Night Listening | Patients with cervical spondylosis should stop massaging casually! Beware of permanent high-level paraplegia

I don't know if you have this feeling before. After working with your head down or looking at your phone for a long time, your head, shoulders, neck and even arms feel a little uncomfortable and it takes a while to recover. If you often have similar situations, it is likely related to cervical spondylosis.

In fact, our cervical vertebrae are made up of pieces of bones, and there are intervertebral discs between the bones to connect them and provide a certain degree of protection.

When we are obsessed with something and our head is not moving for a long time, the pressure on the cervical spine is only the weight of the head. However, if the head is not in the middle, the pressure on one side of the intervertebral disc will increase. Over time, the ligaments that fix the intervertebral disc will age. In this way, part of the intervertebral disc will move out of its original position, and in severe cases, it will squeeze the surrounding tissues. This is called a herniated disc.

In life, when many people find that they have cervical spondylosis, the first thing they think of is to go for chiropractic or massage. It sounds good, but informal chiropractic massage may bring serious consequences.

Such cases are not uncommon in hospitals. The main reason is that when there is cervical spondylosis, the patient's spinal cord is already slightly compressed. At this time, the masseur presses the spine hard, and the spine will suffer a short and violent impact. The compression of the spinal cord will increase instantly, which may cause the nerve function to deteriorate instantly. In the most serious cases, it may cause permanent high-level paraplegia.

For patients with cervical spondylosis, surgery is the best way to relieve disc herniation, and the earlier the surgery is done, the better the recovery will be. Therefore, if the doctor recommends surgery after diagnosis, do not be too afraid or have a fluke mentality, thinking that you can recover. Following the doctor's advice is the most important thing.

Review丨Zhang Qinghua, Chief Physician of Orthopedics, Shougang Hospital