BONE DISORDER
The neck,
termed as ‘cervix’, means a constricted part of body or organ. Long necks are
believed to be beautiful. The neck has its own worth in having the cervical
spine, spinal nerves, blood vessels, thyroid gland, food tube (oesophagus),
wind tube (trachea), voice box (vocal cord) and muscles to move the head. In
this golden age, the neck is often rewarded with a chain or necklace for
beauty. Acupuncture and reflexology finds health points in favour of having a
chain around the neck, like a ring on the finger.
Neck is one of the most important parts of the body, since
- It holds the head
which has the brain
- It is the condensed
pathway of the nerves which emerge from the brain to supply the parts of
the body and blood vessels from the heart to supply the brain It gives
free movement to the head to look around by remaining as un-fused spine
Even though
many things in the neck could cause neck pain, the
thing which
often goes wrong is the spine due to overuse or misuse or non-use. The spine is
built for stability and mobility. It is made of supportive small bones which
help us to stay erect. The cervical column is the starting point of the spinal
column or spines. The degree of rotation of the spines varies with length and the
type of facet joints of the vertebrae.
As age advances, everything in constant use will have natural degeneration or
wear-and-tear phenomenon due to friction on movement. The neck is no exception.
In childhood, this wear and tear mechanism is ruled out due to deposition of
calcium and growth of the bones, whereas in the case of adult or aged persons
is worsened by osteoporosis or osteoarthritis or improper depositions of
calcium. We see people carry heavy weights (porters) or a big pot full of water
on their head (village ladies). But even a cap or helmet or flower cannot be
tolerated by cervical spondlyitis patients.
There are two types of cervical problems, one is inflammatory and the other is
degenerative due to ageing or disease or arthritis.
Cervical spondylitis is a wear-and-tear ageing process involving cervical
vertebras as age advances or due to overuse. This type of arthritis is most
commonly seen in middle age or elderly persons, but can
also be seen
in youth. It can involve one or more vertebrae. A severe form of spondylitis is
Ankylosing spondylosis, where the inflammatory condition leads to sharp acute
pain and new bone formation by calcium deposition to fuse of joint. The
patients are advised active exercises to avoid fusion.
Cervical spondylosis is a secondary degenerative disease condition where
damaged inter-vertebral discs and vertebra in course of time get ossified at
the edges, forming an extra bone called osteophytes. This compensatory, undue
formation of a new bone occurs on the edges which often hinge on the spinal
nerves and cause pain. It also causes structural impairment. It can also
involve one or more vertebrae. Here patients are advised not to do active
exercises since pain, fracture, losing normal curvature of spine and distorted
appearances can occur.
Pathology The vertebrae
are neatly arranged one after another
and transmit
spinal nerves through the central opening and blood vessels through the lateral
opening or canal. In total, there are 33 vertebrae. They are separated from one
another by inter-vertebral discs, which act as shock absorbers or cushions
while walking or moving. Cervical or neck vertebrae are 7 in number, namely C1,
C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 & C7. They are held in proper position with facet
joints, ligaments, capsule and muscles of the neck. The cervical spine usually
curves in front. The problems of vertebrae or discs are referred to as cervical
spondylitis or spondylosis depending upon the causes. Any problem in the spine
can reflect in the nerves emerging from them. C5, C6 & C7 are more
vulnerable to degeneration.
Neck
pain indicates problems
of cervical spine, but it can also indicate meningitis or encephalitis (brain
fever) through pain and stiffness. So neck pain should not be treated casually
especially if there is fever.
