Cervical Spondylosis, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Cervical Spondylosis, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Cervical spondylosis indicates the natural degenerative process of the cervical motion segment (intervertebral disc and facets C5-6, C6-7) often causes the medical disorders of
1. Cervical radiculopathy
2. Cervical myelopathy
3. Discogenic neck pain

Cervical Spondylosis is caused by aging.
Unfortunately there is no cure for aging

Cervical Spondylosis is a degenerative disease of the joints of the cervical spine (neck), producing pain in the neck and nerve root irritation.
Every one can get Cervical Spondylosis.

Cervical spondylosis is a frequent, age-related disorder that involves the joints and discs in the cervical spine, which is in the neck.

It is also termed cervical osteoarthritis or neck arthritis.

It forms from the wear and tear of cartilage and bones.

While it is largely the consequence of age, it can be caused by other factors as well.

Some people who have it never feel symptoms.

For others, it can produce chronic, severe pain and stiffness.

Many people who have it are able to perform normal daily activities.

The disorder is evident in more than 90 percent of people aged 60 and older.

The age of start is normally in the late 40 or early 50's.

It happen also more frequently in men than women.

Occurrence in the lower cervical spine is worst.

As the disk in the spine ages, it loses height and starts to bulge.

The disk also loses water content, starts to dry out and weakens.

This disorder produces settling or collapse of the disk spaces and loss of disk space height.

As the facet joints feel greater pressure, they also start to degenerate and develop arthritis, similar to what may happen in the hip or knee joint.

The smooth, slippery articular cartilage that envelops and protects the joints wears away.

If the cartilage becomes worn completely, it can cause the bone rubbing on bone.

To replace the lost cartilage, the body may react by growing new bone in the facet joints to help support the vertebrae.

Over time, this bone overgrowth termed bone spurs may narrow the opening for the nerves and spinal cord to pass through (stenosis)

Risk Factors

Aging is the most frequent risk factor for cervical spondylosis.

The disorder is very frequent in patients who are middle-aged and older.

Other factors that may raise the risk for developing cervical spondylosis and neck pain are:
1. Genetics—a family history of neck pain and spondylosis
2. Smoking—clearly linked to increased neck pain
2. Occupation—jobs with lots of repetitive neck motion and overhead work
4. Depression or anxiety
5. Previous injury or trauma to the neck

Possible causes of the disorder are:

1. Bone spurs
These overgrowths of bone are the effect of the body trying to grow extra bone to make the spine stronger.
The extra bone can compress on delicate regions of the spine, such as the spinal cord and nerves, causing pain.

2. Dehydrated spinal discs
The spinal vertebra bones have discs between them which are thick, pad-like cushions that absorb the weight of lifting, twisting and other activities.
The gel-like material inside these discs can become dry over time.
This induces the bones (spinal vertebrae) to rub together more, which can be painful.

3. Herniated discs
Spinal discs can form cracks, which permit leakage of the internal cushioning material.
This material can compress on the spinal cord and nerves, causing symptoms such as arm numbness and pain that radiates down an arm.

4. Injury
Trauma and injury such as whiplash injury, head injuries damage the the neck vertebra

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Cervical Spondylosis
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463954614

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Cervical Spondylosis,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2020 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Cervical Spondylosis, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Cervical Spondylosis)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Cervical Spondylosis

Cervical spondylosis indicates the natural degenerative process of the cervical motion segment (intervertebral disc and facets C5-6, C6-7) often causes the medical disorders of

1. Cervical radiculopathy

2. Cervical myelopathy

3. Discogenic neck pain

Cervical Spondylosis is caused by aging.

Unfortunately there is no cure for aging.

What is Cervical Spondylosis?

Cervical Spondylosis is a degenerative disease of the joints of the cervical spine (neck), producing pain in the neck and nerve root irritation.

Every one can get Cervical Spondylosis.

Cervical spondylosis is a frequent, age-related disorder that involves the joints and discs in the cervical spine, which is in the neck.

It is also termed cervical osteoarthritis or neck arthritis.

It forms from the wear and tear of cartilage and bones.

While it is largely the consequence of age, it can be caused by other factors as well.

Some people who have it never feel symptoms.

For others, it can produce chronic, severe pain and stiffness.

Many people who have it are able to perform normal daily activities.

The disorder is evident in more than 90 percent of people aged 60 and older.

The age of start is normally in the late 40 or early 50's.

It happen also more frequently in men than women.

Occurrence in the lower cervical spine is worst.

What are the causes of Cervical Spondylosis?

Causes

The bones and protective cartilage in the neck are susceptible to wear and tear that can cause cervical spondylosis.

This is termed the age degeneration of the cervical spine due to prolonged usage such as bending the head to read or write.

Pathophysiology

Disk Degeneration and Bone Spurs

As the disk in the spine ages, it loses height and starts to bulge.

The disk also loses water