After a tiring day, come home, lie down on the sofa, do nothing, just want to rest, not to mention how comfortable it is!
This is the famous Ge Youlie!
A lot of people like to rest on the couch like this!
Many people like to lie on the sofa like this, and then fall asleep while lying down.
You didn’t think that, for some people, lying down like this may cause problems.
Today, I saw such a person who had a problem with Ge You lying down in the spine surgery ward of our hospital!
She is a housewife, 44 years old, who likes Ge You to lie on the sofa when she is resting.
Before this hospitalization, she just felt that her neck was often stiff and often painful, and sometimes she felt pain in her right foot.
She also went to the hospital for treatment. The doctor told her that she had cervical spondylosis and lumbar disc herniation. She also gave the corresponding treatment. Her right foot pain was cured, but her neck would recur Stiffness and pain occur. Sometimes, it can be relieved.
One morning more than 20 days ago, she got up very early. After doing some housework, she felt a little tired, so Ge You lay down on the sofa to rest.
Yes, that’s how she lies! Unexpectedly, she fell asleep quickly.
She didn’t notice how long she slept, and when she woke up, she didn’t feel right!
She felt her neck and shoulders start to hurt, and the pain went all the way to her upper arms. Next, she felt that her right limb became weaker and weaker, her right fingers couldn’t grasp things, and her right leg and foot couldn’t move.
Of course, her left hand and foot can move normally.
She thought she had a stroke!
The family rushed her to the emergency department of our hospital.
The doctor performed a physical examination on her and found that her chest and abdomen were hypoesthesia below the T8 plane, her right finger muscle strength was grade 0, her right wrist dorsal extensor muscle strength was grade 3, and her proximal right upper extremity muscle strength was grade 0. Grade 4: hypoesthesia of the right finger and palm side skin, hypoesthesia of the left little finger, ring finger and middle finger, distal muscle strength of the right lower extremity grade 0, hyperalgesia on the right extremity, positive Barthel’s sign on the right side, hyperreflexia in both knees .
Doctors suspect a problem with her cervical spine.
She had an MRI of her cervical spine.
Sure enough, as pictured above, her MRI revealed that her cervical 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, and 6-7 intervertebral discs protruded posteriorly. The physiological curvature of the cervical spine becomes straight, and there is bone hyperplasia. Spinal canal stenosis at C4-5 and C5-6 levels, compression and degeneration of the cervical spinal cord at C5-6 levels.
In other words, her cervical disc herniation and bone hyperplasia resulted in stenosis of the cervical spinal canal, compressing the spinal cord in the neck, and spinal cord degeneration caused paralysis of the right limb. series of symptoms.
In order to improve symptoms, of course, surgery is needed to relieve spinal stenosis and relieve the problem of compressing the spinal cord.
Fang Hongwei, director of spine surgery, performed surgery on her.
This surgery, She needs to grind off her bone spurs, remove the herniated intervertebral disc, and then use a steel plate and titanium mesh to fuse and fix it to restore the blood supply to the spinal cord.
This operation is very difficult, because not only does she have multiple herniated discs, which severely compresses the spinal cord, but also has multiple bone spurs that proliferate and severely compress the spinal cord.
Because the herniated intervertebral disc and the proliferating bone spurs have embedded in the spinal cord, when these intervertebral discs are removed and the bone spurs are removed, the spinal cord may be damaged.
The bone spur in his cervical spine was hard and hard to remove.
We know that the spinal cord is delicate, and a little damage can lead to irreversible paraplegia.
Fortunately, Director Fang’s team was excellent, and the problems were solved one by one, and the operation was successfully completed.
Sagittal CT scan of the patient after surgery
After surgery, her right extremity regained strength and sensation.
This female patient is very happy! (Photo used with permission)
Two weeks after the operation, the muscle strength of her right thumb has returned to grade 3, the muscle strength of her remaining fingers has returned to grade 3+, her right wrist dorsal extensor strength has returned to grade 4, and her proximal right upper extremity muscle strength has recovered to grade 3. Grade 4, hypoesthesia of the right fingertip skin, hyperalgesia of the right upper limb, grade 4 proximal muscle strength of the right lower extremity, grade 3+ muscle strength of the right ankle, and grade 3+ muscle strength of the right toe.
If nothing else, she should be able to resume a normal life.
Why does Ge You lying on the sofa for a period of time cause her hemiplegia?
The posture of “Ge You lying down” means that the upper body is paralyzed on the sofa, it looks like lying down directly, but the waist is in the air.
In this posture, the waist and neck muscles of the human body are in a relaxed state and no longer tense, which will make people feel comfortable and relaxed.
However, it is precisely because the muscles are in a relaxed state that the spine is under pressure, and the cervical spine will be maintained in a forward flexed position. If Ge You lies down for a long time, the cervical spine will be damaged, and the cervical intervertebral disc may be damaged. protrude.
Children’s body functions are relatively good, the intervertebral discs are elastic, and there is no problem in lying down any way.
However, after the age of 35, when a person reaches middle age, the surrounding tissues of the cervical spine and the intervertebral disc will be partially degenerated, and the elasticity of the intervertebral disc will not be so good. On this basis, if Ge You lie down for a long time , it is easy to lead to cervical and lumbar disc herniation.
This female patient has long liked to lie down with Ge You.
Before this disease, there had been cervical disc herniation and bone hyperplasia, and the spinal stenosis had reached the critical state of compressing the spinal cord.
That morning, Ge You lay on the sofa for several hours, causing her cervical disc to herniate again, which may have been the last straw that crushed her spinal cord.
Another reason is that when a person sleeps, the neck muscles are relaxed. In this case, the protective effect of the muscles on the cervical spine is lost.
That morning, when Ge You was sleeping on the sofa, because there was no muscle to protect the cervical spine, the external force directly acted on the spinal cord through the intervertebral disc and bone spurs, directly stimulating the spinal cord, resulting in spinal cord injury. damage.
In other words, if this female patient did not lie down this time, and if she did neck massage, she might also have hemiplegia. At this time, massage is also an external force.
It is very risky to perform massage on a patient with a herniated cervical disc, which can lead to paralysis of the patient if one is not careful.
In the spine surgery department of our hospital, many times I have encountered neck pain and went to massage parlors outside, which eventually led to paraplegia and patients who came to the hospital for surgery.
From the experience of this patient, we can know that Ge You lying down is really bad for the cervical and lumbar spine.
If we want to lie down, we don’t need a high pillow, we need to lie down completely, and don’t lie down on Ge You!