disks (called as herniated disks) and it may also cause the disks to press the spinal cords and nerve roots.
- Bone Spurs - Degeneration or decay of the disks causes the spine producing more bones, in order to strengthen the spinal cord in a misguided way, which in return causes these bone spurs to pinch the spinal cord and nerve roots, thus causing pain and dis balance.
- Having stiff ligaments – Ligaments are nothing but cords of tissues that connect one bone with another and when these spinal ligaments stiffen due to age, cause pain and also make your neck less flexible.
The above mentioned causes count as some of the major reasons why one can or may suffer from cervical spondylosis. And now last but not the least let’s have a look at how to treat cervical spondylosis either permanently or not.
Now, there are different kinds of treatments available for treating cervical spondylosis and those include medications, therapy and surgery and we shall look at them one by one.
Medications:
If normal pain relievers or pain killers don’t work for you then the doctor might change them to,
- Non – Steroidal anti – inflammatory drugs/medicines - Often abbreviated as NSAID’s may need prescription from the doctor to be used as a medication against the pain and inflammation caused due to cervical spondylosis.
- Corticosteroids – When it comes to pain an oral dose of Prednisone can be effective but if the pain is severe and unbearable a shot of steroids may be also helpful.
- Muscle relaxants – Muscle relaxants like cyclobenzaprine, may help relieve the spams in the muscles.
- Anti - seizure drugs and anti – depressants - These drugs help ease neck pain caused due to cervical spondylosis.
Therapies:
One of the best ways to treat cervical spondylosis is exercises or physical therapies. A physiotherapist can teach you some exercises that can help strengthen your neck and shoulder muscles. And sometimes if the pain or condition is severe as an effect of cervical spondylosis then taking traction can be of more use as it will help create more space within spine if the nerve roots are being pinched.
Along with these some simple exercises should also be added in order to keep oneself healthy and fit. Which in return may have lesser side effects when suffering from a health condition or disease.
Surgeries:
And last but not the least surgeries, these seem to be like a permanent solution for treating cervical spondylosis. Although surgery is like the last option that one might need to opt and that happens only when the conservative treatment of medications and physiotherapy fails, resulting in weakness of one’s arms and legs, thus a reason of dis balance of the body. And this is the exact time when one might need to opt for a surgery, where a surgery might include:
- Removal of the bone spurs or herniated disks.
- Removing a part of the vertebra.
- Fusing a segment of the neck using bone grafting and hardware.
The above mentioned methods are some of the treatments through which cervical spondylosis can be cured and these may be some of the permanent treatments for treating cervical spondylosis, although there are some home remedies that can be followed to stay in shape and avoid the severing of cervical spondylosis and they are,
- Usage of hot pack or ice pack, both of them give you relief from sore neck and reduces the inflammation or the swelling of one’s muscles.
- Regular exercise – As already mentioned that physiotherapy proves to be one of the best cure for cervical spondylosis but doing regular exercises not only help you stay fit but also makes your muscles more flexible and healthy.
- Usage of soft neck braces - These neck braces allow your neck muscles to rest, however these braces should be only for a shorter period of time, as using them for long may weaken your neck muscles.
- Pain relievers or pain killers seem to be the easiest method to get rid of the neck pain or the pain caused cervical spondylosis.
So, the above mentioned treatments are the available cure for cervical spondylosis but there is definitely no guarantee as to which treatment will work for whom because as I always say that we all have different body types and what may suit you may not suit the other.
Ref: Cervical spondylosis - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic
Cervical spondylosis - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic