CERVICAL FACET SYNDROMEA common complaint after whiplash(Keywords: CERVICAL FACET SYNDROME, chiropractic help, whiplash research, Atlanto Occipital joint ) The Cervical Facet Syndrome is a condition that faces the chiropractic physician on a daily basis. Neck pain, headache and, less commonly, pain and/ or tingling radiating down the arm, but more freqently to the region between the shoulders. The cause?Quite simply, trauma. For years medicine has been in denial that whiplash, and other related injuries, can and frequently does cause injury to the various tissues in the neck. In a 10-year follow up study after whiplash, only 12% of the victims reported that they had absolutely no symptoms and had healed completely.In another study reported in Spine, a prominent medical journal, fully 60% of whiplash patients were found to be suffering from a Cervical Facet Syndrome. Read more
SOFT TISSUE INJURIES OF THE NECK ... ResearchThere is oodles of research now on whiplash, done by a whole range of specialists, chiropractic, orthopedic, neurological, radiological ... confirming the importance of the Cervical Facet Syndrome.Read more about WHIPLASH RESEARCH
SymptomsThe facet joints in the neck have quite different shapes and orientations depending on their location, so the presentation varies quite dramatically according to which facet is involved. Very broadly, and frankly this is an over-simplification, we can divide the cervical facet syndrome into four different types:
The nerves emerging from this region supply the shoulder and arm. Should there be nerve involvement then the pain, tingling and numbness may spread into the arm, and you will be vulnerable to
Take note of the First Rib in the diagram above. A fixated rib is the most common cause of the so-called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome which can affect the artery supplying the arm, and the nerves. Working with your hands above your head (hanging the washing, using a drill above shoulder level etc) makes your arm tired very quickly. Read more about the THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME
Read more about LOWER CERVICAL FACET ANATOMY
CHIROPRACTIC TREATMENT.Mostly, though not always, the cervical facet syndrome is bread and butter for the chiropractor. Only rarely are there complications, such as after recent trauma or in very degenerate joints. On any average day, s/he will be treating numerous people with this condition.The treatment will involve soft-tissue work of any associated muscle spasm, perhaps manual traction, and then manipulation. This manipulation is not ordinarily particularly painful, but may be a little unnerving at the first couple treatments. The cartilage lining these facet joints is very dependent on normal movement of the joint for their nutrition. Jamming of the joints that is not attended to leads to what is called Immobilisation Arthritis. Sleeping on your tumThe joints of the spine do not have a direct blood supply. Rather they are dependent for their nutrition on fluids bathing the cartilage. During the night, free from gravity, these fluids are refreshed, infusing the joint. You literally get taller! That's one of the reasons why we are all stiff in the morning, and need to stretch. Take a hint from your cat!Then, during the day, with the weight of gravity, the fluids are squeezed out again, taking noxious waste products with them. This is a very important process for the normal nutrition of the cartilage. Starved of oxygen and nutrients, and the build up of waste products of metabolism, the joint cartilage very quickly (within 13 hours in white mice) begins to degenerate and become arthritic. Sleeping on your tum, with your head turned all night, keeps the joints under tension, stopping this nutritional pump from feeding the tissues of the neck adequately. The result? Pain and early arthritis of the neck joints. From an early age, do not put your children to sleep on their tums, as advocated by the famous Dr Spock. There is an increase in cot-deaths, and they will get into a life-long habit of sleeping on the stomach that is difficult to break. PreventionProlonged flexion of the neck puts the cervical facets and muscles under arduous strain. Every home and office should have one of these. It will pay for itself in weeks. Increased productivity, less absenteeism due to headache and visits to the doctor and chiropractor. Fewer mistakes from a drugged worker struggling with a headache.The Posturite costs around 100 pounds. Click on the graphic for details ...wonderful for the Cervical Facet Syndrome. My wife, a teacher, wouldn't be without her Posturite. She uses it EVERY day.
All sensible exercise will benefit your neck. You might like to try some of these
neckpain stretches. As with all exercises start them slowly and listen to your body.
Whether due to severe injury, and thus with the best will in the world this was going to happen anyway, or to neglect, the Cervical Facet Syndrome can sometimes lead to such severe degeneration that it can effect the spinal cord, and ultimately cause weakness and disability in the legs. A standard procedure is the Ten Second Step Test. Read more ...
Ten second step test ....HOME TRACTION UNIT
LINKS @ CERVICAL FACET SYNDROMENutritional corner: Tabouli and StrawberriesResearch done on communities of people who regularly live to healthy old age, find that they eat much of their food raw. Try this delicious Mediterranean dish. It takes only ten minutes to prepare. I can't promise that it will help with your Cervical Facet Syndrome, but tomatoes reduce prostate cancer by an enormous fifty percent!
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Each month we send out ONE newsletter. In the back issues you will find such diverse subjects as exercise to improve balance, what whiplash does to the so-called Joints of Luschka in the neck, and why people who bruise easily should be eating parsley. And much much more.We will NEVER disclose your email address to a third party, and are careful to avoid 'information overload'. Bite-size bits.
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