What's wrong with your headache and dizziness? You may have cervical spondylosis

Do not ignore headaches and dizziness as they are caused by cervical spondylosis. The incidence of cervical spondylosis is high among middle-aged and elderly people. The main cause of cervical spondylosis is bad posture and frequent work with the head down. Especially now that young people like to lie down and play with mobile phones or read books, this can cause cervical spondylosis.

1. Auxiliary examination of cervical spondylosis

1. Cervical spine X-ray: Cervical spondylosis X-rays often show the disappearance or hyperextension of the normal physiological curvature of the cervical spine, narrowing of the intervertebral disc space, narrowing of the spinal canal, and formation of osteophytes on the posterior edge of the vertebral body. Segmental instability of the cervical spine can also be observed in hyperextension and hyperflexion films of the cervical spine.

2. Cervical spine CT: It can more clearly observe the hyperplasia and calcification of the cervical spine, and has a clear diagnostic value for spinal canal stenosis and osteophyte formation at the posterior edge of the vertebral body.

3. MRI of the cervical spine: It can clearly observe the compression of the spinal cord by the herniated disc, and is routinely used as evidence for preoperative imaging examinations to clarify the surgical segment and resection range.

4. Vertebral-basilar artery Doppler: It is used to detect the blood flow of the vertebral artery. It can also observe the course of the vertebral artery. It has a high diagnostic value for patients with vertigo as the main symptom.

5. Electromyography: It is suitable for patients with muscle weakness as the main symptom. Its main purpose is to identify the location of the diseased nerves and to differentiate them from neurological diseases such as lateral sclerosis and neurodegeneration. However, it has strict requirements on the examination conditions and often produces false positive results.

2. Pathological causes of cervical spondylosis

Cervical spondylosis is one of the common and frequently occurring diseases among middle-aged and elderly people. According to statistics, the incidence rate increases with age. In the occurrence and development of cervical spondylosis, chronic strain is the primary culprit. Long-term damage to local muscles, ligaments, and joint capsules can cause local bleeding and edema, and inflammatory changes. Inflammation and organization gradually appear at the site of the lesion, and bone hyperplasia forms, affecting local nerves and blood vessels. Trauma is the direct cause of cervical spondylosis. Often, people already have varying degrees of lesions before trauma, which puts the cervical spine in a highly dangerous state, and the trauma directly induces the symptoms.

Poor posture is another major cause of cervical spine injuries. Working with the head down for a long time, watching TV or reading in bed, using high pillows, operating the computer for a long time, violently rotating the neck or head, sleeping in a moving car, these bad postures will put the neck muscles in a state of long-term fatigue and make them prone to injury. Poor development or defects of the cervical vertebrae are also one of the causes of cervical spondylosis that cannot be ignored. Compared with Europeans and Americans, the spinal canal volume of Asians is smaller, making them more susceptible to spinal cord compression and symptoms. In patients with unilateral vertebral artery absence, the incidence of vertebral artery type cervical spondylosis is almost 100%, the only difference is a matter of time. In addition, skull base indentation, congenital vertebral fusion, root canal stenosis, small spinal canal, etc. are all congenital developmental abnormalities and are also important causes of this disease.