Spondylosis is a chronic degenerative disease due to biomechanical stress that increases progressively over time. While the disease may be asymptomatic, patients with spondylosis may also report symptoms of varying degrees of severity. One of those symptoms is stiffness of the spine. Patients have tightness and tension in the back muscles. It makes it difficult for them to move around and do various activities.
The patient may appear motionless and rigid. It is hard for them to make rapid movements. It can be associated with stiffness of the cervical spine as well. In this situation, the patient experiences trouble with head movement. The rigidity may be experienced most in the morning having remained in a single posture for long-term use.
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The joints of the spine degenerate in the condition called spondylosis. Thus, the symptom most often suffered by patients is back pain. Based on which spondylosis it is, the discomfort may emerge in different locations. While spondylosis generally affects the entire spine, greater symptoms occur in the cervical and lumbar spine, where there is a lot of movement.
A form of lumbar spondylosis refers to degenerative damage in the joints and discs in the lower spine. In these patients, pain appears in the lower back. There is a relief in pain when bending forward. Patients can also report pain radiating down the buttocks and lower extremities. There is also thoracic spondylosis, when pain occurs in the middle back, and multilevel spondylosis, when different types of pain may occur simultaneously.
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Cervical spondylosis includes a broad spectrum of progressive degenerative changes involving all basic components of the cervical spine. Cervical spondylosis presents with complaints of neck pain. Pain is worse when patients are standing and relieved by bed rest when the tension on the neck is removed. Moving the neck causes a lot of pain. Some patients may complain of referred pain to the back of the ear or occipital region.
Neck pain is a common problem. Since the burden of disability in this disease is so substantial, an early diagnosis of spondylosis can break painful discomfort as quickly as possible and regain flexibility. Physical therapy is the backbone of nonoperative treatment and rarely exceeds four to six weeks in duration.
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A headache can also develop as a part of spondylosis. Cervical spondylosis , most likely. It means degenerative changes lead to pressure over the nerves. This sensory distribution of the nerve in the upper neck explains the headache. The pain in cervical spondylosis occurs in the occipital region. Headaches are among the most frequent symptoms and have a wide range of possible causes. In cases related to the spine, the reason can also be excessive muscle tension, depending on stress.
If it were the case then the headache should go away after some time. In case of spondylosis, the headache may follow up and make the patient dysfunctional. In this situation, headaches can be confused with migraines. Nonetheless, remember that it can be cervical degenerative changes that can cause it. Screening for spondylosis in seniors with headaches is warranted, because they are at highest risk.
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For humans, the senses are an essential function that links human beings to their surroundings. Receiving stimuli via our senses gives us the data we need not only to use our motor functions without confusing ourselves but also to experience the world and enjoy it. The sad part about the degenerative disease is that many functional skills may be lost, causing an impairment of quality of life.
By degeneration, spondylosis may cause loss of feeling in different parts of the body. Take the case of cervical spondylosis, where, after a few years, patients became numb in the hands. Some patients had proximal involvement extending to the elbows. Patients’ motor disturbances may also affect the legs. However, it can cause mild to moderate sensory disturbances corresponding to the level of degeneration.
The importance of ischemia affecting part of the deep arterial and superficial venous network and its effect on the cervical cord lead to sensory loss. Hence whenever required it should be considered, and high index of suspicion on clinical picture should always alert for cervical myelopathy which is treatable.
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Numbness is a symptom commonly encountered in clinical practice characterized by an altered sensory phenomenon. There are different types of weird feelings due to spondylosis. The most common type of numbness is in the extremities, the hands, and feet, but it can occur in various other places. Patients might experience tingling, pinching, and new, unusual sensations. The numbness experience can be painful or not painful in some cases.
Pain radiating from the neck, down the shoulder, and medial border scapula due to numbness occurs in spondylosis. Sometimes, the pain may also extend to the lateral side of the arm and the radial forearm by the thumb and index fingers. That numbness is a radicular symptom because spinal nerve roots become compressed. If the symptoms are present, a doctor will do a full spine X-ray to show the condition.
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Gait is a term referring to the manner in which a patient walks or runs. Gait is an important human activity whose disorder can serve as an indicator of several health problems, spondylosis among them. Any abnormal gait is defined as a gait disorder. These deviations present a significant challenge for diagnosticians, as they occur in a complex interplay of muscle, joint, and neurological systems.
The spectrum of gait abnormalities encompasses subtle alterations in cadence and gait coordination to overtly abnormal gait. A person with spondylosis may first show movement abnormalities in their arms, weakness, and clumsiness, so they cannot perform fine motor coordination tasks. Eventually, more serious complications occur. Some gait abnormalities can be severe enough to lead to impulsive falls and injury.
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Patients may feel weak in general due to spondylosis. They may not know what is causing this weakness either — at least until they receive a diagnosis. This condition primarily affects the muscles and joints. Motor coordination is disrupted in the patient. They may find it harder to get around. Performing regular functions, like buttoning a shirt, tying shoelaces, and lifting smaller objects, becomes difficult and necessitates extreme focus.
These root symptoms can be an important indicator of spondylosis. Standard physical examinations of the arms and legs for muscle strength and deep reflexes to assess for weakness, respectively, can help identify the condition. CT of the cervical spine or MRI scan will confirm nerve root pathology.
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Disruptions in muscle coordination can be quite severe. Patients with spondylosis frequently lose the ability to control their sphincters in the most severe cases. This is a rare sign and typically occurs at the end stages of the disease. However, symptoms are possible and very problematic. Patients may be embarrassed to admit such symptoms in their history, but it is important to tell the doctor when urinary symptoms are present.
Urinary incontinence is one of the very uncomfortable symptoms. Such symptoms may make patients draw aside in social life. Such problems may also require psychological support for the patients as well through such cases. Spondylosis is a normal degenerative process of the spine with a high prevalence at 65 years of age. Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean that an individual with this condition is destined to battle troublesome symptoms. Identifying the condition and providing treatment can lead to better control of these symptoms.
10.The other major symptoms could be the bizarre electric shock sensation. For patients, this may feel like an electric current passing through their body, however, it is only temporary. But it’s not because of a jolt of electricity. In spondylosis electric shock occur When we move the neck. This weird feeling travels down the spine and into the limbs. Spinal shock is the result from irritation of the spinal cord.
Electrical sensation in the body is temporary but may be painful, unpleasant and dangerous Therefore, a sudden shock can create falls. If symptoms occur more frequently recurrent falls put patients, at risk of injury. An electric shock in medical terms is called positive Lhermitte’s sign. It reflects cervical spine myelopathy. Diagnosis of such a symptom is important, because it is most frequently due to multiple sclerosis (MS).
