Cervical Spondylosis or Arthritis of the Neck ?
Does anyone else suffer from this? How bad is your condition? How were you diagnosed and what kind of therapy or medications does your doctor prescribe for you?
I was diagnosed a year ago by a neurologist I was referred to by my primary dr because of my everyday non stop headaches. He did a mri, cat scan and xrays and found that my neck was inflamed with arthritis. I’ve seen a orthopedic surgeon who doesn’t seem to feel that my pain is as a bad as I tell him. He refuses to prescribe me any kind of mild pain medication when I need it. ( I’m not there once a month asking him, I go to every 6 months). The only thing he prescribes is antimflammitories. He has told me he doesn’t want me addicted, and I told him I don’t want to be addicted, I just want pain relief.I’ve seen addiction to pain pills, and its not my lifestyle. My primary dr doesn’t seem to think its as bad as I say it is either. How do they know how bad I hurt or do not hurt? They cant feel what I feel.
Welcome to the club! Cervical spondylosis is a general term for age-related wear and tear affecting the joints in your neck. Also known as cervical osteoarthritis, this condition usually appears in men and women older than 40 and progresses with age. Although cervical spondylosis affects both sexes equally, men usually develop it at an earlier age than women do.
As you age, the bones and cartilage that make up your backbone and neck gradually deteriorate, sometimes forming irregular bony outgrowths called bone spurs. These changes, which are characteristic of cervical spondylosis, occur in everyone’s spine. Still, many people with signs of cervical spondylosis on X-rays manage to escape the associated symptoms, which include pain, stiffness and muscle spasms.
At the other extreme, cervical spondylosis may compress one or more of the spinal nerves branching out of the cervical vertebrae — a condition called cervical radiculopathy. Bone spurs and other irregularities caused by cervical spondylosis also may reduce the diameter of the canal that houses the spinal cord, resulting in cervical myelopathy. Cervical radiculopathy and cervical myelopathy can lead to permanent disability. Fortunately, most adults with cervical spondylosis — nearly 90 percent — will not lose nerve function, even temporarily.
So they did a mri, cat scan and x-ray which will give him a excellent picture of what is going on and at what Stage you are at? For example if you have spurs, if the spurs are impinging on any nerves and so on. In your case it seems the scans revealed early stages, no impringement, no other affects except headaches. The possibility that wear and tear of these joints might NOT be causing the headaches! I have cervical spondylosis along with rheumatoid arthritis and other spine problems, all of which they have seen deveop over years via x-rays, mri and blood tests. Therefore they have me on fentanyl patches for the pain. However, when it got bad I had to wear a soft neck collar and I never had any headaches. I am thinking the two are not related, your non-stop headache has nothing to do with the arthritis. Therefore ask the primary doctor if it is related, or if the headache could be caused by something else? Best of Luck