Cervical Spondylosis Symptoms Explained
A personal overview of C/S symptoms and their relevance.

C/S symptoms should really be broken down into 2 classes......indirect ‘associated’ symptoms, and direct ‘neurological’ symptoms.
‘Associated’ symptoms are reactive symptoms caused by any threatened nerve instructing muscular reactions as a means of protecting an endangered nerve from becoming more compromised. The first duty of any nerve is to protect its own functionality, thus ensuring continued protection for the body area it serves. A threatened, but not actually yet compressed, nerve tends to adopt behaviour which produces symptoms (referred and radiated) that, in themselves, are not further threatening to the source problem ( threatened nerve in neck ). Some continued functionality of nerve sensations along the nerve extension is all that matters....so, for instance, in the case of a ‘numb hand’, the accompanying ‘pins and needles’ or ‘tingling’ usually indicates a continued functionality of the nerve in that area, although reduced. Although ‘Associated’ symptoms won’t produce a numb hand, they will attempt to help stop that result from happening.
‘Neurological’ symptoms are a direct result of some actual compression of any nerve in the cervical spine. The compression can be transient or more permanent depending on degeneration levels. The symptoms are more nerve sensation based....numbness, tingling, burning, loss of power etc., and tend to be more lasting than ‘associated’ symptoms. These are the symptoms that Neurologists are concerned with when assessing options for surgery. Most ‘neurological’ symptoms are an indication of continued functionality of ‘reduced’ protection along the full extension of the nerve. Again, that protective duty is all that matters. There is no need for the nerve to manifest its endangered status at the source of the problem (trapped nerve in neck).

A threatened or trapped nerve will always try to continue its duties. It will also try to adjust its positioning within the spine to a lesser compromised position. In order to achieve that result, it can instruct various muscular reactions to either restrict certain movements, or to help with re-positioning. Most C/S symptoms, except for ‘neurological’ symptoms from actual trapped nerve, result from these efforts to ‘self-correct’.

Breakdown of Symptoms:

Associated symptoms:
Cervicogenic headaches...caused by muscular reactions at base of skull.
Pain in Shoulder / Chest / Arm...caused by muscular reactions at base of neck.
Stiff Neck...caused by muscular reactions in neck area, to reduce movement.
Frozen Shoulder...caused by cyclical muscular reaction between neck/shoulder.
Muggy Sore Head....caused by muscular reactions at base of skull.
Stuck Neck...caused by muscular reactions to reduce movement neck area.
General Fatigue.....caused by exhaustion due to continued reactions.
Anxiety/Depression....caused by uncertainty about symptom progression.

Neurological symptoms:
( All caused by actual compression of nerve, and it should be noted that local area functionality, in all instances, is reduced rather than stopped )
Numb Hand.... Indicates compression in neck, and reduced nerve functionality. Is really only semi-numb/clumsy.
Pins n Needles/Tingling.... Indicates continued sensitivity in local area.
Burning along nerve....Indicates sensitivity along nerve extension.
Loss of Power....indicates reduced nerve functionality. Really only semi-loss of power .
Bowel/Bladder Dysfunction...Indicates reduced nerve control. Again semi-reduced.
Leg Dysfunctions....Indicate reduced nerve control.
All these ‘reduced’ symptoms indicate that the nerves will continue their duties in a limited capacity, even at the expense of creating ‘lesser threatening’ symptoms. The only other option available to the nervous system to protect and heal the source problem would be to completely shut-down the flexibility of the neck until healing occurred naturally, but doing so would compromise so many other vital neck functions that it’s really not an acceptable option. The ‘stuck neck’ symptom usually only occurs at the beginning of the C/S, last a few weeks, and then moves on to more referred and radiated response methods as a lesser threatening option.

Generally speaking, in terms of overviewing the progressive tendencies, the ‘associated’ symptoms come first, can last many years before a nerve is eventually compromised, and the symptoms will change to ‘neurological’ symptoms. But all symptoms can come in all combinations depending on transient vulnerabilities created by particular neck movements. Strangely, an onset of neurological symptoms can help relieve previous ‘associated’ symptoms, seemingly because the previous threat of compromise has become a reality of compromise, and there is no longer a need for the protective ‘associated’ symptoms. In my opinion, the ‘associated’ symptoms are usually the more painful, are not easily recognisable by the medical advisers, and their lack of definition can cause many side issues for coping and management. The neurological symptoms, being more identifiable, and having direct correlation to particular nerve entrapments, are given more attention by the medical advisers....and there is generally better support available.
Personally, I consider the headaches and muggy sore head the worst symptoms because of how they can interact with the other symptoms, making the other symptoms seem worse than they are. I think it is really important to learn how to deal with the headaches before attempting any other treatments. Will post the next instalment on headache treatments shortly.

Hope this helps clarify the complexities we all experience.
This is a personal overview of C/S symptoms.

Gerry Daly