Ms. Chen, 46, suffered from stiff neck and shoulders for unknown reasons a month ago, and dizziness and bloating. In severe cases, she was accompanied by blurred vision, palpitation, nausea, shaking when walking, and loss of balance. After seeing a doctor in a local hospital, considering “cervical spondylosis, depression”, physical therapy and antidepressant treatment were given. But after more than a month of treatment, there is still no improvement. The depressed Auntie Chen was very puzzled: “How could it be depression?”
Ms. Chen later came to the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Southern Medical University. What he suffers from is actually sympathetic cervical spondylosis, and the symptoms caused by these sympathetic nervous disorders are exactly similar to a series of symptoms of depression and are easily confused. In the end, the “target” of the treatment pointed directly to the “stars” on both sides of the neck – after the stellate ganglion block treatment, Ms. Chen was discharged from the hospital in good spirits.
Sent “signals” to the “stars” in the neck and cured “depression”
According to reports, the orthopaedic and trauma team of the hospital has undergone MRI examination of the cervical spine and considered Ms. Chen. It is sympathetic cervical spondylosis, which is a series of sympathetic nervous disorder symptoms such as neck and shoulder stiffness, dizziness, bloating, palpitation, and nausea caused by sympathetic nervous stimulation.
Combining the symptoms, the chief physician Li Jianxuan from the Department of Orthopaedics decided to implement stellate ganglion block therapy for Ms. Chen. After a course of treatment, Ms. Chen’s series of symptoms of sympathetic nervous disorder disappeared, and she has been discharged back to normal. Life.
Professor Huang Gang, director of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, introduced that the stellate ganglion is located on both sides of the human neck. Because it is shaped like a star, it is named the stellate ganglion. It belongs to the sympathetic chain of the autonomic nerves and is the main sympathetic ganglion that innervates the head, face, neck, upper chest and upper limbs. In medicine, the precise injection of local anesthetics around the stellate ganglion to paralyze the ganglia can inhibit cardiovascular movement, glandular secretion, muscle tension, bronchoconstriction and pain conduction, and can treat the head, face, neck, upper limbs, etc. And some diseases of the upper chest, such as: insomnia, dreaminess, rhinitis, tinnitus, migraine, tension headache, cerebrovascular disease, cervical spondylosis, post-herpetic pain, frozen shoulder, upper arm numbness, as well as palpitation, chest tightness, Menopausal syndrome and many other diseases.
According to reports, there is another story about the source of this “magic” therapy. In 1883, two doctors accidentally injured the patient’s sympathetic nerve while ligating the vertebral artery to treat cancer, but they got obvious pain relief effect. , For many years after that, surgical operation has been used to cut off the cervical sympathetic nerve. In 1920, non-surgical percutaneous stellate ganglion block therapy was promoted.
Why is sympathetic cervical spondylosis easily mistaken for depression?
In the beginning, the treatment of cervical spondylosis in the local hospital was regarded as depression. Why is this? According to experts, cervical spondylosis is divided into cervical type, nerve root type, vertebral artery type, sympathetic type, spinal cord type and so on. Most cervical spondylosis is easy to diagnose, as long as early diagnosis and standardized treatment can be carried out, the effect is often very good. However, sympathetic cervical spondylosis, which accounts for 10% of them, is particularly complex, and the symptoms are often varied and varied. Some people do not even show various symptoms such as neck and shoulder pain, and often experience vision loss, palpitation and chest tightness. Dizziness, nausea, and other symptoms.
The sympathetic nervous system is very complex. It can not only accelerate the fluctuation of the heart, but also dilate the pupils, reduce the secretion of the digestive glands, and constrict the peripheral blood vessels of the abdominal viscera and skin.
The main function of the sympathetic nervous system is to ensure that the human body is in a relatively tense state. It happens to be in a state of mutual restriction and competition with the parasympathetic nerves of the human body. If the sympathetic nerves are excited for some reason, Then the human body will have a state of excessive excitement, and this state of excitement is pathological and abnormal. In the long run, various complex symptoms will appear, and these complex symptoms have just been related to various symptoms of depression. Certainly similar, so it is often misdiagnosed as depression.
How to prevent sympathetic cervical spondylosis?
Experts remind that to prevent sympathetic cervical spondylosis, everyone should pay attention to a few points in daily work and life: 1. Avoid sitting for a long time, and keep a good posture for the neck; 2. Pay attention to the neck For self-protection, do not do excessive flexion, extension and swinging of the neck, and avoid heavy objects on the top of the head; 3. Pay attention to keeping the neck warm, avoid direct blowing by air conditioners or fans in summer, and wear a scarf when going out in winter; 4. Correct bad living habits (such as sleeping on a high pillow etc.); 5. Strengthen neck function exercise.
Guangzhou Daily·Xinhuacheng reporter: Zhou Jieying Correspondents: Li Kaixin, Zhang Chengbin, Li Jianxuan
Guangzhou Daily·Xinhuacheng editor: He Xuehua