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If you have been diagnosed with cervical spondylosis, you are likely here looking for how you can cure it permanently. Alas, I must tell you straight that there is no solution for how to cure cervical spondylosis permanently. However - and this is the good news - there are LOTS of important things that you can do you manage your condition so that you do NOT need to experience the discomfort and symptoms associated with cervical spondylosis on a daily basis.
And I will contend in this article that one of the very most important things that you can do if you have cervical spondylosis is a little known method of care known as the Blair technique that helps your cervical spine (neck) continue to move as well as it possibly can.
How come you can’t just cure cervical spondylosis permanently?
First, a little background on what causes cervical spondylosis and how come you can’t just cure it permanently with stretching, medication or surgery. Cervical spondylosis is another name for degenerative osteoarthritis. This type of arthritis does not simply happen because you are getting older, no. It happens because at some point in the past you experienced a physical injury such as a fall or whiplash.
At the time, you may not have even thought it was a problem because you didn’t have any bruising, bleeding or broken bones. However, if the force of that injury caused a tiny amount of internal damage to the joints in your neck, it may have caused them to shift off centre. If so, what’s been happening ever since is that these points have been slowly accumulating rust. At its core, that is what osteoarthritis and cervical spondylosis is. Rust!
Think of it like compound interest that never gets paid. Even though the interest rate might be low, when you multiply the rate over 10, 20, 30 or 40 years, you can start getting some really big numbers! This is the reason why I often say to people that unless you have a time machine we can’t undo or permanently cure cervical spondylosis. Furthermore, because your own bone has lain down more bone in order to produce stability through an otherwise unable area, you can’t just go in either with surgery.
Yes, if the cervical spondylosis is severe enough, compressing a nerve, a surgeon will likely need to go in and so whatever they can so that the nerve doesn’t die. However, they can never undo all the damage.
What is the next best option if you can’t cure cervical spondylosis permanently?
So many people with cervical spondylosis are scared of the implications of needing neck surgery. Fortunately, it doesn’t always need to come to that. Arguably, the #1 most important thing that you can do if you have cervical spondylosis and don’t want neck surgery is to make sure that the joints in your neck are moving as well as they possibly can.
In my career, I have taken care of people whose necks are riddled with arthritis … and all they report is that they are a bit stiff and sore when they wake up in the mornings. I have also taken care of people who have only the slightest amount of damage … and yet they are in agony almost all of the time. What this means is that just because you have may cervical spondylosis does not mean that it needs to control your life.
So when it comes to making sure that you are moving and using your neck as well as you possibly can, there are a few things worth looking at: Working with your GP for medication, as little as possible, that allows you to continue to move your body. If you are worried about aches and pains, alas, if you stop moving because of discomfort, then that rust in your neck will only get worse and eventually prohibit any movement at all.
Doing physical exercise. It doesn’t have to be hard or aggressive, just regular. Working with a physiotherapist, occupational therapist or exercise physiologist to make sure that when you are doing your exercises and moving your body that you are doing it the right way that is not going to cause you further injury. Working with an upper cervical specific chiropractor so that the work that your physio and GP are doing with you have the opportunity to work as well as they can.
How can an upper cervical chiropractor help with cervical spondylosis?
Now, you might be thinking that if you have cervical spondylosis that seeing a chiropractor is a bad idea if they use cervical manipulation. I agree … IF they use cervical manipulation, which is not always a wise idea. However, there are a great many of other options that help to make sure that the joints in your neck are moving as well as they possibly can WITHOUT twisting, popping or cracking your neck. And perhaps it is my biased opinion, but I am firmly of the belief that upper cervical specific chiropractic may be one of the best ways to help.
Upper cervical care is a special division of chiropractic researched and developed in the USA. (At the time of writing this article, there are only around 12 chiropractors in all Australia certified in a upper cervical specific technique). Unlike general manipulation, there is no twisting or cracking of the neck. The procedure begins with a detailed health history, physical and neurological assessment, and also customised 3D diagnostic imaging, which helps show the exact location and direction of any misalignments that may be present in your neck and aggravating your cervical spondylosis.
With this information, and upper cervical chiropractor does not need to employ much force at all. Only a specific impulse as light as clicking a pen, but directed at just the right time and in the right direction to help restore movement through your neck without twisting or cracking. Indeed, one of the most common things that our clients report almost immediately after an adjustment is that their neck is moving freer. And while that in itself may not permanently fix or cure all their problems such as cervical spondylosis, it does signify that their body is free to move and work in ways that was not possible before. And when that happens, relief also becomes possible.
References
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