What is Cervical Arthritis?
Cervical arthritis scientifically called cervical spondylosis is a chronic deterioration of the bones of the neck and the cushions between the vertebrae. Cervical arthritis is a type of arthritis where the cartilage in joints begins to wear away due to some reason, may be because of an accident or because of the natural aging process. Cervical arthritis generally develops between 40 and 50 years of age. Men usually develop it at an earlier age than women. It's not that cervical arthritis develops at old age; it may also begin earlier in life, perhaps as the result of a back injury in an accident.
Cervical arthritis affects the upper spine. In cervical arthritis, the cervical vertebrae begin to deteriorate, accompanied by deterioration of the cartilage that provides shock absorption. These changes gradually narrow the space in the vertebra that causes compression on the nerves leading from the spinal cord in the neck. This results in inflammation of the nerves causing pain in neck pain, which may spread to the arms.
The risk of cervical arthritis increases if a person experiences repeated trauma to the neck, which may include work like carrying loads on your head or professional gymnastics. Smoking is another risk factor of developing cervical arthritis.
Signs and Symptoms of Cervical Arthritis
The most common signs and symptoms of cervical arthritis may include:
- Chronic neck pain that may sometimes radiate to the arms or shoulder
- Increasing neck stiffness, which limits movement of the neck and worsens progressively
- Tenderness to the touch at the neck itself
- Loss of balance
- Numbness or weakness in the arms, hands and fingers and in the legs, if the spinal cord is compressed
- Headaches, especially at the back of head
- Loss of control of the bladder or bowel movements
- Irritability and fatigue ness, which may disturb your sleep and impair your ability to work.
Causes of Cervical Arthritis
Cervical arthritis is caused by chronic degeneration of the cervical spine, the cushions between the neck vertebrae, and joints between the bones of the cervical spine. The most common cause of cervical arthritis is an injury or repeated trauma to the neck or back caused from recreational or work activities. For example, an old football injury may be one reason for the development of cervical arthritis. In such cases, signs of the cervical arthritis begin at early age but symptoms do not show up for many years. But, once the cervical vertebrae and their discs begin to deteriorate, even a minor injury to the spine may provoke the symptoms.
Other type of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis share symptoms similar to cervical arthritis and can also be a factor leading to cervical arthritis. So it is difficult at first to diagnose because of the similarities between diseases.
As the saying goes "Prevention is a better cure" there is not much that can be done to prevent cervical arthritis other than avoiding those type of activities that may injure the neck area or place too much pressure on the head. Cervical arthritis can result in complications; one of the most serious complications is spinal cord or nerve root compression. Mild cases of cervical arthritis often require no treatment or may respond to any conservative treatment like wearing a neck brace or taking pain medication. But more serious cases of cervical arthritis may require surgery.