Cervical Spine

The cervical spine in your neck comprises of seven bones called vertebrae, which are separated by discs filled with a cushioning gel-like substance. Your cervical discs both stabilize your neck and allow it to turn smoothly from side to side and bend forward to back. The Vertebrae C3- C7 is designed for movement. Most of the actions like looking down, up, side bending, rotation occurs in these areas of the cervical spine.

Cervical spondylosis is a common, age-related condition that affects the joints and discs in your cervical spine, which is in your neck. It’s also known as cervical osteoarthritis or neck arthritis. Normally, soft disks between your vertebrae provide cushioning. With cervical spondylosis, these disks become compressed. When this happens, the cartilage that lines the vertebrae on each side of the disc, where they touch, can wear away. Once this protective cartilage is gone, spurs may develop on your vertebrae and in facet joints where they rub together. Nerves attached to your spinal cord may have less room to pass between the vertebrae on their way out of the spine.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a neck condition that arises when the spinal cord becomes compressed or squeezed due to prolapsed disc or wear-and-tear changes that occur in the spine as we age. Cervical spondylotic myelopathy occurs in the cervical spine—the seven small vertebrae that form the neck. Any space occupying lesion within the cervical spine with the potential to compress the spinal cord can cause cervical myelopathy. Patients with CSM may experience symptoms like Tingling or numbness in the arms, fingers, or hands, Weakness in the muscles of the arms, shoulders, or hands. Trouble in grasping and holding , Imbalance and coordination problems, trouble in walking, Loss of fine motor skills like difficulty in writing, buttoning clothes and Pain or stiffness in the neck.

Chronic neck pain may be mostly caused due to Cervical disc prolapse. There are many conditions that may lead to Chronic neck pain like disc degeneration and osteoarthritis of the small joints in the neck- Just like the other joints in your body, your neck joints tend to wear down with age. Osteoarthritis causes the cushions (cartilage) between your bones (vertebrae) to deteriorate. Your body then forms bone spurs that affect joint motion and cause pain. Other reason may be due to acute muscle spasm, Inflammations due to injuries, disc bulge that can press on the spinal cord and nerves branching out from the spinal cord leading to neck pain and upper limb radiculopathy.

Cervical vertebral subluxation means a misalignment exists within the seven uppermost vertebrae of the spine. The cervical (upper) spinal region bears the weight of the head and is subject to a broad range of stress-inducing movement, it is particularly vulnerable to the development of issues. Causes of vertebral subluxation include road traffic accidents (RTA),Sports injuries, bad posture, sitting for long hours, improper lifting of heavy weight, overuse of cell phones.

Cervical radiculopathy is a disease process marked by nerve compression from herniated disk material or arthritic bone spurs. It's the damage or disturbance of nerve function that results if one of the nerve roots near the cervical vertebrae is compressed. Cervical radiculopathy occurs with pathologies that causes symptoms on the nerve roots. Those can be compression, irritation, traction, and a lesion on the nerve root caused by either a herniated disc, foraminal narrowing or degenerative spondylitic change (Osteoarthritic changed or degeneration) leading to stenosis of the intervertebral foramen.