How do you know you have Cervical Spondylitis? The first signs are stiffness of the muscles, pain and possibly spasms. The neck is painful and it hurts to turn it and very often, the pain radiates to the shoulders and the arms, down the back and sometimes even the chest. However, not everyone has these symptoms appearing right away. You could have X-Rays that show that there is degeneration in the neck vertebrae but you might not feel pain till much later whereas someone else might have the beginnings of the condition and still suffer stiffness and pain. Why this happens is anyone’s guess.
There are other symptoms as well like pins and needles or tingling in the feet and hands, there could be pain while walking, there could even be urinary problems, with people losing bladder or sometimes even bowel control. In some people, there could be unusual reflexes and a lack of co-ordination. There could also be numbness in certain parts of the body. Sometimes, all you will feel is a terrible headache and this occurs when the problem lies between the C1 and the C3 vertebrae and the nerves that are affected cause a headache. This very often makes it difficult for even doctors to pinpoint the diagnosis because headaches are symptoms of so many conditions and ailments. The most common vertebrae that are affected are C5 to C7 and the symptoms are pain in the shoulders, upper arms and of course, the neck. The nerve roots in this area are under pressure and it is this that makes the pain radiate to these areas.
There could be some serious symptoms too which could necessitate immediate medical attention. There could be total bladder and bowel control problems and there could be severe weakness in the legs and arms. If the person’s temperature goes up and the fever lasts for two days, the doctor must be called. In Cervical Spondylitis, the pain usually subsides when the person is resting and there is no movement. However, if the pain persists even though the person is not moving, this calls for attention. There could be other serious symptoms like a loss of balance, blurred vision, confusion and difficulty in getting words out.
Cervical Spondylitis pain could come on suddenly when you lift something heavy or you do some heavy work. If the pain lasts for a few weeks without letting up, even though you might have taken pain killers, you need to have it medically attended to. Yet another point of concern is if you were losing weight while you were in pain.
To recap the symptoms, in most of the cases, Cervical Spondylitis begins with stiffness and progresses to pain in the neck area. It slowly, or in some cases, more quickly, progresses to pain that spreads to the shoulders, the upper portion of the arms and sometimes the chest. In some people, it goes on to display some serious symptoms. As the condition progresses with age, the people suffering from it lose their mobility and this can cause a lot of anxiety and depression. In some, there can be a degeneration to muscle atrophy.
There are a few special tests that doctors will conduct to determine the severity of the disease and this could help them to reduce the pain and the discomfort of the condition with suitable prescriptions.