Cervical spondylosis Part 1

Cervical spondylosis is a common disease in the middle-aged and elderly. With the increase of age, the cervical intervertebral disc degenerates, dehydrates, the elasticity of the annulus fibrosus decreases, the intervertebral space narrows, the surrounding ligaments loosen, the vertebral body becomes unstable and displaced, and the vertebral body edge bone hyperplasia and other factors cause the the spine internal and external balance disorder, compress or stimulate the cervical nerve roots, the cervical spinal cord vertebral artery or sympathetic nerves and cause vertigo. A series of other clinical symptoms such as shoulder and arm pain are the main characteristics, which is called cervical syndrome, referred to cervical spondylosis.

 

This disease can be caused by a variety of factors, old age and physical weakness are important causes of this disease. Secondly, chronic strain, such as use neck, shoulders and back for a long time desk work, work for writing, sewing and office work, etc., so that long-term tension in the neck muscles and tendons, which will cause injury to the muscles and accelerate the degeneration of the cervical spine. Or cervical spine instability due to neck trauma, intevertebral disc displacement, nerve root compression and many other factors can cause the disease.

 

The clinical manifestations are more complex, mainly dizziness, pain in the neck, shoulders and back, such as burning or knife cutting pain, radiating to the occipital region, or radiating to the upper limbs as a needle or electric tingling, and pain in the shoulder potassium and chest wall. Examination shows that the neck is stiff, functional activities are limited, and there is tenderness in the shoulder, neck, lateral arm, the front of the chest, upper internal horn of the shoulder potassium bone and paracanth, which can radiate to the distal part. Usually, X-rays and CT scan of neck can help to diagnosis the disease.

 

According to the clinical symptoms, cervical spondylosis can be roughly divided into nerve root type, spinal cord type, vertebral artery type and sympathetic nerve type.

 

Case 1: Male, 49 year old, he reported that he had neck and back pain four days ago, which radiated to the right upper limb. He had to stay in bed because of the unbearable pain in his neck and back after sitting for a while, but he had to get up again because of the pain in his neck and back after resting in bed for a while. On the third day, he saw a specialist to take a CT scan of his neck, waited for the CT report, and came to my clinic on the fourth day. He said that he had not slept for three days. According to the patient's self-report and clinical examination, he was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis (nerve root type). His daughter asked, what is the basis for your diagnosis of cervical spondylosis? I put my palm on the top of the patient's head and squeezed the cervical spine with a kilogram of pressure. The patient immediately felt neck pain and radiated pain to the right upper limb. After the acupuncture and massage treatment was completed, the patient's neck and back pain was relieved, and the neck movement function improved. The next day, he went back to the clinic and said that he slept for four and a half hours after returning home. After the symptoms improved, he used acupuncture and massage treatment again. Ten days later, the patient took the WorkCover number to the clinic for a follow-up treatment and was given acupuncture, massage, and four packs of Chinese Herbs. The patient came for a follow-up visit three days later and reported that his neck pain had disappeared and his neck movement function was normal. He also knocked the top of his head with his fist and found no neck pain or radiating pain, so the treatment was stopped.

 

Cervical spondylosis Part 2

Case 2: Male, 52 year old, he has been working as a welder for more than 10 years and have worked 60 hours a week for the past two years. He had neck pain for more than four months, accompanied by headaches, dizziness, nausea, neck mobility difficulties and unable to work. Therefore, he applied for WorkCover. After he had two treatments by Acupuncture and remedial massage, he can resumed part-time work. After six treatments, his headaches, dizziness, and nausea disappeared, and the neck pain and neck mobility function improved significantly. Later he resumed normal work.

 

