Early understanding of the symptoms of cervical vertebra compression of the spinal cord

Compression of the spinal cord by the cervical vertebrae is also called cervical spondylotic myelopathy. It is a disease caused by cervical vertebra degeneration. The main symptoms are slowly progressive numbness, chills, pain in both lower limbs, unsteady walking, clumsy gait, trembling, weakness, etc. It mainly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people. So once you get older, everyone should start paying attention to their health.

Compression of the spinal cord by the cervical vertebrae will affect the nerves that nourish the spinal cord, which may cause numbness and pain in the hands, and may also cause symptoms such as dizziness and neck and shoulder pain. If you do not pay attention to the maintenance of your neck, you may get sick.

If the symptoms are not obvious, then you can avoid surgical treatment and can use conservative treatment. It is recommended to do appropriate neck exercises in daily life, try not to maintain one posture for a long time, and do not keep your head in one posture for a long time such as watching TV, computer, or mobile phone. This can be treated with physical therapy, which can relieve symptoms.

The clinical manifestations vary depending on the degree, location, and extent of involvement of the spinal cord. Sensory disturbances are often irregular, with numbness of the arms being the most common. However, objectively, the superficial pain disturbance does not necessarily correspond to the dermatomes controlled by the lesions. Those with rare deep sensory involvement may have a feeling of chest or abdominal tightness, often accompanied by enhanced abdominal wall reflexes.

The upper limbs are usually mainly affected by damage to the lower motor neuron pathways, with clumsy and weak hands, and difficulty with fine movements such as writing, tying shoelaces and buttons, and using chopsticks. As the disease progresses, the intrinsic muscles of the hands may atrophy and the muscles of the other upper limbs may become weakened. Hoffmann's sign is usually positive and may be accompanied by a reverse radial reflex, i.e. tapping the brachioradialis muscle belly or biceps tendon causes rapid flexion of the fingers, which has the same meaning as a positive Hoffmann's sign or may appear earlier. A small number of high spinal cord lesions may present with symptoms of upper motor neuron damage such as increased muscle tone and hyperreflexia.

The lower limbs are mostly abnormal in the upper motor neuron pathways, manifested as varying degrees of increased muscle tone and decreased muscle strength, active and hyperactive knee reflexes and Achilles tendon reflexes, ankle clonus, patellar clonus, and positive Babinski sign. Increased muscle tone and hyperreflexia of the tendon lead to unstable walking, especially easy falls when walking fast, unsteady gait, and spastic gait.

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy rarely causes dysuria, defecation, and sphincter dysfunction.