Cervical spondylosis is a chronic degenerative condition of the cervical spine that affects the vertebral bodies and intervertebral disks of the neck (in the form of, for example, disk herniation and spur formation), as well as the contents of the spinal canal (nerve roots and/or spinal cord).

The major risk factor is aging.

Other factors that can make a person more likely to develop spondylosis are:

• Being overweight and not exercising
• Having a job that requires heavy lifting or a lot of bending and twisting
• Past neck injury (often several years before)
• Ruptured or slipped disk
• Severe arthritis

Pathophysiology

Intervertebral disks lose hydration and elasticity with age, and these losses lead to cracks and fissures. The surrounding ligaments also lose their elastic properties and develop traction spurs. The disk subsequently collapses as a result of biomechanical incompetence, causing the annulus to bulge outward. This change, in turn, increases motion at that spinal segment and further hastens the damage to the disk. Annulus fissures and herniation may occur. Acute disk herniation may complicate chronic spondylosis changes.

Symptoms

Symptoms often develop slowly over time, but they may start or get worse suddenly. The pain may be mild, or it can be deep and so severe that you are unable to move.

• Neck stiffnessthat gets worse over time
• Numbness orabnormal sensations in the shoulders, arms, or (rarely) legs
• Headache, especially in the back of the head
• Loss of balance

Signs and Tests

• An exam may show that you have trouble moving your head toward your shoulder and rotating your head.
• Your health care provider may ask you to bend your head forward and to the sides while putting slight downward pressure on the top of your head. Increased pain or numbness during this test is usually a sign that there is pressure on a nerve in your spine.
• Weakness or loss of feeling can be signs of damage to certain nerve roots or to the spinal cord. Reflexes are often reduced.

Homoeopathic Treatment

Homeopathic medicines have proven to help most individuals by reducing muscular spasm/stiffness and relieve intensity /frequency of pain, without any long-term adverse effects.

Patients typically experience the following benefits:

• Relief in pressure and inflammation of the affected nerve
• Disappearance in pain and tingling sensation radiating down the arm
• Relief in headaches and stiffness of associated shoulder muscles
• Improvement in the ability to function as normally as possible
• Provide essential minerals required for disc, nerve and bone health

Case

Name – Avinash (Name Changed) Male, 35yrs, Engineer, Case no – xx99
I am a software engineer by profession; I had to put long hours in front of my PC (Computer) as called for my job. Over the years I started to get a constant heavy pain or stiffness of my neck which only got worse as the days passed by, to my agony I started to develop a headache and at times even a shoulder pain with numbness in my fingers. I rushed to the doctor and he soon diagnosed it as a cervical spondylosis, was very anxious, to how to get myself treated and get away from the suffering. The doctors in Victory Homoeo Speciality clinic were very kind to understand my problem, did a few clinical tests and now it’s been 2-3 months and I can say my neck and my cervical spondylosis problem are long gone.  They even briefed me about some exercises so that my neck muscles stay in tone and not get stiff so easily.