More of than not, sufferers of neck pain find that they have cervical spondylosis as a diagnosis
Spondylosis is a condition where the vertebrae of the spine are degenerated. When it occurs in the neck or cervical region, it called Cervical Spondylosis. In the lower back or lumbar region, it is known as Lumbar Spondylosis.
There are gaps or spaces between the spinal vertebrae. As a result of degeneration or more simply, wear-and-tear of the spinal joints where bones and cartilage wear-off, these spaces narrow. This loss of gap-space leads to the pain sensations and numbness.
The reason why degeneration of the spine in the neck affects your arms is that nerves from your spine exits through these narrowed spaces between the vertebrae near the neck spine to the your arms. This narrowing of space impinges on the nerve.
There is a known pattern of pain mapped to the specific spinal vertebral joint where the nerve exits the spine. This is known as the Dermatome pattern.
When a structure is unstable such as degenerating vertebral joint, the body does its best to stabilise it but growing bone spurs as supporting anchor points. These growths of bone spurs is known as osteophytes.
But something doing good causes harm. As in the case when the bone spurs themselves press onto a nerve.
It is only the nerves are impinged or pressed on do we experience pain or numbness. Wear-and-tear or Spondylosis alone does not cause neck pain.
Although cervical spondylosis and lumbar spondylosis is a condition arising from wear-and-tear and is often found in older adults, it is not uncommon to find spondylosis in younger adults in their late 20s or 30s.
So one should not be alarm when the results of an x-ray or MRI show some wear-and-tear of your vertebral spinal joint even if you think you are relatively young.
Young working adults today exhibit signs of degeneration as a result of their excessive repetitive movement and excessive loads on the joint from today workplace lifestyle.
Learn more about Spondylosis. Stop by Core Concepts’ site where you can find out all about physiotherapy treatment and what they can do for you.
Related Reading:
Incoming search terms:
Related posts: