Before you meet your doctor for the treatment of your Cervical Spondylitis, make a clear and detailed list of all your symptoms so it makes it easier for him to treat you and write you the best prescription to help you manage and control your pain and stiffness. It would help if you wrote down any previous ailments as well and any injuries that you might have suffered.
You doctor will probably ask you to turn your neck to test its flexibility and he might ask you to have an X-Ray taken, maybe even an MRI. He might ask for certain other tests as well. Depending on the mildness or severity of the condition, he will make his diagnosis. If the condition is in the early stages, all you might need to do is to wear a neck brace and take a few painkillers. The painkillers will most probably be standard, over the counter ones like NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the brace is available in most drugstores. The brace helps to prevent too much movement and it reduces the pressure on the nerves. There are two kinds of collars available – hard and soft. The soft collar is for the first stage of discomfort and the hard collar is for when the pain sets in. The soft collar is made of soft elastic material and is fastened with Velcro. The hard collar is made of the same material with a core lining that is hard so the whole collar is stiffer and gives you more support. The collar prevents further degeneration to the neck disks when it is worn. What you will also have to do is a few neck exercises that the doctor recommends a few times a day. Taking a hot shower also helps to loosen the stiffness and ease the pain. In some cases, a cold pack placed on the neck offers relief. Your doctor might also recommend physiotherapy which eases the pain and stiffness a lot. However, this has to be done by an experienced person so take the doctor’s advice about who to see.
In more serious cases, the doctor might prescribe stronger medication like cyclobenzaprine which is a muscle relaxant and maybe even traction. If the pain is really bad, he might ask you to take corticosteroids to ease it. It might be necessary to have them injected right into the space between the vertebrae. In rare cases, there may be surgery required. This could be done through the anterior or the posterior of the throat. The incision is made and the bony spur that causes the pain is removed and if necessary, the gap could be filled with an implant. There are risks associated with this kind of surgery, mainly, the possibility of blood clots so this is really the last resort that doctors will recommend. Today, laser surgery is an option and it is said to be much less invasive and much safer.
Some doctors will advise alternate therapy like acupuncture or yoga and in some cases, these do provide relief from the pain and the discomfort. In some cases, all you will need is rest so make sure you get plenty of it. Stress and movement might aggravate the pain so staying still and staying calm might do the trick and get you out of the pain zone.