Case 3: female, 64 years old. She reported that she had pain in her neck, waist and back for more than half a year, accompanied by numbness and pain in her limbs, weakness in her legs and a swaying gait. The symptoms have worsened in recent months. She had consulted by a Western medicine specialist, who believed that the pain was quite severe. If she did not undergo a surgery, the disease would progress further, and she will be unable to walk in three to two years and would need to use a wheelchair. If there was a 50% chance of surgery, she would still have to use a wheelchair after the surgery. Currently she relies on painkillers to survive. She has been treated by a Chinese medicine specialist for ten times, but the treatments was ineffective, so she came to my clinic. CT and MRI cervical and lumbar spine films showed that bulging or protrusion of intervertebral discs in each joint of the cervical spine. The C4/5 and C5/6 intervertebral discs compressed the left nerves, resulting in spinal canal stenosis due to the thickening of the yellow ligament of the cervical spine. The L3/4 intervertebral disc of the lumbar spine was protruding, and the L4/5 and L5/S1 intervertebral discs were protruding and compressing the nerves. According to the clinical examination and CT and MRI reports, I gave her the following advice: The disease cannot be cured, but after my treatment, the neck pain can be significantly reduced, the neck movement function can be significantly improved, the waist and leg pain can be significantly reduced, and she can go to see a specialist after three years. After she had treated by acupuncture, massage and Chinese medicine, she reported that the pain had improved in the follow-up visit two days later. The pain worsened again in the third follow-up visit. The friend who accompanied her to see the doctor told me that her daughter bought a house and she helped her daughter to do some cleaning works. After five treatments, the pain in her neck, waist and back was significantly improved, from the score ten points to less than four points, and the numbness in the limbs was also improved. Because Western medicine is free, another specialist said: The surgery is safe and there is no danger, so she went for surgery. Three months later, she came to my clinic again. Her daughter and I both thought that her mother's walking gait had not improved after the surgery. She reported that the numbness in her left upper limb had improved after the neck surgery. The first specialist believed that the yellow ligament needed to be surgically removed, which was the main cause of the disease, so it was dangerous. The second specialist removed the herniated disc and hammered in a nail. This was not dangerous and only relieved the numbness in the fingers. Surgery was not necessary.

 

Cervical spondylosis Part 3

Case 4: Male, 42 years old. He worked as a taxi driver for 9 years. He had neck pain for 5 days and difficulty in neck movement. He could not drive, so he came to our clinic for treatment. He reported he had a ‘stiff neck’. During the examination, it was found that the patient's neck and back were scraped sand, and there was a large area of bleeding and small blisters under the skin, which was terrible to see. After acupuncture and massage treatment, the neck pain and neck movement were improved. The next day, he went for a follow-up visit and said that he could drive. Further examination and diagnosis were: acute attack of cervical spondylosis. He was given acupuncture, massage, and Chinese medicine treatment. He called two days later and said that the CT cervical spine film confirmed C5/6 intervertebral disc herniation. Although the family doctor gave him a month of work-related injury sick leave, his condition had improved significantly, so he gave up the Workcover and returned to work.

 

Case 5: female, 27 years old, she came to my clinic for treatment in July 2006. She stated that had a car accident in 2000. In the past two years, my neck pain gradually worsened and radiated to the right upper limb. The CT image in December 2005 showed that there was a moderate sized intervertebral disc protruding to the right posterolateral side in the cervical vertebra C4/5, which invaded the nerve root near the anterior nerve foramina of C5. Because of the severe neck pain and difficulty in neck movement, she quit his job and took strong painkillers every night to sleep for 1 hour, then got up and moved around for a while before going back to sleep. After three treatments with acupuncture, massage, and Chinese medicine, she stated that she could sleep continuously for 4 hours, and her neck pain and neck movement function had been significantly improved. Because she paid treatment by herself, she only received four treatments.

 

Case 6: male. 48 years old. He worked at home, always need to head down to work for more than a month at night, thus caused headaches, dizziness, neck pain, difficulty in neck movement, and radiating pain to both shoulders. He often woke up in pain at night. The first doctor of Chinese medicine diagnosed it as muscle inflammation, and the treatment was ineffective after two times. The second doctor of Chinese medicine diagnosed it as osteoarthritis, and the treatment was ineffective after one time. The third chiropractor diagnosed it as cervical spondylosis, and the treatment was ineffective after one time. Then I came to my clinic for treatment and was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis. Acupuncture and massage were used for treatment on the same day, and Chinese medicine was given for four days. On the third day, the patient told me that the condition had improved, the neck pain had been reduced, the neck movement had improved, and the sleep had improved. Acupuncture and massage were still used for treatment. On the fifth day, the patient said that all symptoms had improved significantly. I am still treating him in the same way.

 

I used acupuncture, massage, and Chinese medicine at the same time to make them synergistic, so that patients can get faster and better treatment results.

 

Cervical spondylosis Part 4                                                   

When cervical spondylosis occurs, the pain is unbearable and affects life and work. If you choose an inappropriate treatment, it will cause disability. Some people become disabled due to surgery. A safe and effective treatment method should be chosen. Here are some cases.

