What are the symptoms of cervical spondylotic myelopathy?

Is cervical spondylotic myelopathy serious? What are the symptoms of cervical spondylotic myelopathy? 1. Is cervical spondylotic myelopathy serious? Cervical spondylotic myelopathy is a relatively serious type of cervical spondylosis, and most cases require surgical treatment. The essence of cervical spondylotic myelopathy is that the spinal cord is compressed, leading to spinal cord ischemia and a series of symptoms. The spinal cord cannot be deprived of blood supply for a long time, as prolonged ischemia can cause partial degeneration and necrosis, resulting in irreversible damage. Therefore, once diagnosed with cervical spondylotic myelopathy, surgery should be performed as early as possible. Delaying the surgery will reduce its effectiveness and the recovery may not be ideal.

What are the symptoms of cervical spondylotic myelopathy? The clinical manifestations of cervical spondylotic myelopathy usually include three points: Firstly, numbness and heaviness in one or both lower limbs, followed by gradually developing difficulty in walking and unsteadiness, feeling like stepping on stairs or stepping on cotton.

Secondly, numbness and pain in one or both upper limbs, weak grip strength, difficulty in writing, buttoning clothes, using chopsticks, and a tendency to drop things easily. Thirdly, the trunk may experience abnormal sensations. The patient often feels as if something is constricting their chest or abdomen, which we refer to as a feeling of being bound. It is a constant sensation of tightness in the skin, as if something is constricting them. At the same time, there may also be abnormal sensations in the lower limbs, such as feeling cold or hot, or a particularly painful sensation, similar to an electric shock.

Can cervical spondylotic myelopathy cause dizziness? The vast majority of cervical spondylotic myelopathy does not cause dizziness. This is because the cause of spinal cord-related cervical spondylotic myelopathy is ischemia leading to abnormal sensory and motor functions in the limbs. Its typical clinical manifestations are as follows:

Firstly, numbness, heaviness, difficulty walking, and a feeling of stepping on cotton in one or both lower limbs. Secondly, pain and numbness in one or both upper limbs, inability to perform fine movements, and sometimes unable to hold objects. Point 3: Abnormal sensation in the trunk, often feeling constricted, or a burning sensation or coldness in the lower extremities. Point 4: It can affect bladder and rectal function, such as weak urination, frequent urination, urgency, constipation, and decreased sexual function. It does not cause dizziness.

Can spinal cervical spondylosis cause leg fatigue? Spinal cervical spondylosis can indeed cause leg fatigue. The fundamental cause of spinal cervical spondylosis is the compression of the spinal cord, which leads to local ischemic symptoms, known as spinal cord ischemic symptoms. The clinical manifestations of this condition include numbness, heaviness, and leg fatigue in one or both lower extremities. Eventually, walking difficulties may develop, with a tight sensation in the muscles of the front and back of the lower legs, making it difficult to walk fast. Climbing stairs can also be challenging, and in severe cases, unsteady walking or a sensation of walking on cotton may occur. Leg fatigue is just one of the clinical manifestations of spinal cervical spondylosis.

Symptoms and signs of myelopathic cervical spondylosis The symptoms and signs of myelopathic cervical spondylosis are manifested in the following three points: First, most patients experience numbness and heaviness in one or both lower limbs. As the condition progresses, they may have difficulty walking and feel a weight on their lower limbs, especially when going up and down stairs. They may even have an unstable gait and difficulty walking. The main sign is a feeling of walking on cotton when the patient walks.

Second, there is numbness and pain in one side or both sides of the upper limbs, lack of strength in the hands, difficulty in writing, buttoning clothes, and holding chopsticks. These delicate movements are prone to errors. Also, there is a problem with instability when holding things, sometimes causing them to drop.

Third, there is abnormal sensation in the trunk. Patients often feel as if their chest or abdomen, and lower limbs, are being constricted by someone else using a belt. This is commonly referred to as a sensation of being bound. Additionally, some patients may not experience a sensation of being bound, but they do have abnormal sensations in both lower limbs, such as a burning or icy feeling.

Nursing measures for spinal cord type cervical spondylosis If you discover that you have spinal cord type cervical spondylosis, you need to pay attention to the following points: Firstly, you need to immobilize the neck in order to maintain the stability of the cervical spine and reduce compression on the spinal cord, thereby alleviating symptoms of spinal cord ischemia. Immobilization can be achieved by using a neck brace, but it is not recommended to use an inflatable neck brace with traction function. A regular neck brace will suffice. If a neck brace is not available, you can use a support device to support the area between the head and shoulders, thus restricting cervical spine movement.

Secondly, it is important to pay attention to keeping the cervical vertebrae warm, mainly to prevent muscle spasms caused by cold temperatures, which can worsen symptoms of cervical spondylosis. Thirdly, timely treatment is necessary as many cases of myelopathic cervical spondylosis ultimately require surgical intervention to achieve relief and cure. Conservative treatment can be attempted but the effectiveness of conservative treatment is usually not guaranteed.

