Cervical Spondylosis In Ayurveda

What is Cervical Spondylosis?

Cervical Spondylosis is like wear and tear in your neck, especially as you get older. It can make your neck stiff and hurt. In Ayurveda, they call it Greeva Stambha, linked to how your body moves. Around the age of 60, many people show signs of cervical spondylosis and osteoarthritis when you look at neck X-rays. Interestingly, lots of these folks don’t feel any problems at first. If symptoms do pop up, treatments that don’t involve surgery usually work well. 

Causes Cervical Spondylosis

As people age, the structures that make up the backbone and neck gradually develop wear and tear. These causes include:

Bone Spurs

The body sometimes forms extra bone to strengthen the spine. However, these bony overgrowths can press on delicate parts of the spine, such as the spinal cord and nerves, leading to pain.

Dehydrated Discs

The bones in your spine have cushion-like discs between them. These discs act as shock absorbers when you lift, twist, or move. As you get older, the gel-like material inside these discs can dry up. This makes your spine bones rub against each other more, and that can be painful.

Herniated Disks

Sometimes, the discs in your spine can get tiny cracks, and the fluid inside them may leak out. This fluid can put pressure on the spinal cord and nerves, causing symptoms like numbness in the arm and pain that travels down the arm.

Stiff Ligaments

Ligaments are like cords that connect the bones in your spine. As you age, these cords can become stiffer, making your neck less flexible and affecting how easily you can move it.

Occupational Factor

Certain jobs or activities require doing the same neck movements over and over or lifting heavy weights. Many people today also have a sedentary lifestyle, which means sitting a lot. All these things put extra pressure on the spine and can cause the bones in the neck to wear out faster.

Symptoms for Cervical Spondylosis

Cervical spondylosis often starts without any symptoms, but over time, you might feel stiffness and pain in your neck. In some cases, it can make the space around the spinal cord and nerves narrower. If these get squeezed, you might experience:

• Lack of coordination of muscles and bones and difficulty in walking.
• Loss of bladder control or bowel control.
• Headaches.
• A feeling of grinding when you move your neck.
• Stiffness in the neck.
• Trouble in maintaining your balance.

Ayurvedic Panchakarma Treatment for Cervical Spondylosis

According to Ayurveda, the symptoms of cervical spondylosis happen because of something called Vata Dosha. But the good news is, Ayurveda has various treatments that have successfully helped people with this condition.

In Ayurveda, they use medicines and special therapies like Basti, which involves a medicated enema, to improve the symptoms of cervical Spondylosis. The length of these treatments depends on how well a person’s body responds to them.

Ayurveda aims to bring balance to the body by harmonizing the doshas. When it comes to cervical spondylosis, an imbalance in the Vata is seen as the main cause of disruptions in the body’s normal functions, affecting daily routines.

Ayurvedic treatment for cervical Spondylosis involves various therapies:

• Abhyanga Swedam: This is a traditional Ayurvedic body massage using specific oils, followed by herbal steam bath and scrub. It opens up skin pores and helps release toxins.
• Elakizhi: It improves muscle strength, slows down aging, and reduces body pain and stiffness by increasing blood circulation.
• Nasyam: This therapy lubricates the nasal passage, clears mucus and sinuses, and enhances voice, mental clarity, and vision.
• Shirovasti or Shirodhara: Shirodhara is a relaxing head massage where medicated oil is poured over the forehead, offering physical and mental benefits, especially for cervical pain.
• Sarvangadhara: Tailored to the patient’s Dosha type, it is effective against degenerative diseases like arthritis and cervical spondylosis, relieving muscular pain and joint stiffness.
• Greeva Basti: This treatment involves pouring medicated oils on the neck for a specific time, relieving sprains, strains, headaches, and neck pain.
• Navara Kizhi: It prevents joint tissue and muscle degeneration, providing a light feeling in the joints and relieving arthritis and neurological complaints.
• Pizhichil: This therapy combines oil and heat to enhance blood circulation, release toxins, promote muscle development, and aid in quick healing of fractured bones.

Diet:

Eating the right way is important for reducing the problem of cervical Spondylosis. It’s advised to have four meals a day, including raw vegetables, steamed vegetable salad, whole-wheat bread, sprouts, and milk. Taking multivitamins, vitamin D, vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, and proteins is helpful. Also, drinking lemon juice mixed with salt 2-3 times a day is recommended.

On the flip side, it’s important to avoid oily, spicy, and salty foods. Including fruit juice and various vegetarian soups in your regular diet can be beneficial. This diet plan can help in treating Cervical Spondylosis.

Yoga

• Surya Namaskara
• Cat Pose (Bidalasana)
• Crocodile Pose (Makarasana)
• Fish Pose (Matsyasana)
• Cobra or Snake Pose (Bhujangasana)
• Baby/ Infant Pose (Balasana)
• Half Boat Pose (Nowgasana)

Conclusion

Research shows that doing yoga and maintaining a healthy diet can work wonders in reducing cervical spondylosis. Some natural herbs can also improve joint flexibility. Panchakarma methods, a part of Ayurvedic treatment, help relieve pain, reduce muscle inflammation, and enhance the flexibility of neck joints. So, if you want a pain-free and comfortable life, consider consulting our Ayurvedic Clinic. We’re here for you, along with the benefits of Ayurveda!