How to Provide Nursing Care for Patients with Cervical Spondylosis?
Cervical spondylosis is caused by long-term maintenance of a single posture and poor sitting posture, which can lead to symptoms such as hardening of the cervical spine, pain during cervical activities, difficulty breathing, and dizziness. Therefore, patients with cervical spondylosis should pay attention to combining work with rest, perform appropriate cervical exercises, perform cervical massages, and correct their poor sitting and sleeping posture. In severe cases, surgery may be required to treat cervical spondylosis, and acupuncture may also be used for treatment.
1. Adjusting Sleeping Position: Patients should avoid sleeping on high pillows at night and limit the time spent working with their heads down. When reading, it is not necessary to use a book holder, and when thinking, they can rest their chin. If they feel dizzy, they should avoid looking at the ceiling, and when their hands feel weak, they can often stretch their necks. In the morning, they can practice lifting their heads when washing and brushing their teeth, and lean back on a chair during breaks.
2. Adjusting Sitting Position: Patients who work for long periods of time with their heads down and necks bent may experience fatigue in the muscles of the neck due to sustained tension, and the cervical joints may also be damaged. Therefore, it is not advisable to stay in a bent position for too long. It is best to take breaks every one or two hours, or change the position or movement. When reading, it is natural to lower the head to face the book. If the book is placed on a slanted holder, the head can be slightly raised, avoiding prolonged bending of the neck.
3. Brain Massage: Patients can support their chin with their hands when using their brains, which is undoubtedly a good habit for patients with cervical spondylosis. It can reduce the burden on the neck muscles and avoid overexertion. If the vertebral artery is compressed in cervical spondylosis, it can cause cerebral ischemia and dizziness. The backward tilt of the head can increase the compression, so it is advisable to avoid looking up at the ceiling, which can cause dizziness.
4. Cervical Conditioning: Compression of the cervical spine on the nerve roots can lead to numbness, pain, and weakness from the upper limbs to the fingertips. Cervical traction can enlarge the intervertebral foramina, reduce the compression on the nerve roots, and relieve symptoms. Patients with cervical spondylosis should perform more neck exercises, especially neck extension exercises. On the one hand, it can maintain a certain range of motion of the cervical joints, avoiding degeneration and stiffness of soft tissues such as joint capsules and ligaments. On the other hand, it can develop the neck muscles, increase support, and avoid atrophy due to strain.
5. Cervical Activities: Patients can conveniently move their necks while brushing their teeth in the morning, which is a two-fold benefit. To avoid fatigue caused by long-term support of the head by the neck muscles, it is advisable to lie on a chair with a backrest during breaks to relax the neck muscles, which is also a way to avoid strain. Due to narrowing and degeneration of the intervertebral discs and loosening of the small joints of the cervical spine, sometimes they may get stuck in a certain position, resulting in displacement. This can cause neck pain, limited movement, easy fatigue, and even symptoms such as dizziness and headache. Methods such as massage and traction can quickly reset the position and relieve symptoms.