 

Case 7: Female, 58 years old, work as an office clerk. She reported: Three months ago, she fell down the stairs at home, caused neck pain and radiating pain to the right upper limb. She went to see a cervical spine specialist. The MRI diagnosis was cervical spinal stenosis. Surgery is needed for her, and if she doesn't have surgery, she may be use a wheelchair (disabled) within two years, but the success rate of surgery is 50%, and it is also possible that she will has to use a wheelchair after surgery. I haven't been to work for three months. When she described her condition, she looked sad. She was two or three meters away from me, and she didn't bring her MRI film and report. After listening to her statement, I said: Don't listen to his nonsense, it's not cervical spinal stenosis. She explained that the specialist is a cervical neurologist and surgeon. I said: I didn't misunderstand your statement. She has been an office clerk for decades, working with your head down, it will cause cervical spondylosis. The protrusion of the intervertebral disc compresses the nerve root, causing radiating pain in the right upper limb. She denied my explanation. I also told her: Cervical spinal stenosis is a central type, there should be symptoms of radiating pain on both sides. She told me: There is also numbness in the left upper limb. I told her that spinal stenosis is caused by thickening of the yellow ligament, which is a very slow process, usually taking ten or twenty years. It is impossible for the yellow ligament to thicken after a fall. She laughed and said, "Yes, she has seen the same content on the Internet. It is not a problem of cervical spinal stenosis." I used acupuncture and massage to treat her. On the third day, she came to my clinic with her daughter, talking and laughing. She told me that her symptoms had been eased and she had returned to work. Her specialist doctor lost a business, and Australia lost a disabled person. When a doctor makes a diagnosis, it is a good choice to find another doctor for a second diagnosis. For diseases like this, it may be more beneficial to choose a diagnosis from a Chinese medicine specialist.

 

Case 8: Female, 38 years old. Works in gold collar, a specialist. Medicine background. Recommended by a friend, she came to my clinic for treatment. During the phone consultation, I learned that the patient had a herniated disc between C6/C7 due to long-term use of computers, which compressed the nerves and caused pain and numbness in the neck, back and right upper limb, so she applied for WorkCover. On the phone, I told her: Five treatments will significantly improve, and there is really no need to apply for WorkCover. She replied: she want to recover early and go back to work. On the first, third, seventh, ninth and eleventh days, I treated her with acupuncture and massage for five times. When she came for the fourth treatment, she told me: After the third treatment, she didn't feel any pain on the day, but the pain began to increase gradually on the second day. I told the patient that she should rest properly, and she replied: I was too busy to leave. After the fifth treatment, the patient told me: The right elbow joint hurts. After I checked, I found that it was not tennis elbow. Looking down, the fish muscle on the left palm was obviously atrophied.

 

The patient told me that a professor was going to help her to do a cervical disc replacement surgery (artificial disc). If she didn't have the surgery within 8 weeks, it would be difficult to recover from muscle atrophy. I told the patient: There was a patient whose muscles atrophy for ten years. After the treatment by Acupuncture and remedial massage, her muscles recovered. She commented that Chinese medicine treatment was effective, but it is a slow process, so she didn't come back for follow-up checkup. Later, she saw news in the newspaper that the quality of this artificial disc was not up to standard and it would break after three to five years of use.

 

Cervical spondylosis Part 5

In order to protect the privacy of patients, I have made some modifications and blurring in the case descriptions. I hope you don't look in the mirror and put yourself in it. Here are three female patients. They all had cervical disc herniation, which compressed the nerves and caused pain and numbness on one side of the upper limb, or muscle atrophy, and cervical spine movement inconvenient, which affected their sleep. They are comparable.

 

Case 9: Female, 52 years old, a white-collar worker with overseas medical background, insurance company management of injured personnel, case manager, due to long-term use of computers, caused cervical C5/C6 disc herniation, compression of the right nerve root, and applied for WorkCover. She did treatment for three times a week, for three consecutive weeks, a total of nine times came to my clinic. I used acupuncture and massage treatment. Because of the obvious effect, sleep improved at night, and pain and numbness in the neck, back and right upper limb were significantly improved. During the ninth treatment, I was rewarded with an extra lumbar treatment. Lumbar L4/L5 and L5/S1 two discs protruded, moderate protrusion, and compression of nerves. When she left, she vowed to tell me that she planned to treat her cervical spondylosis 30 times to completely cure it (I know that she would pay for 20 treatments at her own expense, and then treat once a month to consolidate the effect.) Ten days later the patient called me. She told me that the patient would see a specialist in next day. The expert doctor looked at the MRI scan and reported: Whatever you do not believe in the past month, you can work, in the next month if you do not have cervical surgery, I will be surprised. I commented: This specialist does not have enough clinical experience, how can such irresponsible nonsense, lying in bed for a month, the condition will improve, how can it be possible to go to surgery? Patient answer: In the past month, she was able to work, is definitely your therapeutic effect, the specialist is a 30 years old and his clinical experience is insufficient. At 12 o 'clock that night, the patient had a cervical spondylosis attack and went to the hospital emergency centre (I was thinking, I directly pressed the disc under cervical traction, and pushed it back hard, and it has been treated nine times. And what biomechanics is causing this disc to move backwards, which must be quite a force? Go to the hospital emergency is free), the patient told the emergency department doctor, her cervical spondylosis details of the condition, the doctor helped her contact the first specialist teacher, ask him to accept. On Friday, the specialist performed a fusion of the right side of the C5/C6 and on Monday the left side. I told the patient: Western spinal neurologist, there is no appropriate program in the surgical treatment program, some doctors do intervertebral disc replacement, some doctors in the operation of the nail, some do spinal fusion, your specialist today for you to do the right spinal fusion, and every few days for you to do the left fusion, he has no idea, how to do better? There was numbness and pain in one upper limb, but maybe both after surgery. If there is no rush to surgery, why do you go for surgery (the patient overseas Western medicine specialist)? A few years later, a patient referred this patient to my clinic for treatment of low back pain, and she told me that she saw the patient walking outside with a neck brace and crutches. It's really a pity. If I treat you nine times without any treatment, your quality of life is better than after surgery. Bad WorkCover system.

