The cervical spine of a 60-year-old at the age of 20? How to protect the cervical spine

In your 20s, you have the cervical vertebrae of a 60-year-old?

Our cervical spine "carries weight" every day

Long-term desk work

Watching computer and playing with mobile phone

The pressure on the cervical spine gradually increases

For an average adult

The head weighs about 5 kg when the body is upright

Head down angle 30 degrees

The cervical intervertebral disc bears about 18 kg of pressure

Head down angle 60 degrees

The pressure on the cervical intervertebral disc can reach 27 kg...

So what cervical problems do office workers have?

How should we protect the cervical spine correctly?

Let's listen to the advice of Sun Peiyu, deputy director and chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics at Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine ~

01

What cervical health problems do office workers face?

What symptoms occur?

With the changes in people's living and working habits, the incidence of some cervical problems such as cervical spondylosis is getting higher and higher. Common ones include neck muscle strain, myofasciitis and cervical spondylosis .

Specifically, the main symptoms of neck muscle strain are soreness, heaviness and weakness in the neck, accompanied by some pain, and the range of motion of the neck is not restricted. The overall condition is not serious. Cervical fasciitis is relatively more serious, with the main symptoms of pain, limited neck movement, and a small range of motion. To a certain extent, it may be uncomfortable or have some symptoms of discomfort.

Cervical spondylosis is relatively complicated. The pain can be mild or severe, and there will be varying degrees of restricted movement. This is because there are substantial changes in the structure of the cervical spine, such as bone hyperplasia or intervertebral disc degeneration. These changes may cause different types of cervical spondylosis.

If it is cervical type cervical spondylosis, the main manifestation is local pain in the neck. If it is radiculopathy, it means that the lesions of cervical spondylosis have accumulated to the nerve roots of the neck, which may cause numbness, pain or decreased sensation in the upper limbs. When cervical spondylosis compresses the spinal cord, symptoms of myelopathy may appear, manifested as weakened upper and lower limb strength, poor upper limb mobility, difficulty in fine movements, and weakness in walking in the lower limbs.

02

Is the incidence of cervical spondylosis related to occupation and age?

Are there any susceptible groups?

The incidence of cervical spondylosis is closely related to occupation and age. People who work at a desk for a long time, such as office workers, are more likely to suffer from cervical spondylosis because they keep their heads down or stay in the same posture for a long time.

Cervical spondylosis is a disease based on cervical degeneration, including bone hyperplasia, disc herniation, vertebral instability and facet joint degeneration. These degenerative processes accelerate with age, so cervical spondylosis is more common in older people. Even under the same working conditions, older people have a higher risk of cervical spondylosis. Therefore, cervical spondylosis is more common in people who work in jobs that require them to maintain the same posture for a long time and in the elderly.

03

What is the method of “hanging the neck” to treat cervical spondylosis?

Is it suitable for all patients with cervical spondylosis?

"Hanging the neck" is actually somewhat similar to the cervical traction treatment method, but not everyone is suitable for traction treatment. The key to traction treatment is to master the appropriate traction angle, strength and duration. For cervical spondylosis of the cervical type and nerve root type, appropriate traction is beneficial; but for cervical spondylosis of the spinal cord type, traction may aggravate spinal cord compression and cause serious consequences. Therefore, for patients who need traction treatment, it is recommended to go to the hospital for evaluation first to determine whether there are indications.

Image source: Internet

For patients with unstable cervical spine or spinal stenosis, traction treatment has a high risk and is not recommended. For some cervical, radiculopathy or arterial cervical spondylosis, traction treatment under the guidance of a doctor may be feasible, but some contraindications such as unstable cervical spine or spinal stenosis need to be avoided. In short, the treatment of cervical spondylosis should be done with caution and under the guidance of a professional doctor.

04

When discomfort occurs in the cervical spine, what self-relief methods can be used?

After the symptoms are discovered, timely intervention is required, which can be done through posture adjustment, self-exercise, and external plasters . Specifically, avoid bowing your head for a long time or keeping the same posture, pay attention to keeping the neck in a neutral position, and avoid cold, dampness, and dampness. When the cervical spine begins to hurt, you can do some self-relaxation activities, such as bowing your head, raising your head, and bending sideways, to relieve the tension of the neck muscles, but pay attention to the range of movement to avoid accidental injury to the cervical spine.

In addition, you can gently knead the neck muscles, or do antagonistic exercises of the head and neck to help restore the normal physiological curvature of the cervical spine, exercise the neck muscles, and accelerate blood circulation; there is also a modified self-traction method, cross your hands at the junction of the occipital and neck, tilt your head back and push forward with your hands, which helps to restore the height of the cervical spine and relieve symptoms.

If the patient has symptoms of cervical discomfort, it is best to go to a regular medical institution for treatment to ensure the rationality and safety of the diagnosis and treatment plan.