Incidence
and risk personalities
Cervical
spondylitis is normally seen
in the
elderly due to osteoarthritis, but in this modern, sophisticated world, even
youth of 20 seem to suffer from it. This may be due to sedentary life and not
using the spine properly. Generally, incidence is higher in old age. Men suffer
more than women. The severe inflammatory Ankylosing spondylitis occurs more
commonly in youngsters and cervical spondylosis occurs more commonly in old
people. Risk personalities are:
- Old people
- Computer
professionals
- People doing work
that demands minute concentration
- Persons who
constantly work by bending their neck
- Bike users
- Travellers who
travel a long distance and sleep sitting
- Drivers who keep the
neck in the same position for a long time
- Watching TV in
abnormal positions or by lying down
- Habit of holding
neck in one position
Telephone
operators or persons who often cradle the phone on the shoulder
Causes
May be
primary (by degenerative wear-and-tear phenomenon) or secondary (by diseased or
inflammatory process or injury). The common causes or triggers are mainly
- Wrong positions in
work or sleep for a long time
- Complete rest or
non-use of joints or sedentary or sluggish nature
- Fall or injury or
trauma
- Violent exercises
- Diseases of bones
- Drugs affecting
bones
- Overuse of TV,
phone, bike, chairs, etc.
Symptoms
Usually an
array of symptoms will alert us. If we neglect those, it will lead to permanent
damage. Cervical spondylitis can cause a different set of symptoms depending
upon the involvement of vertebrae or disc or both. The main symptoms are
- Pain in neck which
can radiate to back, shoulders and down to hands
- Early morning
stiffness of the neck and shoulder denotes the need of additional support
- Pain and stiffness
can be noted when about to move after a period of rest
- Weakness of hands
with numbness and tingling sensation
- Crackling sounds
when moving the neck
- Occipital headaches
with swaying gait or giddiness or lack of concentration
- Swelling and
tenderness of the neck may be noted in spots of inflammation
- Sometimes chest pain
- Tilt of neck to any
one of the side due to inflammation
- Restriction of
movements of the neck
- Pain gets
intensified with movement, bending, coughing and sneezing
Irritability
and sleeplessness due to constant pain
Complications
often develop if left untreated or maltreated. Also
belated
treatment will be entertained with irreversible structural changes or damages.
The common complications are
- Degenerative changes
can cause permanent deformity of the spine
- Paralysis of hands
or legs due to compression of nerve root
- Lack of bladder or
bowel control depending upon the intensity of the spondylitis
- Muscular weakness
and marasmus (wasting of muscles) of the hands
- Herniation of
inter-vertebral (cervical) discs
- Kyphosis (curvature
of spine)
- Osteophyte changes
and calcification which can fuse for immobility of spine
Likewise,
while being treated also complication can occur. The restricted movements with
collar or complete rest will usually cause fusion of the joint or vertebrae and
result in restricted movement.
Diagnosis
and investigation
It is better to consult a doctor. Examination
of the spine and checking the force and ability to flex the head in front,
backways, sideways and rotation of the head should be done before starting
treatment. The weakness, loss of sensation, stiffness
and radiation
of pain to the hands should be intimated to the doctor for proper diagnosis,
since the place of numbness or pain or stiffness or radiation may indicate
damage to specific spines or specific nerve roots. As far as investigations are
concerned, X-ray and CT or MRI has to be done to arrive at final diagnosis.
They often show narrow disc spaces and osteophyte changes – characteristic
bamboo spine i.e. with projections (spur). In surgical cases, spino-myelogram
is advised.
General
treatment
Aiming for
relief of pain, generally allopathic doctors initially opt for antibiotics and
painkillers. Peptic ulcer patients suffer more since they cannot take
painkillers due to its aggravating nature with ulcer complaints.
Bed rest and cervical collar will be advised for restricting movement and
support. But using cervical collar in the long run will cause fixation of bones
and restriction of movement. For example – you can notice the same in a stiff
knee, if it is covered with Plaster of Paris for fracture below the knee. In
this case, even though the knee is free from ailments, non-use for a prolong
time makes it stiff, which needs exercises for a long time to make it normal.
Also it can weaken the muscles due to non-usage.
Nowadays people commonly use external applications or sprays like soothing
agents which alleviates the pain in minutes. This will temporarily mask the
complaints or pain. Also, instantly killing the pain with painkiller tablets or
injections or sprays is just like putting off the light when you don’t want to
see the things around, but surely the day will come to light up, where you cannot
switch off the pain.
Finally, every physician directs the patient to go for physiotherapy to get
relief. Improvement mainly comes from posture correction, mild, gentle
exercises, warmth application, shortwave therapy and traction. In any case
treatment should be started at the earliest with proper maintainance of
position or otherwise the vertebrae will get affected.
