Beware! A 32-year-old man suffered a cerebral infarction... Is it good to maintain the same posture for a long time?

Mr. Liu (pseudonym), 32, suddenly felt dizzy and vomited. He thought it was a problem with his cervical spine. After going to the hospital, he was diagnosed with cerebral infarction, which might be caused by him looking down at his phone for a long time. Neurology experts warned that long-term bad posture may lead to vertebral artery dissection.

Mr. Liu lives in Houhu. He is a veritable "phone-drowning tribe". Whenever he has free time, he lowers his head to browse Moments, play games, and watch videos on his phone. He often plays for several hours. A week ago, Mr. Liu suddenly felt dizzy at home. He thought he would feel better after a rest, but the symptoms not only did not ease, but continued to worsen, and he even vomited. Mr. Liu felt that he had a serious cervical spondylosis, so he came to the Houhu branch of Wuhan Central Hospital for treatment.

After examination, Mr. Liu was diagnosed with cerebellar infarction, the cause of which was related to vertebral artery dissection. The team led by Ye Fei, chief physician of the hospital's Department of Neurology, treated him with antiplatelet aggregation and other drugs, and Mr. Liu's symptoms have been significantly improved.

What is vertebral artery dissection

Vertebral artery dissection, also known as vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm, is a serious disease. When a tear occurs inside the arterial wall, blood can penetrate the damaged endothelium of the blood vessel wall and then enter the blood vessel wall, causing the blood vessel wall to be in a stratified state. Then, the blood vessel becomes narrowed, blocked, or forms a false aneurysm, which can cause serious damage to the human body.

Image source: Langfang Changzheng Hospital

Anatomy

1: V1 (extraosseous) segment: It originates above the subclavian artery and enters the transverse foramen of C6.

2: V2 (intervertebral foraminal) segment: through C6 to C3 transverse foramen, through C2 to axis, through C1 transverse foramen.

3: V3 (extraspinal) segment: It exits C1 and ends at the dura mater.

4: V4 (intradural) segment: passes through the foramen magnum and merges into the basilar artery at the junction of the pons and medulla oblongata.

Prolonged bad posture will not only lead to vertebral artery dissection, but people who "look down at their phones" should also avoid playing with their phones for long periods of time. Not being able to maintain one posture for a long time can also cause cervical spondylosis .

**Are your muscles healthy if you keep the same posture for a long time?** People cannot keep the same posture all the time. No matter what posture it is, it is easy to have problems. When your head and neck are always fixed in a certain posture, you are a high-risk group for cervical spondylosis. Among them, long-term bowing of the head is the culprit of cervical spondylosis.

In the past, we knew that people who work long hours with their heads down, such as accountants, writers, and editors, are more likely to suffer from cervical spondylosis. In fact, in recent years, the incidence of cervical spondylosis has been increasing, and the age of onset has also shown a trend of younger age, among which the most obvious is among primary and secondary school students and computer users. This is especially true for modern computer users, some netizens even stay up all night playing games in front of the computer, which naturally leads to symptoms of the head, neck, shoulders, and waist. Among them, the cervical spine is the most damaged.

In addition to these people, there are also some literati, drivers, secretaries, reporters, embroiderers, draftsmen, surgeons, operating room nurses, microscope operators, traffic police, teachers, sculptors, etc. These people are definitely prone to cervical spondylosis, which can easily cause insufficient blood supply to the brain, blurred vision, blinking, tinnitus, numbness in the back of the head, headache, dizziness and other symptoms.

The 2016 guidelines released by the American Diabetes Association clearly state that everyone should reduce their sitting time, especially avoid sitting for more than 90 minutes.

Some people may think, "Since I can't sit for a long time, why not just lean sideways or lie down?"

No! The long-term sitting mentioned here is not just "sitting".

If you always keep one action for a long time and the activity intensity is too low, it is considered "sitting for a long time", for example↓↓

Lying on the sofa watching TV, episode after episode;

Lying down and watching videos all night long;

I work while lying down, wishing I could move the keyboard to my body.

Image source: Pixabay

These seemingly comfortable "sitting" states are actually silently harming our bodies.

What should I do after long-term inactivity?

1. Whether sitting, standing or lying, your posture must be correct. Do not maintain the same posture for a long time, especially for office workers. You can use the time when pouring water to move your joints and muscles.

2. Maintain a good mental state and enhance awareness of the disease. Many friends tend to ignore the signs of spinal disease and do not pay enough attention to changes in their own bodies. Therefore, you must pay attention to the relevant knowledge of spinal disease.

3. Strengthening exercise, especially activities of the neck and waist, can strengthen the neck muscles, eliminate lumbar muscle fatigue, and reduce the chance of spinal diseases caused by trauma.

Image source: Pixabay

4. Keep the cervical spine warm. The blood circulation of the neck muscles is slow, and the excretion of metabolic substances is also slow. If you do not pay attention to protecting your neck in autumn and winter, the cervical spine is prone to cold, increasing the risk of disease.

5. You should choose a harder bed. A Simmons mattress with springs inside is very harmful to the spine. Choosing suitable and comfortable bedding can not only allow you to sleep peacefully, but also protect your body's joints and ligaments from injury.

6. When making a phone call, try to avoid tilting your head to hold the phone between your ear and shoulder, and use headphones when possible to avoid compressing blood vessels and nerves, which can lead to contraction of neck muscles and easily cause cervical spondylitis.

7. When riding in a car, it is not advisable to face the direction of the car.

Otherwise, when the car brakes suddenly, the body will suddenly flash forward, causing the cervical and lumbar vertebrae to be dislocated forward and backward under the action of external force. You should sit sideways or semi-sideways to avoid causing serious damage to the cervical spine.

Do you sit for a long time? Do you feel any discomfort after sitting for a long time? If you experience weakness or numbness on one side of your body, slurred speech, dizziness, headache, unsteady walking, crooked mouth and eyes, etc., you should seek medical attention immediately.

Source: Chongqing Tianji Network Co., Ltd.

Source: This article is compiled from People's Daily Popular Science, Self-treatment Methods for Cervical Spondylosis, Xiaowei Health, and Langfang Changzheng Hospital

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