Cervical scoliosis is one of the most common pathologies, affecting more than 40% of the population. Scoliosis of the cervical spine most often affects representatives of the fair half of humanity and is characterized not only by pain, but also by possible disturbances in the blood supply to the brain, which is very dangerous.
This occurs due to compression of the vertebral artery, which supplies about a quarter of the brain structures.
At CELT you can get advice from a neurosurgeon.
- Initial consultation – 3,000
- Repeated consultation – 2,000
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Reasons for appearance
Scoliosis of the cervical spine occurs due to various reasons. Most often these are changes in the structure of the bone tissue of the vertebrae or pathological processes in muscle tissue that lead to displacement of the vertebrae. As for other prerequisites, they include the following:
- excessively intense physical activity of the cervical spine;
- neck injuries;
- disruption of the blood supply to the spine;
- sedentary lifestyle;
- excess weight;
- heredity.
Diagnostics
The diagnosis must be carried out by a specialist. At the third degree of displacement of the spinal column, asymmetry is already noticeable during a visual examination.
The displacement of a vertebra can also be determined by palpation of the spinous processes of the paravertebral points and all vertebrae. When you press on the pathological focus, you can also detect soreness or increased persistent muscle tension in the back.
There is a whole group of functional signs that indirectly confirm the presence of vertebral displacement, the so-called “tension symptoms.” Of these, the easiest to check are:
- Lasègue's symptom. From a supine position, the patient raises his leg in a straightened state and at the same time feels pain in the hip area, which can radiate to the lower back. This symptom occurs only in the presence of spondylolisthesis in the lumbar region.
- Bekhterev's symptom . When changing body position (from lying to sitting), the patient should take the following position: bend his knees and straighten his arms to lean on them. In this case, he may feel slight pain.
- Dejerine's symptom . The patient may feel pain in the area of the displaced vertebra when sneezing or coughing.
Additional diagnostic methods used by specialists: MRI, CT and radiography. They reliably determine the degree of vertebral displacement itself, and the presence of vertebrobedullary and vertebrobradicular conflicts, as well as the severity of narrowing of the spinal canal and the condition of the vertebra.
Clinical manifestations
MRI of the spine
- Cost: 16,000 rub.
More details
Symptoms of cervical scoliosis grades 1–2 are not very pronounced. As for grade 3–4 pathology, general clinical manifestations are also noticeable at this stage. The main symptom of the disease is an asymmetrical position of the head. It is characterized by a displacement from the central axis of the body and abduction to one side. This is especially noticeable in the position of the ears, which are at different levels. In addition, other clinical manifestations are observed:
- pain localized in the neck area and especially severe in the morning;
- increased pain in the neck with deep breaths, sneezing and coughing;
- hypertonicity of the neck muscles, which leads to difficulty moving the neck;
- numbness in the arm due to neck deformity.
How to escape from widow's withers
The best way to get rid of it is to not let it appear. There are a number of preventive measures that will not only save you from fat deposits in the neck area, but will also keep your body in good shape, especially during menopause.
1. Choose a hard mattress for sleeping; do not skimp on a quality pillow. A hard bed promotes the adoption of a physiologically correct posture, thanks to which the spine does not deform. Select the pillow according to the following parameters: the width corresponds to the width of the shoulders, the height is no more than 10 cm, the best filling is environmental materials - bamboo, buckwheat husk.
2. Do gymnastics regularly - knead the area of your shoulders, neck, tilt your head left and right, in circular movements, try to reach your shoulder with your chin. You can get a fitness bracelet that will remind you to do a little warm-up, which is especially important for those who do sedentary work.
For example:
- lean your shoulder blades against the wall and begin to turn your head left and right, then tilt it left and right, 10–30 times, at first with a small amplitude, but gradually increasing it,
- do self-massage: place your palms on the problem area, stroke it from top to bottom 7-10 times, then rub it with your fingertips, fixating on the painful areas, then rub the withers from bottom to top with the edge of your palm, and then squeeze the tissues in the forearms and shoulders with your palms.
3. Eat right, don't starve, but give preference to healthy dishes, vegetables and fruits. Drink enough water.
4. Walk, play sports, lead an active lifestyle. Even a simple walk in the fresh air will do if you have neither the opportunity nor the desire to go to the gym. There are many activities for those who cannot exert themselves too much: Nordic walking, swimming pool, aerobics, dancing.
5. Use the services of massage therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths. There is no better way to prevent widow's hump than to trust your back to professionals from time to time.
Reviews of doctors providing the service – Scoliosis of the cervical spine
In 2000, Andrei Arkadyevich performed spinal surgery on me.
Four days in the clinic and I have been living a full life for 20 years without restrictions on movement and I remember with gratitude Dr. A.A. Khodnevich. God bless him. And in 2000 he could walk no more than 10 meters. Read full review Viktor Alexandrovich
20.05.2020
Low bow to Alexander Semenovich Bronstein and Andrei Arkadyevich Khodnevich. I arrived at CELT on July 2, 2021 with extreme pain that I endured for 10 days. Hernia C6-C-7. I was given two blockades in Ivanovo, about 9 complex IVs, I lost 6 kg in a week and was in a panic, I didn’t see a way out and nothing happened to me... Read full review
Elena Nikolaevna L.
20.10.2019
Treatment
For injuries and diseases of the spinal column, the basis of therapy for a protruding vertebra includes:
- Replacing the bed (if it is soft) with a hard orthopedic mattress and a comfortable orthopedic pillow.
- Swimming in the pool (preferably in sea water).
- Shock wave therapy, which helps cleanse salt deposits and also helps in the fight against fat deposits.
