How can you get senile diseases at a young age? What's going on here?
Why do you get cervical spondylosis?
As we all know, the weight of a normal adult's head is about 4.5-5.5 kilograms. When we are in an upright position, these weights will be borne by the neck.
Our neck consists of seven cervical vertebrae, which together with the surrounding ligaments, intervertebral discs and neck muscles form a movement system to support and move the head.
However, unlike other joints in our body, the intervertebral joint connecting the upper and lower vertebrae is a plane joint, and its movement mode is that the upper and lower vertebrae slide relatively during the movement, which leads to the intervertebral joint itself needing a lot of support from the surrounding ligaments and muscles to maintain the stability of movement and posture.
When we are in a good upright posture, that is, the neutral position of the spine, the center of gravity of the head is basically on the same vertical line with the longitudinal axis of the spine, and the weight load of the head has the least pressure on the cervical vertebra and surrounding tissues.
In our daily activities, good physiological curvature of cervical spine can help us absorb the impact of exercise and prevent brain damage.
When we gradually increase the neck flexion angle, the center of gravity of the head moves forward, which leads to the increase of neck load.
Studies have shown that when we play with our heads down all the time, if the neck is bent to 60 degrees, the weight load of the head on the cervical spine is about 27 kilograms (60 pounds).
It is equivalent to lifting the neck of a 7-8 year old child. If you just follow the drama for another hour in this position, you can imagine how much pressure the cervical vertebrae, ligaments, intervertebral discs and neck muscles will have.
In the face of stress, our bodies will take corresponding measures to adapt to changes. However, these changes are not without cost.
Long-term compression and stimulation of cervical spine will lead to damage of normal joint structure, resulting in hyperosteogeny or disc herniation, deformation or calcification of some ligaments.
At the same time, keeping the head forward for a long time will lead to the gradual loss of physiological curvature of cervical spine and even buckling. When the cervical vertebra is kyphosis, the contact surface of adjacent intervertebral joints will be reduced due to the change of the relative position of the spine, and even the upper and lower cervical vertebrae will be "locked" due to joint dislocation.
This will not only cause limited neck movement, but also cause cervicogenic headache and upper limb pain.
Finally, keeping this abnormal posture for a long time will make the physiological length and strength of muscles in different parts of the human body change adaptively, resulting in the strength of one muscle increasing after shortening and the strength of the other muscle decreasing after lengthening. This imbalance of muscle strength will form an up/down cross syndrome, which will affect our daily life.
Got cervical spondylosis, what should I do?
Q 1。 What should I do if I have cervical symptoms?
Don't panic, in fact, most of the cervical spine problems of young people are caused by long-term bad posture.
If you can go to the hospital for professional treatment and make some adjustments to your daily life and work activities, you can still relieve symptoms and even restore normal cervical curvature.
Q2。 What methods can the Department of Orthopaedics of Hemujia Hospital help treat cervical spondylosis?
Generally speaking, when the symptoms of cervical spine first appear, doctors usually suggest adjusting the working environment and maintaining a good posture to control the symptoms and avoid the deterioration of the condition.
So, what are the methods?
Keep the right posture.
Adjust the working environment
At work, the risk of cervical spondylosis can be significantly reduced by adjusting the working environment.
Incorrect working posture:
The head is too forward, the waist is not supported by the backrest, and the height of the wrist and elbow is uneven.
Relatively good working posture:
Put your feet flat on the ground, and the center of gravity is located in the middle and back of the chair; The back is supported by the back of the chair, keeping a straight posture.
Hands and forearms are on the same level. Relax the shoulder joint and raise your head. Look straight at the screen.
Adjust the posture of using the mobile phone
When using a mobile phone, moving the hand upward and parallel to the line of sight can make the neck in a neutral position, thus reducing the pressure of the head on the cervical vertebra.
Choose the right pillow
Many patients with neck discomfort after getting up in the morning are mostly due to poor sleeping posture at night or the use of inappropriate pillows.
Generally speaking, in the process of sleep, the neck is not well supported, and the pillow is too hard or too high, which will cause progressive muscle fatigue.
Therefore, choosing a suitable neck pillow or using some towel rolls to support the neck during sleep can reduce the muscle load of the neck, maintain the normal curvature of the cervical spine, and achieve the purpose of relieving symptoms.
While making lifestyle suggestions, doctors will also provide some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants to relieve patients' neck symptoms.
If the effect of posture adjustment is not good for the patient, then the doctor will advise the patient to undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation.
Physical therapy of cervical spondylosis generally includes adjusting the force line of spine, relieving pain and strengthening the muscle strength of neck.
At the beginning of treatment, the therapist will use a variety of physical therapy methods to help control symptoms.
Hot compress: relax muscles
Use ultrasonic, short wave, infrared and other physical therapy instruments: promote metabolism level and help eliminate local inflammation.
The use of neural functional electrical stimulation: analgesia and activation of specific muscle tissues.
Therapists will help patients gradually control pain and reduce the impact of symptoms on daily life and activities.
Because of long-term bad posture, abnormal force lines will appear in the whole cervical vertebra, resulting in disorder of pyramidal facet joints, causing pain and limited function.
Therefore, in physical therapy, patients can relieve the tension of neck muscles by accepting manual release and adjust the force lines of cervical and thoracic vertebrae. At the same time, patients can also take the way of neck traction to relax muscles and relieve the external pressure on the vertebral joints of nerve roots.
In addition, the therapist will also support the cervical spine at a specific cervical stage during traction to help patients gradually restore normal cervical curvature.
After the symptoms are relieved, the physiotherapist will also carry out some neck function training, including the adjustment of life posture, the improvement of cervical mobility, and the strength and endurance training of muscles around the neck, so as to consolidate the therapeutic effect, restore the curvature of the spine and prevent the recurrence of symptoms.
In addition, the physiotherapist will also make a family training plan according to the patient's situation. Let patients do some simple self-training after work.
Common cervical rehabilitation training includes but is not limited to the following activities:
1
Neck traction
Simple neck traction can be performed during the working interval, lasting for 20-30 seconds each time, and repeated for 5- 10 times.
2
Chin closing movement
It can activate the deep flexor muscles of the neck and improve the force line of the neck.
three
Neck muscle strength training
At work, you can use your hands for strength training of neck flexion and extension, lateral flexion and rotation. Improve muscle strength and neck stability.
When the neck is uncomfortable, improving posture and doing some simple exercise and stretching will help to relieve it.
However, if the symptoms continue to worsen or spread to the upper limbs or shoulders, it is recommended to go to the hospital for further examination and evaluation as soon as possible without delay. According to the patient's personal situation, doctors will choose blocking therapy or surgery for more in-depth treatment to achieve the ideal treatment purpose.