Cervical Spondylosis: Symptoms and Treatment Options

by The Pain Relief Clinic pain clinic singapore

Cervical spondylosis or cervical osteoarthritis or neck arthritis is a usual, age-related issue that hurts the joints and discs in your cervical spine, which is situated in your neck.

The condition grows from the tension of cartilage and bones. While it’s mostly the outcome of old age, it can be triggered by other factors as well.

Some people might not experience any early symptoms, while for others it can lead to chronic, intense pain and stiffness. However, most people who have it may do all the normal regular activities.

Risk factors for the issue

The biggest risk factor for cervical spondylosis is a growing age, which we cannot control. Cervical spondylosis frequently develops as an outcome of transformations in your neck joints as you age. A herniated disk, dehydration, and bone spurs are all common outcomes of aging.

Factors other than aging might escalate your threat to cervical spondylosis in Singapore.

These include:

Neck problems
work-related pursuits that put extra compulsion on your neck from heavy lifting
Holding your neck in an uncomfortable place for extended periods or replicating the same neck movements throughout the day
Genetic complications, like a family history of cervical spondylosis
Smoking
Being obese or inactive

Symptoms of cervical spondylosis

Most people with cervical spondylosis don’t have any notable symptoms. If symptoms show up, they will range from mild to intense and may develop slowly or happen suddenly.

One of the most common symptoms is an ache around the shoulder blade. Some complaint of pain associated with the arm and in the fingers.

The pain might escalate when:

Standing
Sitting
Sneezing
Coughing
Moving your neck backward

Another common symptom is muscle weakness, which makes it hard to uplift the arms or get hold of objects firmly.

Other common symptoms include:

A stiff neck only becoming worse
Headaches that mostly happen in the back of the head
Tingling or numbness that primarily impacts the shoulders and arms, although it can also happen in the legs

Symptoms that show up less quite often include a loss of stability and a loss of bladder or bowel control, which requires instant medical attention.

Treating cervical spondylosis

Treatments for cervical spondylosis concentrates on providing neck stiffness relief, reducing the risk of greater damage, and helping you lead a normal life.

Physical therapy

Your doctor may suggest a physical therapist for this treatment. Physical therapy assists you to stretch your neck and shoulder muscles, which makes them stronger and eventually helps to mitigate pain.

You may also require neck traction, which involves utilizing weights to escalate the space between the cervical joints and mitigate the compulsion on the cervical discs and nerve roots.

Medications

Your doctor may also suggest specific medications if over-the-counter (OTC) drugs don’t lower the tightness and ache.

These include:

Muscle relaxants, like cyclobenzaprine (Fexmid) to cure muscle spasms
Narcotics, like hydrocodone (Norco) as a pain reliever
Anti-epileptic drugs, like gabapentin (Neurontin)
to mitigate pain triggered by nerve damage
Steroid injections, like prednisone, to alleviate tissue inflammation and eventually mitigate pain
Prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like diclofenac (Voltaren-XR) to mitigate inflammation

Surgery

If your condition is intense and doesn’t retort to other forms of treatment, your neck pain doctor may prescribe surgery, which may involve eliminating the bone spurs, segments of your neck bones, or herniated discs to allow your spinal cord and nerves more space.

Surgery is rarely prescribed for cervical spondylosis patients, but a doctor might suggest it if the pain is intense and it’s affecting their overall mobility.