Can neck massage and neck exercises improve or cure cervical spondylosis? These practices are dangerous!

Author: Wu Hao, Director of the Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University

Reviewer: Dong Jian, Professor of Orthopedics, Director of Orthopedics and Director of Spine Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University

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People who look down at their phones all day, people who are addicted to mobile phones... In short, whether it is the daily 996 work or the deep stay-at-home vacation that we finally have, it is a kind of pressure on our fragile cervical spine. Over time, cervical spondylosis will come uninvited.

Although everyone knows that you should see a doctor if you are sick, if you observe carefully, you will find that most of the patients with cervical spondylosis around you do not go to the hospital, but choose to get a massage, or search for neck exercises on the Internet and then follow them. Most people believe that "massage health care" and "neck exercises" can make cervical spondylosis better or heal, is this really the case?

analyze

Severe cervical spondylosis can lead to paralysis

If surgery is necessary, don't delay.

Cervical spondylosis is actually a general term for a class of diseases, and it is not as simple as neck pain or arm numbness. Medically, cervical spondylosis has many types according to the location of the lesion, such as spinal cord cervical spondylosis or nerve root cervical spondylosis. Symptoms include pain and discomfort in the head, neck, shoulders or arms. Some people will feel pain all the time, and some people will feel very obvious discomfort after working with their heads down for a long time, which will take a long time to relieve. Often at this time, most people begin to consciously pay extra attention to their necks in the hope that this discomfort or pain will be relieved.

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The cervical vertebra is an important part of the spine. The neck protects the spinal cord, which is responsible for transmitting the brain's commands to all parts of the body and collecting information from all parts of the body back to the brain. If the neural networks in various parts of the body are compared to the water pipes in each household in a building, the spinal cord is the main pipeline that collects all the water pipes. If the main pipeline is cut off at a certain floor, the water supply to the floors below the cut-off point will stop.

Similarly, if the spinal cord is stuck at a certain segment, nerve impulses cannot be transmitted up and down, the body's sensations cannot be transmitted to the brain, movement commands cannot be sent to the hands and feet, and the muscles cannot contract, the person will experience sensory loss or paralysis in the corresponding part.

What causes the spinal cord to get stuck at a certain segment? The spine is made up of pieces of bones, which are connected and protected by intervertebral discs. When the head is in the neutral position, the pressure on the cervical intervertebral disc is only the weight of the head. When the head is not in the neutral position, the pressure on one side of the intervertebral disc will become very large. Over time, the ligaments that fix the intervertebral disc will age and can no longer fix the intervertebral disc as well as before, causing part of the intervertebral disc to move out of its original position. This is called a herniated disc . When the herniated disc becomes serious, it will inevitably squeeze the surrounding tissues. If the herniated disc presses on the nerves or large blood vessels, serious consequences will occur.

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So when the doctor recommends surgery, don't be too afraid or have a fluke mentality, thinking that you can recover on your own. Because for cervical spondylosis, surgery is the best way to relieve disc herniation. The earlier the surgery is performed, the better the recovery. If the nerves are compressed for a long time, it will be difficult to recover. It's like carrying a heavy plastic bag for four or five hours. The marks and pain on your hands may take several hours to recover, and may even leave permanent scars. But if you only carry it for a while and then put it down immediately, the discomfort in your hands will disappear quickly.

Nerve recovery itself is not that fast. For some people, surgery is delayed for several years. This nerve compression may have existed for a long time before seeking medical treatment. Therefore, relieving the compression as soon as possible can maximize the recovery of nerve function.

Illegal massage can be fatal

Check before doing cervical spine exercises

For some patients, doctors diagnose cervical spondylosis and recommend surgical treatment, but surgery is a big challenge for everyone. So these patients with cervical spondylosis have an idea: through massage therapy, can the dislocated cervical vertebra be corrected, and then slowly recover without surgery?

Clinically, such cases are not uncommon: patients have some cervical spine problems, some of which are not serious and do not affect their daily lives. Some patients accidentally did some extensive health exercises or received massages, and their limbs suddenly became uncontrollable, and they were taken to the hospital by ambulance. Doesn't the Internet say that doing more cervical spine exercises and massages can cure cervical spondylosis? Why did they become paralyzed instead?

For patients with cervical spondylosis, informal bone-setting massage can be fatal. Because when suffering from cervical spondylosis, the spinal cord of some patients is already slightly compressed. When the masseur presses the spine very hard, the spine will be subjected to a short and violent impact. The compression of the spinal cord will increase instantly, which may cause the nerve function to deteriorate instantly. Some people are taken to the hospital by ambulances directly from the massage bed. The most serious case may cause permanent high-level paraplegia.

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Cervical spine exercises are generally gentle and suitable for some patients with mild cervical spondylosis. How to do cervical spine exercises? For patients with symptoms of cervical spondylosis, it is recommended to go to the hospital first to complete relevant examinations such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). After excluding conditions such as spinal cervical spondylosis, severe spinal cord compression, potential ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament or nerve damage, you can do some cervical spine exercises appropriately, but remember to treat it "gently" and not to move too much or use too much force.

Too much head down and too much head up are harmful

Maintaining a correct sitting posture can effectively prevent cervical spondylosis

There is another misunderstanding that needs to be corrected: some people have heard that bowing the head for a long time is bad for the cervical spine, so they start to look up when they have nothing to do, lying on the bed with their head up and playing with their mobile phones, thinking that this can relieve the pressure on the cervical spine. In fact, the pressure on the cervical spine caused by looking up and bowing the head for a long time is similar, just in different directions.

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What is the scientific way to treat cervical spondylosis?

First of all, you can move your neck appropriately, exercise your neck muscles, try to maintain a good sitting posture when working, keep your cervical spine in a neutral position, and don't overuse it. If you have symptoms of cervical spondylosis, you should seek medical attention in time. If the symptoms cannot be relieved by non-surgical treatment within three months, you need to consider surgical treatment. Although there are certain risks in surgery, cervical spondylosis surgery is minimally invasive and the medical technology in this area is relatively mature. It can directly relieve nerve compression and fundamentally solve the problem. Moreover, if it has reached the point where surgery is needed, the sooner you undergo surgery, the better the recovery effect will be.

in conclusion

Patients with cervical spondylosis should not go for massage casually. Irregular chiropractic massage will increase the pressure on the spinal cord, and in severe cases it may even lead to permanent high paraplegia.

Before doing cervical exercises, it is recommended to go to the hospital to check the condition of your cervical spine. If conditions permit, you can do some gentle cervical exercises.

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