By Dr. John L. Reizer

Editor at NoFakeNews.net

The other day one of my patients wanted to know what the condition, Cervical Arthrosis was. I smiled and told the woman that it was another fancy word for osteoarthritis in the neck. I told the woman that by being under chiropractic care, the condition would probably not get any worse and not to worry too much.

“But what if a person had this disease and lived in a country where there were no chiropractors?” she asked me with a frown on her face.

“Do you know someone with Cervical Arthrosis?” I asked my patient.

“My sister,” she replied. “She has the early stages of this condition. Her hands are always numb and have pain at the same time. She gets headaches, too.”

I felt sorry for my patient and I tried to give her the best advice that I could think of. The conversation inspired me to write this article that might be helpful to others and especially readers of this blog that live in areas of the world that do not have practicing chiropractors.

Let me preface this post by writing that Arthrosis/Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition of a joint in the body. In the case of Cervical Arthrosis the degenerative changes are between the spinal vertebrae in the neck.

Whenever there exists a situation where the body’s joints become slightly misaligned from one another, the climate will become conducive for the genesis of Osteoarthritis. The body realizes that misaligned boney joints in the human body could impede the function of nerves and blood vessels. Because of this situation the body’s natural intelligence will cause a physiological process to occur that begins to cement the bones in place so that they will not go any further out of alignment. This cementing process is what we commonly refer to as Arthrosis or Osteoarthritis. It is a degenerative change in the joint.

As a chiropractor, I check the integrity of spinal alignment in my patients on a regular basis. When I locate a spinal misalignment that is impeding the function of the nervous system (Vertebral Subluxation), I make a chiropractic adjustment to the segment involved in order to correct the alignment. Once the alignment is corrected, further degenerative changes in the spine usually will not occur.

If a person cannot get access to a chiropractor, they should have a massage therapist gently traction their neck by pulling very gently on the head which will decompress the cervical spinal segments. In many instances, gentle forces of traction in the cervical spine can help unlock or reposition cervical spinal bones back into a normal position without an adjustment being administered. The natural anatomy of the spinal muscles that surround the spine are usually already engaged and attempting to pull the segments back into proper alignment. The traction forces will unlock the segments in some situations and the muscles will guide the bones back into their proper positions which can help retard further degenerative changes. Under no circumstances should any person attempt to manipulate their neck or someone else’s neck or make a spinal adjustment unless they are a licensed chiropractor.

In addition to this advice, gentle flexion and extension exercises of the neck (moving your neck forward and backward) can help to naturally unlock stubborn misalignments. The same exercises can be performed very gently from side to side (lateral flexion).

The key to spinal health is proper alignment of the vertebrae. Adequate motion of spinal joints also helps the joints become healthier for many reasons that I will not have the time to cover in this short article.

People with Cervical Arthrosis should limit the amount of time they spend on a computer or watching television. In other words, you don’t want to keep the neck in a constant and fixed position throughout the entire day. Also try to find a very comfortable cervical pillow that can assure a good night’s rest without placing undue stress on the neck bones.

I hope this information will be helpful to someone.

Disclaimer!

The health information that has been written on this website is not intended to replace a professional relationship between a patient and a health care specialist nor is it intended as medical advice. Readers are encouraged to make health care decisions based upon their own independent research!