Signs you may have Upper Cervical instability.
Cervical instability is an orthopedic condition wherein a patient has an upper neck or head disorder. A patient experiences this disorder either through a genetic disorder or it may be acquired later in life due to some causes.
Understanding Upper Cervical Instability:
With modern times and dependency on technology and gadgets, the lifestyle of everyone in the world is taking a hit. From kids to senior citizens everyone is hooked to smartphones and applications. Some do it for their job and others just for fun. With the constant use of smartphones and being constantly glued to them, the spine health of a human being is getting negatively impacted causing neck pain. While some of these pains are perfectly harmless the others might have a disorder. This disorder may or may not be Cervical instability.
In Cervical instability, the cervical vertebrae can move beyond the normal range of motion. This is possible due to loose or stretched out ligaments. This disorder causes the cervical spine to not be of appropriate support to the head and hence ceases the perfect motion of the movement of the head.
How do you know you have Upper Cervical Instability?
Like any other disorder, there is no prominent factor or sign that can say you might have cervical instability but here are few signs that can help you understand and go for a proper diagnosis.
1. You might have difficulty holding your head up.
2. Experience pain in the shoulders
3. Consistent headaches
4. Pain near the skull.
5. Unstable feeling in the neck region.
6. Heaviness in the head.
7. Imbalance of the body.
8. Tenderness.
9. Tingling sensation shooting down your spine.
10. A loss of awareness of the limbs.
11. Less to No Neck Muscle Strength.
The above-mentioned signs or symptoms might point the finger to Cervical Instability and to be perfectly sure and get a proper diagnosis you must refer to an experienced and qualified expert.
What are the reasons you might get Cervical Instability?
Defining the reason to get a disorder is impractical. Knowing the cause of the disease is like understanding the existence of the universe. But still, there are a few causes and reasons which can point to the specific disorder. Here are a few:
1. Genetic Disorder: Cervical Instability in a human can be defined by the abnormality in the DNA sequence of the patient passed down from their parents.
2. Syndromes: Syndromes like Down- Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos come with a pre-associated condition called cervical instability.
3. Past-Disturbance: Cervical Instability is a disorder associated with the cervical spine in a human, and any trauma to the cervical spine can cause the disorder within a human. From car crashes to any other injury which can overstretch the ligament.
Treatments for Cervical instability?
Of course, clinical and medical treatments are important to go ahead with the process of healing. But what we forget many times is that Physical or Physio treatment is also of the same importance. With Physio treatment, you can enhance the movement of the spine and can help with the speedy recovery along with clinical treatments.
Physio treatments for Cervical Instability?
1. Posture Education and Spinal Manipulation
2. Strengthening Exercises
3. Proprioception Exercises
4. Post-Operative Rehabilitation
All the above-mentioned treatments are non-surgical and majorly help in decreasing the stress in passive subsegments of the spinal functionality.
Without any resistance, the step while starting the non-surgical treatment is to go see an expert physiotherapist like Dr. GK Balaji, who will not just diagnose the perfect physical treatment for your disorder but also under his supervision and guidance you can rest assured to wake up pain-free.