 

Cervical spondylosis Part 6

Under the decades of efforts of the Australian government, a complete medical system has been established, so that everyone can enjoy first-class medical services, which is the envy of people around the world. But in the medical system services, there are also a lot of problems and waste, for some reasons, every working day to create disabled patients. If the Australian Medicare system can include Chinese medicine treatment, many disabled patients can be reduced.

 

Case 10: Female, 57 years old, blue collar worker, farmer. Born in a poor rural area in China, started doing farm work in her teens, married to South America to farm in the 1980s, immigrated to Australia in 1990, and began to do farm work again the next day. She is a hard worker. She works from dawn to 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening, seven days a week. She came to my clinic for treatment for the first time at the age of 46. She said: She had cervical spondylosis for many years. Australian Western medicine specialists recommended surgical treatment. Chinese Medicine specialists advised patients not to have surgery as much as possible, because they would not be able to work after surgery. Finding a good specialist Chinese medicine doctor for treatment can avoid cervical surgery. Her home is more than 40 kilometers away from my clinic. She can't drive or take the bus, so her family drives her here every time. The patient's X-ray and MRI films showed: all cervical vertebrae on the right side had obvious bone hyperplasia and degeneration, all intervertebral discs protruded to the right, and several pressed on the nerve roots. I used acupuncture, massage, and Chinese herbal medicine (took Chinese medicine for 20 days). I treated her 18 times in the first year. From the second year on, I treated her 7 to 10 times. She was 57 years old this year. In the eleventh year (she stopped treatment for three years). As of August 23 of this year, she came for treatment three times per week. The pain and numbness in the patient's neck, back, and right upper limb were significantly relieved. The cervical spine can move. She can work from morning to night every day, seven days a week. She has her own farm. This year, she came to treat cervical spondylosis again. She said: The pain is okay, no surgery is needed. She has been treated in my clinic six times a year and can be pain-free for a year. This is her evaluation. Over the years, the pain in her neck has been reduced a lot. She will not wake up in pain at night and does not need to take anti-inflammatory and analgesic tablets. She is just getting older.

 

Case 11: A male customer, wealth is just a number game. He was 83 years old and was lying on the treatment bed for treatment. After 20 minutes, his neck felt uncomfortable. He raised his upper body and moved his neck. Then I knew that he had cervical spondylosis. When I massaged him in a sitting position, I confirmed that the C5/6 intervertebral disc protruded to the right. He took CT or MRI films can reveal more problems. The patient said: This disease affects sleep. After a follow-up visit a week later, he had no problem lying in bed for an hour. A year later, he returned to Australia from China and asked me to treat him again. I found that his pain had obviously worsened. He had lots of money and could hire the top Chinese doctors for treatment, but for some reason, his pain gradually increased. Was it because the domestic technology had degenerated? Or did he hire the wrong person? After he completed the four treatment, he seriously discussed with me whether cervical spondylosis needed surgery. I answered: I refuse surgery. I have seen many people with bad surgery, but I have never seen a good one. Please don't try it. If you have surgery today and come back tomorrow, I will help you get 10-20% better (I didn't say 50% better, like the farmer mentioned above). They are all very good and don't need surgery. (Surgery for cervical spondylosis is a very bad treatment method and should be refused). The herniated disc caused by cervical spondylosis compresses the nerve roots and is very painful, especially affecting sleep.

 

There are also some cases of failed surgeries that are not listed here, such as an 89-year-old who had 8 nails hammered into his cervical spine and 6 nails hammered into his lumbar spine, free of charge.