Cervical Spondylosis

In cervical spondylosis the vertebraes of the neck/cervical region gets deteriorated  due to causes like degeneration, neck injury, repeated stress injury. Sometimes the edges of the vertebrae develops bony spurs called osteophytes and over time, the discs between the vertebraes get thinner, and their ability to absorb shock is lost.Swollen neck joints called facet joints, can press or pinch nearby nerve roots or the spinal cord itself, resulting in tingling or “pins and needles” in the extremities and sometimes even pain in the limbs.

Causes:

• Long term degeneration
• Wear and tear of cervical spine
• Previous neck injury
• Some long term activities like lifting heavy objects, practicing martial arts, dance and gymnastics
• Genetic factors
   

 Symptoms:

• Pain and stiffness around the neck
• Muscle spasms in the neck and shoulders
• Tingling, numbness and weakness in arms, hands
• Lack of coordination
• Inability to fully turn the head and bend the neck
• Grinding noise or sensation when the neck is turned
• Reduced grasping power
• Sometimes can cause difficulty in walking and loss of bladder or bowel control
   

 Complications:

• Severe neck pain spreading from the base of the skull to the shoulders, arms and hands, moving the head may make the pain worse.
• Sometimes, there can be compression of the blood vessels which eventually affects the blood supply to the brain resulting in dizziness and even blackouts.
• Feeling of vomiting
• Tingling, numbness or weakness in the arms, hands, legs or feet
• Cervical spondylosis can cause pressure on the spinal cord which is called as cervical stenosis, which leads to a condition called as cervical myelopathy.

Ayurvedic management

In Ayurveda, Cervical spondylosis comes under vata vyadhi, it can be co-related to Vishwachi and apabahuka. Treatment in Ayurveda is aimed at restoring the alleviated vata dosha.

At VCC AYURVEDA, we provide very effective treatment for cervical spondylosis which is completely reversible by therapies like abhyangam , elakizhi, pizhichil, greeva basti, Vasti. Through the process like abhyangam (massaging the body in the rhythmic manner by applying the medicated oil according to ones body constitution, through treatments like elakizhi, pizhichil the oil penetrates into the skin pores and relieves the muscle spasm. For each patient the treatment and the oil used is customized. Duration of the treatment may vary according to the severity of the treatment ranging from 1 week to 4 weeks.