Since there is no known conservative medical treatment available for structural
changes or damage, in case of severe pain or suffering, they do surgery as a
last resort. Here, risk of paralysis and development of pain and arthritis in
different locations are unavoidable. By surgery they can relieve the nerves
which get compressed between the vertebrae and fix the affected joint so that
there won’t be any movement in that joint to cause pain. But this restricted
movement of one joint strain other joints since each and every vertebra
continues to move in succession one after another during movement. So this
joint fixation will complicate other joints, later on.
Prevention and management – You can heal yourself if you do
things right i.e. simply doing things perfectly can help in relieving the
complaints
Do’s
Sleep in a
straight position by spreading the arms sideways
Use a small pillow i.e. not more than 3-4 inches thickness
Check for bike shock absorbers often and use smooth roads
Sit erect and use neck in erect posture in all your jobs
Take rest or move about once in 1-2 hours in case of working in a constant
position
Rest your wrist on a table or the elbow on the chair while using the computer
Maintaingood posture while reading or working with computers
Always work comfortably while doing any job
Wear collar while traveling to avoid pain and deterioration
Wear warm scarf on cold days
Warm up slowly to relax the stiffness, if any
Do simple and gentle exercises
Take high fibre content diet like vegetables, fruits, etc.
Take zinc, selenium, Omega3 fatty acids to have better healing or relief
Don’ts
Don’t put hands under the head while sleeping
Don’t lift any heavy weight or do any strenuous exercises
Don’t massage violently with analgesics, since it can aggravate the complaint
Don’t use traction or collar or painkillers or drugs continuously
Avoid cold exposures and cold bath
Avoid citrus fruits, egg, tomato, potato, since they can precipitate pain
Homeopathic
approach
In this advanced medical world, people give a chance for every system of
medicine to get rid of their problem. In cervical problems also they follow the
same.
Homoeopathy is the fingerpost on the crossroads of healing which directs the
way to safest and
permanent
cure. It is a very effective and easy way to attain cure. Homeopathic treatment
can reward an effective cure in case of the initial period of the disease. In
chronic cases or late start of treatment, Homeopathy can relieve congestion of
the spine and compression of the nerves, if there is no fixation of bones. The
treatment can also arrest the progressive degenerative changes. In case of a
badly deformed spine, it can only help with temporary management of pain. The
results of Homoeopathy in managing cervical spondylitis or spondylosis will be
marvellous and dramatic compared to other system of medicines or surgical
interventions.
One thing everyone should accept is that we cannot do against Nature i.e. if it
is due to ageing process, we have to accept it. But, surely, we can live better
without any complaints or pain with proper posture and Homeopathic medicines.
Likewise, structural damage in advanced cases cannot be cured completely but we
can manage the condition without pain. We can aim for near normal in all other
cases. If we mask the pain with external applications or painkillers, without
treating the actual conditions, then it will lead to complications due to use
of the neck in spite of pain or complaints which have been masked.
Homeopathic medicines commonly used in case of cervical spondylitis or
spondylosis are Acid flour, Acid phos, Antim-crud, Apis mel, Arnica, Bryonia,
Calc flour, Calc phos, Cimicifuga, Causticum, Chelidonium, Colchicum,
Gnaphalium, Kalmia, Kali phos, Lachesis, Ledum, Lycopodium, Medorrhinum, Nat
phos, Pulsatilla, Rhododendron, Rhus tox, Ruta, Silicea, Strychinum, Sulphur,
Thuja, Zinc met, etc. These medicines should be taken under the advice and
diagnosis of a qualified Homeopath.
for
new hope
Dr. S. Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD (Homeo)
Laxmi Homeo Clinic
24 E. New Mahalipatti Road
Madurai, TN 625 001
India
Tel: +91-984-319-1011 (Mob /
Whatsapp)
Clinic : +91-452-233-8833 |
E-mail: drcheena@gmail.com
(Disclaimer: The
contents of this column are for informational purpose only. The content is not
intended to be a substitute for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or
treatment. Always seek the advice of healthcare professional for any health
problem or medical condition.)