- Massage.
- Manual therapy.
- Wearing special fixing bandages.
- Physiotherapeutic procedures: electrical stimulation according to Gerasimov, galvanic current, various warming procedures, etc.
- Elimination of pain using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (“Citramon”, “Ketorolac”, “Ketoprofen”, “Ibuprofen”).
- Physical therapy and yoga are especially beneficial for muscles and ligaments.
- Consumption of B vitamins.
Such therapy, as a rule, helps only with the first degree of spinal displacement. Absolutely any treatment can be prescribed only after an accurate determination of the cause that caused the protrusion of the vertebra.
But if the reason for the protrusion of the vertebra lies in some infectious diseases, hormonal imbalances or tumor processes, then they begin to treat them.
The upper cervical vertebra protrudes: what to do?
The first thing to do if a cervical vertebra or any other vertebra protrudes is to seek medical help. Make an appointment with an orthopedist or vertebrologist. The doctor will conduct an examination and make an accurate diagnosis.
If the upper vertebra protrudes, then posture can be corrected only with the help of osteopathy and physical therapy. With a long-term pathological position of the vertebra, secondary deformation of the muscular and ligamentous apparatus occurs, and scar deformities are formed. Therefore, simply controlling the position of the neck will not be enough.
You can contact our manual therapy clinic. Here an individual course of treatment will be developed. The basis of therapy will be the elimination of the disease that provoked the displacement of the vertebral body. Therefore, the result is always positive.
We use only safe and effective conservative methods in our work. This is massage and osteopathy, which allow you to restore the normal movement of blood and lymphatic fluid. Kinesiotherapy and therapeutic exercises are also used, which strengthen the ligamentous and muscular apparatus. This ensures the stability of the position of the vertebral bodies in the future. Reflexology, laser therapy and other types of physical therapy are used as aids.
Chondromalacia in children and adolescents involved in sports: a note for parents.
Unfortunately, chondromalacia, which has been written about more than once on this site, is a problem faced not only by professional athletes, but even not only by people leading a very active lifestyle. A disease such as chondromalacia can lie in wait for us even in ordinary everyday life, and affect those whose pace is very measured and not at all extreme. Experts debate whether low physical activity is a way to protect yourself from chondromalacia, and come to the conclusion that neither excessive exercise nor rest alone are a guarantee that chondromalacia will not affect you. It all depends on the condition of the knee and how the loads are dosed and applied.
Let's say everything is clear with professional sports. Chondromalacia, also known as “runner's knee,” is most common among runners. Very often, people who are professional rowers receive a similar diagnosis. There are other sports whose adherents are familiar with chondromalacia firsthand. In everyday life, young women encounter the disease (this happens for physiological reasons: due to the special structure of the female joint, it endures a greater load), and especially pregnant women, when their weight can increase by 20% of their normal weight or more. In general, doctors have come to the conclusion that we can talk about chondromalacia of varying degrees (perhaps incipient and not pronounced) in almost all people. But there is a special category of patients whose illness is always discussed separately. These are children and teenagers. And if we are talking about chondromalacia of the patella, then first of all these are children who play various sports. They are the ones at risk, because their growing joints endure stress, while parents usually rely entirely on coaching experience and don’t even think about whether their child may have incipient knee problems. There are a lot of sports children in our country; almost every second one goes to the sports section. Lack of warm-up, ill-considered loads, and inattention of children can lead to various injuries, noticeable or latent, which will certainly make themselves felt later if they are not identified in time.
Diagnosis is complicated by the fact that children, as a rule, cannot clearly tell what and how it hurts, and often do not pay attention to it at all. Therefore, parents, seeing their child’s interest in any sport, must definitely find information about how the “entrance” to this sport should be organized, how training should be structured. And after that, you should attend a couple of classes to see if the trainer does the same. If they don’t pay attention to the basic sports rules in the section, then you should look for another place: health is always more important than such amenities as the proximity of the section to home, etc. What do parents need to know? The child's musculoskeletal system is in constant development. This is a risk factor for many injuries. And in combination with sports activities, it forces parents to be especially attentive. Not only do children experience all the types of injuries that occur in adult athletes, but they also experience injuries that are not typical for adults. Diagnosis of childhood injuries is also difficult due to the presence of epiphyseal growth zones. It is impossible to identify injuries that are characteristic of a certain age: here the matter depends precisely on the maturity of the musculoskeletal system. Chondromalacia of the patella requires mandatory consultation with a traumatologist. Usually this is not delayed, since this disease is accompanied by pain in the anterior surface of the anterior joint.
And one more important aspect: in the presence of an anomaly in the development of the musculoskeletal system, the risk of injury increases many times over. Unfortunately, in modern Russia there are a lot of children who are underexamined from this point of view, and whose participation in sports can be harmful. Show more attention to your children, then neither fermatron, nor interventions in the joints, nor long trips to the doctors will be needed. The first line of protection for children from diseases is, after all, parents, who should collect data for doctors if their consultations are still needed.
Why is a hump on the neck dangerous?
This pathology not only negatively affects posture and signals insufficiency of the muscular frame. The disease also affects the internal systems of the body and negatively affects it as a whole. Thus, the development of a hump on the neck is accompanied by such negative processes as:
- Atrophy of the muscles located in the collar area. Due to the inactivity of this area, osteochondrosis begins to develop.
- Deterioration of blood supply and lymphatic drainage of tissues in the collar area.
- The appearance of progressive pain syndrome and vascular pathologies.
The disease is dangerous because due to compression of the nerve endings, the blood supply to the brain is disrupted. This is manifested by frequent dizziness, headaches, darkening of the eyes and other symptoms.