Can patients with spinal cord cervical spondylosis swim? Patients with spinal cord cervical spondylosis are absolutely not recommended to swim, for three reasons: Firstly, in the treatment principles of spinal cord cervical spondylosis, there are two points. The first point is that it has been found that the cervical spine needs to be immobilized. This can be achieved with a cervical collar or a brace. However, when swimming, the cervical spine cannot be immobilized. Any swimming posture requires movement of the cervical spine, which often worsens the condition of spinal cord cervical spondylosis.

Secondly, patients with myelopathic cervical spondylosis cannot be tractioned as tractioning often worsens spinal cord ischemic symptoms, causing unnecessary harm, and even irreversible damage. When swimming, the cervical spine is in a state similar to traction, although this traction may be less intense and not as significant as on a traction bed, it still belongs to a stretched state. This stretched state may potentially worsen the condition of myelopathic cervical spondylosis.

The third point is that myelopathic cervical spondylosis mainly manifests as sensory and motor impairments. This is because it is caused by spinal cord ischemia, which results in different symptoms depending on the affected spinal cord segments. When swimming, the arms and legs are not particularly responsive. It is difficult to perform certain movements due to spinal cord ischemia, which can lead to potential dangers. Based on these three reasons, patients with myelopathic cervical spondylosis are not advised to go swimming.

Can people with spinal cord cervical spondylosis smoke? People with spinal cord cervical spondylosis should be able to smoke because no treatment guidelines specifically mention that smoking is not allowed for patients with this condition. Therefore, it appears that people with spinal cord cervical spondylosis can smoke, as smoking and spinal cord cervical spondylosis are completely unrelated and do not have any connection. Spinal cord cervical spondylosis refers to disc herniation in the cervical spine and its resulting pathological changes, which causes compression of the spinal cord and primarily presents as sensory and motor disturbances. Therefore, there is no relationship between spinal cord cervical spondylosis and smoking. It is not necessary that smokers will definitely develop spinal cord cervical spondylosis, nor does smoking worsen the symptoms of this condition.

However, smoking can cause a decline in lung function, and the lungs of smokers are significantly different from those of non-smokers. Additionally, smoking is a significant cause of various malignancies, so based on these reasons, smoking is not recommended for patients with spinal cervical spondylosis.

Clinical manifestations of spinal cervical spondylosis include: 1. Common manifestations: Spinal cervical spondylosis is one of the pathological changes of spinal cord compression. The clinical manifestations vary depending on the degree, location, and extent of spinal cord invasion. Sensory disorders are often irregular, and numbness in the arms is common. However, objective superficial sensory disorders do not necessarily correspond to the affected dermatomes. Deep sensory involvement is rare, but there may be a band-like sensation in the chest or abdomen, often accompanied by increased abdominal reflexes.

Upper limbs mainly show damage to the upper motor neuron pathways, resulting in clumsiness, weakness, and difficulty performing fine motor tasks such as writing, tying shoelaces, and using chopsticks. As the condition progresses, there may be atrophy of the intrinsic muscles of the hand and decreased upper limb muscle strength. Hoffmann's sign is often positive, with the presence of reverse radial reflex, i.e. tapping the belly of the brachioradialis or biceps tendon causing rapid flexion of the fingers, which has the same significance as a positive Hoffmann's sign, or may appear earlier. A small number of high-level spinal cord lesions may result in increased muscle tone and hyperactive tendon reflexes, indicating damage to the upper motor neurons.

Lower limbs mostly exhibit abnormalities in the upper motor neuron pathway, characterized by varying degrees of increased muscle tone and decreased muscle strength. Knee and ankle reflexes are active and hyperactive, and there may be ankle clonus, patellar clonus, and positive Babinski's sign. Increased muscle tone and hyperactive tendon reflexes lead to unsteady gait, especially prone to falling during fast walking, and a spastic gait may appear.

Spinal cervical spondylosis rarely causes difficulties in urination and defecation, as well as dysfunction of the sphincter muscles. 2. Manifestations of different types of lesions: Due to the imbalance of spinal cord compression lesions, the neurological abnormalities of spinal cervical spondylosis are variable. Bilateral lesions can have different degrees of severity, and may even be more pronounced on one side, but complete transverse myelopathy, known as Brown-Séquard syndrome, is extremely rare, with the latter being more common in intramedullary tumors.

When upper limb dysfunction is predominant, it manifests as radicular symptoms, mostly due to lower motor neuron pathway disorders as mentioned earlier, with lesions in the central gray matter on both sides. When lower limb symptoms are predominant, it mainly manifests as upper motor neuron pathway disorders due to involvement of peripheral long tract fibers outside the spinal cord, and the neurological function of the lower limbs is also abnormal as mentioned earlier. In a few cases, upper limb symptoms may be mild or absent, which needs to be differentiated from thoracic spinal stenosis.

The so-called anterior spinal artery type is not common. It has a sudden onset, and the motor impairment is generally more severe in the lower limbs than in the upper limbs. There may be decreased or absent temperature and pain sensation, but deep sensory function is mostly normal. Increased reflexes and pathological reflexes may occur.

What symptoms are there in myelopathic cervical spondylosis? The introduction ends here. Thank you for reading this article. For more information about the symptoms of myelopathic cervical spondylosis, please search on this website.