DR. ALEX VALADKA: Today, we're here to talk about cervical spondylosis. Cervical refers to the neck region or the upper part of the spine. Spondylosis refers to any sort of generic disease or condition of the spine. So obviously, cervical spondylosis refers to disease of your neck. It is a very common condition. And one wise colleague I know refers to it as gray hair with a spine. As we age almost all of us will experience some arthritis in the spine or wear and tear of the spine, which are other ways to think about what cervical spondylosis is. In most older patients, if you get X-rays of their neck, you will see little bone spurs, maybe some shrinkage at the disk space, maybe even a little bit of misalignment of the spine. These are all very common. And generally, they don't mean anything. No treatment is needed. If the neck pain becomes very severe, it spreads down to the shoulders, perhaps the upper chest, the upper back, then some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin or ibuprofen or things like that may help, assuming you can take those things. Sometimes exercises to improve range of motion or flexibility and also exercises to increase the strength of your neck muscles can help, because that takes some of the strain off of your spine. Now, in a minority of cases, bone spurs can grow here. This is where the disk is. This is where the nerve root comes out. They can grow in these areas either from the front or from the back and try to put pressure on nerves that are coming out here, or they can narrow the spine so much that the spinal cord itself, which sits right in the middle here, that gets pinched, and that is a little more serious. You may notice problems like weakness or severe pain running down your arm, often all the way to the fingers, or you may notice a progressive clumsiness of your gait. You are having trouble walking. You may be stumbling, falling or dropping things, or you may have trouble controlling bowel and bladder. If symptoms like that develop, that's a more urgent condition and you should see your doctor soon, because surgery may be necessary in those cases. Bur fortunately, those are minority. And for most of us, as I said, cervical spondylosis suggest another part of growing old.
Member Comments