Cervical Spondylosis

What Is Cervical Spondylosis?

Symptoms

The symptoms of a degenerative disc vary from person to person. Many people with deterioration have no pain, while others may experience pain so intense that it interferes with daily activities. When symptoms do occur, they typically include pain and stiffness in the neck and often often starts in one of three ways:

• a major injury followed by sudden and unexpected pain
• a trivial injury followed by sudden neck pain
• pain that starts gradually and gets progressively worse

Sometimes, cervical spondylosis results in a narrowing of the space needed by the spinal cord and the nerve roots that pass through the spine to the rest of your body. If the spinal cord or nerve roots become pinched, you might experience:

• Tingling, numbness and weakness in extremities (arms, hands, legs or feet)
• Grinding or popping noise or sensation when you turn your neck
• Difficulty walking or loss of balance
• Muscle weakness
• Headaches that sometimes overrides pain and/or stiffness, and become the dominant symptom
• Pain that increases when you sit, stand, sneeze, cough or tilt your head
• Dizziness
• Numbness
• Writing and related activities can become problematic with “numb, clumsy hands”
• Muscle spasms in the neck and shoulders
• Loss of bladder control

Note: Seek medical attention if you notice a sudden onset of numbness or weakness, or loss of bladder or bowel control.

Causes

Age-related issues are the main causes of cervical spondylosis. These issues are explored below in more detail.

Dehydrated discs

Discs act like cushions between the vertebrae. By the age of forty, your discs may begin drying out and shrinking, allowing for increased bone-on-bone contact between vertebrae.

Herniated discs

Age also affects the strength of the outer layer of your discs. Cracks can appear, allowing the inner material to come out. These can press on the spinal cord and the nerve roots.

Bone spurs

Disc degeneration can result in the spine producing extra bone in a misguided effort to strengthen the spine. Bone spurs can pinch the spinal cord and nerve roots, too.

Stiff ligaments

Ligaments are cords of tissue connecting your bones. Due to age-related degeneration, spinal ligaments can stiffen, making that your neck less flexible.

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