How Do You Diagnose People With Cervical Spondylosis?

Most people who are developing Cervical Spondylosis have always mistaken the neck pain as a simple gesture of the body to stop for a while and rest. Most people do not realize that neck pain can be something else, and is only a part of the big picture. Cervical Spondylosis mostly does not show clinical manifestations until properly diagnosed by the experts.

Cervical Spondylosis, which is also referred by many doctors as cervical osteoarthritis and neck arthritis, is a progressive disease that involves the degeneration of the intervertebral discs responsible for giving the neck its flexibility and mobility as a whole. The disease is a result of the increased circumference of the vertebral discs, which often cause the bulges and slipped discs. The increased size is due to the formation of bone spurs or osteocytes around the affected spinal discs.

The neck pain and stiffness is a result of spinal nerve compression that starts when the enlarged vertebral discs obstructs the spinal cord. In advanced and chronic cases of the disease, bladder and bowel incontinence are evident physiologic changes that can be observed along with numbness felt at the lower extremities. Dysphagia, which is the difficulty is swallowing is also noted. There are also neurologic changes that can be observed with severe cases of Cervical Spondylosis.

Old age is the foremost factor you need to consider for the development of Cervical Spondylosis. The condition however can sometimes start to progress at an early age of twenty (20), although this is often very rare. Lifting heavy objects and other occupations that requires constant neck twisting is one of the many triggering factors for the development of the disease.

To clearly conclude that one has Cervical Spondylosis, it is necessary that certain tests be executed to show evidence of its progression. First of all, your physician will have a brief review of your medical history to trim down possible diagnoses. A reflex test is initially done to observe if you have lost your sensations and to determine if you have an awkward gait.

Spurling's Test is also done to confirm if you have Cervical Spondylosis. While sitting still on a chair, your physician will simultaneously do nerve compressions by extending your neck and slowly doing rotations, subsequently turning your neck where the pain is localized. If you are positive with the disease, you will most definitely feel pain during the test.

Imaging tests are solid evidences to contest when you have cervical spondylosis. A neck x-ray will most likely show that you have developed bone spurs. For a more detailed view, your physician might order additional tests such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and CT Scan. Myelogram, which is a combination of MRI and CT Scan can also be done.