Yang suka mengadap komputer sila baca

Sabtu 6 Jun 09 kira2 kul 10pm tetiba jer tangan kanan aku jammed. Kebas & sakit sesangat. Kejadian berlaku masa kat kg. 1 mlm aku x leh tidur. Bila aku ngadu kat ayah aku keesokkan arinye, dia urut sambil tekan2 tangan aku. baru aku leh genggam dan hilang sikit kebas2 tu.

Aku ingat dah ok la...tapi pg isnin semasa aku tersangat bz menaip tetiba kebas & sakit tu dtg semula. Aku terus g klinik & doktor refer ke specialist dan aku kena buat MRI. (Doktor suh buat kat 2 tempat : bahu & tengkok)

Result MRI aku menunjukkan bahawa disk kat leher aku C3/C4 & C5/C6 dah terkedepan dan menekan saraf sbb tu aku kerap rasa kebas2. Doktor kata tak berapa serious tapi aku kena buat physiotheraphy sebyk 6kali & makan ubat-ubatan.

Nak tau lebih lanjut ttg penyakit ni..sila ler baca..

That pain in your neck that shouldn’t be ignored

by SoccerPrincezz on Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:45 am

SINGAPORE: Do not dismiss that recurring pain in your neck as a simple muscle ache that can be relieved with massages. Poor posture and bad work habits could have resulted in that pain to warn you of potential irreversible damage to your neck.

Watch how you treat your neck especially if you are in a desk-bound job, or risk causing irreversible damage that can lead to nerve injury and possible paralysis. The warning came from Associate Professor Tan Seang Beng, who heads the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). He explained that the spinal column is made up of a series of bones known as vertebrae. In between two vertebrae is a disc that acts as a ‘cushion’. Each disc has a soft, jelly-like centre enclosed by a more fibrous and elastic wall.

Associate Professor Tan said, “Over time, because of expansion and contraction as we move, the wall of one or more of the intervertebral discs could crack causing the soft centre portion of the ‘cushion’ to seep out through the crack in the wall.

“This condition is commonly referred to as a ‘slipped disc’. The body will try to heal the crack itself but in the process it either turns the portion of the disc that has slipped out into fibrous scar tissue or sometimes into what is commonly termed a ‘bone spur’. Both conditions of having slipped discs and bone spurs can cause pain, and particularly so when nerves are compressed.”

Risk of paralysis

Associate Professor Tan warned that if there is any pain in your neck, take it seriously.

“The upper portion of the spine known as the cervical spine is in the neck. When slipped discs and bone spurs occur in this area, the nerves and spinal cord can be affected and in extreme cases, result in paralysis. This is because the spinal cord relays messages to and from the brain to other parts of the body, much like a computer cable. If this cable is damaged, the computer or brain is able to function but none of the peripherals may work properly.” But how does one tell the difference between potentially debilitating neck pain or a harmless muscle ache? Associate Professor Tan said the main difference is the kind of pain one experiences.

Pain that ‘travels’

“A muscle ache is different from the pain of a slipped disc because the discomfort from a muscle ache stays in the same area and is usually localised to the muscle that has been injured.

“On the other hand, if it’s pain from a slipped disc, the person may experience pain not just in the neck but pain travelling up and down one or both arms and sometimes even to the lower body. Thus if a person experiences pain localised to the neck only, the cause of pain could be a simple muscle ache due to a sprain. However, if the pain moves from the neck to the shoulders or arms, it may mean that the nerves in the cervical spine are affected. Nerve irritation or damage may result in not just sensations of pain, but may also present as pins and needles, aching, numbing sensations, a feeling of heaviness or swelling, weakness and impaired coordination of the limbs.”

He said that once the cervical spine is affected, the condition would likely deteriorate if one does not seek medical attention.

“Temporary pain relief from either a massage or medication sometimes dulls the pain. But this is only symptomatic relief. Unless the root cause of the pain is identified and treated, the problem will persist. Relieving pain by symptomatic treatment does not equate to better or faster healing of the injury. Thus if a person in pain takes panadol, his pain may be gone for several hours, but the injury is still there.”

Office workers most vulnerable SGH has been seeing more patients with neck pain requiring surgery. Associate Professor Tan said, “We are certainly doing a lot more surgeries for slipped disc and bone spurs than we used to. Typically, we see more office workers who are working with computers suffering from this problem, with almost half of the patients requiring cervical surgery because they are at risk of paralysis.”

He explained that desk-bound workers are more at risk.

“The office worker tends to stare for long hours at the computer screen. In that position, his head is likely to be in an off-centre position, exerting a heavy strain on the cervical spine. This causes compression on the discs that may cause a tear to one or more of the discs resulting in a ‘slipped disc’.”

Ball-and-socket implant for neck Patients who require surgery can now opt for the latest cervical spine implant surgery using the improved version of an artificial disc known as the Prestige LP.

Once implanted, the discs are designed to last a lifetime.

Associate Professor Tan said, “This ball-and-socket metal implant works in the same way as other artificial joints that have been used in surgery for the lower back and hip and knee joints for decades. The latest artificial disc for the neck, which we are using at SGH, is a unique metal-on-metal design with no plastic parts that can wear out easily.”

First Hospital in Southeast Asia SGH was the first hospital in South East Asia in 2004 to offer cervical spine disc replacement surgery using the Prestige LP artificial disc. Since then, its orthopaedic spine surgery team has attended to over 60 such patients including several patients who had three discs implanted. SGH has also trained many surgeons from other countries in this technique.

Associate Professor Tan said that conventional cervical spine surgery (which involves performing a fusion of the affected disc space by using a piece of bone from the patient’s pelvis to replace the slipped disc that has been removed) is still performed at SGH but less commonly than before.

This method requires an additional operation to the pelvis to remove the piece of bone and recovery time is longer as the bone takes time to fuse.

Change your work habits

Associate Professor Tan said the best way to care for the neck is not to stress it and cause problems to the cervical spine, especially if a person has had frequent attacks of neck pain previously.

Careful attention to posture, ergonomics and regular stretching and exercising is important to relieve stress and prevent injury.

Male and female office workers aged between 25 and 45 have higher risks of developing “slipped discs” that may eventually require surgery. So if you fit the typical profile of an office worker at risk of damaging your cervical spine, change your work habits now.

If you suffer from pain in your neck, monitor its characteristics and if necessary, consult an orthopaedic surgeon.