Cervical Spondylitis: Much Common But Less Understood Lets Understand Better
Cervical Spondylitis is a very common but largely ignored disease. A large study conducted in some big cities and metros showed that atleast one member in each family had atleast some symptoms of cervical spondylitis. More and more people are develop
Online, December 23, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Cervical Spondylitis is a very common but largely ignored disease. A large study conducted in some big cities and metros showed that atleast one member in each family had atleast some symptoms of cervical spondylitis. More and more people are developing Cervical Spondylitis at younger age because of faulty posture at work place as well as at home along with changed life style habits and much stress at work.
Common symptoms of Cervical Spondylitis are neck pain, stiffness(feeling of tightness), pain radiating to shoulders, arm and hands, pain radiating to upper back(between scapular bones), pain radiating to head, headache, dizziness, giddiness, nausea/vomiting, tingling and numbness in fingers and hands. Severe Cervical Spondylitis by causing severe compression on the spinal cord and nerves can cause Cervical Myelopathy which manifests as increasing weakness and numbness in legs as well as hands, difficulty in walking, difficulty in doing fine work and lift things with hands, difficulty in controlling legs and lack of coordination(staggering gait) leading to frequent falls, lack of bladder and bowel control and paralysis in extreme cases.
Common predisposing factors are faulty posture at job as well as at home specially in white collared or desk job people who have to sit for prolonged hours in same position. Computer professionals, software engineers, IT professionals, call centre executives, accountants, clerical job people, dentists, scientists and doctors working on microscopes are all predisposed to develop Cervical Spondylitis at young age. Stressful modern day living and lot of mental tension are important predisposing factors. Faulty design of chairs, tables and work stations and faulty relationship between them as well as faulty placement of laptops and computers puts a lot of stress on our neck. Faulty placement of our television sets and sofas/chairs with respect to each other at home is also unhealthy. Bad habit of reading, watching television and working on laptops in sofas and beds is totally avoidable. Field jobs involving lot of daily driving are also harmful as well as ever increasing use of mobile phones. Certain people are practically on their mobile phones all the day. Improper sleeping postures and habits are so common that people don't even realize it. Sedentary modern lifestyle with lack of healthy physical activity with nutritionally poor todays fast food and growing obesity are also important factors. Wearing of improper contact lenses and spectacles put a lot of stress on eyes as well as neck muscles. Uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, uncontrolled thyroid problems, high uric acid, anxious personality, depression all predispose to problems of the neck.
Thus majority of the problems of the neck are avoidable by taking a good care of our posture at work and at home, making better work stations, avoiding bad postural habits at home and during sleep, avoiding stress and anxiety. Majority of the symptoms can be controlled by good physiotherapy which includes both local therapy and exercises along with various drugs which includes painkillers(analgesics), anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxants, certain neural drugs, anti-anxiety and anti-depressants. Yoga, aerobics, stretching exercises are also healthy for our neck. Majority of the patients get a good and long lasting relief with these measures.
Some patients who dont get relief with these conservative measures and have severe Cervical Spondylitis can be treated with certain latest, technically advanced, state of the art Injection Techniques by which need for a surgery can be avoided in many patients. These Modern day Injection Techniques are Cervical Epidural Injections, Cervical Selective Nerve Root Injections(Cervical SNRI), Cervical Facet Joint Injections which are Easy to administer, need No Anaesthesia or Hospitalization, are absolutely Safe at Any Age and Cost Effective. Patient can actually walk in, get this injection and walk out in 15 minutes. Some patients who dont get a good relief even with these injections or who have weakness or paralysis and difficulty in walking and doing even their day to day activities can undergo a KeyHole Surgery. KeyHole Surgery or StitchLess Surgery is a Minimally Invasive, Technically Sound, State Of The Art Technique in which there is No Incision, No Blood Loss, very Short Hospitalization(1-2days), Immediate Recovery, No Bed Rest, absolutely Safe even in very Elderly and involves No Risks or Complications. Cervical Disc Replacement is an excellent option in patients with Cervical Disc Disease or Cervical Slip Disc/Disc Prolapse.
Dr. SUDEEP JAIN
Specialist Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Fortis Jessa Ram Hospital(Karol Bagh) and Sant Parmanand Hospital(Civil Lines)
Jain.sudeep1@gmail.com