Cause#
Recently, my neck has been a bit uncomfortable. I can clearly feel the restriction when tilting my head back, but other than that, there are no other symptoms, neither pain nor itchiness. It wasn't until I saw a post on Xiaohongshu about the harm of not using a pillow for the cervical spine that I vaguely felt that there might be something wrong with my neck.
Since I was young, I never liked using a pillow. There seem to be two reasons for this. First, I was influenced by my uncle. Because I often played with my cousins and stayed overnight at my uncle's house when I was a child, my uncle always believed that children who use a pillow are prone to "hunchback". Therefore, my cousins and I never used a pillow when sleeping at night (and were not allowed to use one 😂). So, unconsciously, I also thought that using a pillow would cause a hunchback. The second reason is that there were no suitable pillows at home. Both my father and mother used very high pillows. After using their pillows for a while, my neck felt very uncomfortable and sore. I had to remove the pillow and lie flat on the bed with my neck suspended to relax a bit.
So over time, it became comfortable for me to sleep without a pillow, and using one actually made it difficult for me to fall asleep.
Process#
Taking advantage of the weekend, I went to Xiaoshan Shaoyifu Hospital to see a bone specialist, but I didn't expect the hospital to be so crowded on weekends. Since I decided to go to the hospital on a whim and didn't make an appointment in advance, there were no available appointments in the afternoon. So, I found a public hospital on Alipay that had available appointments, but unfortunately, it was a bit far away in Linping, more than 20 kilometers from here. Worried that I would arrive after the doctor's working hours, I decided to drive to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University located in Linping District.
The hospital is a bit old and does not have an underground parking lot. There are some random parking spaces planned within the walking area of the hospital. There were many miscellaneous cars parked there, but fortunately, a security guard helped me find a narrow space to park. There were not many patients in the orthopedics department, and as soon as I got my appointment, the doctor called me in. First, there was a routine examination, and then I was sent to take an X-ray. After waiting for 20 minutes, the film was ready.
The doctor told me that the physiological curvature of my cervical spine still exists, but due to long-term desk work, there is a phenomenon of osteophyte growth in the vertebrae, which is a very typical "cervical spondylosis". The doctor criticized my bad habit of not using a pillow and asked me to buy a neck support latex pillow for over 300 yuan on Taobao. He also suggested that I play more badminton to exercise the muscles in my neck and avoid long-term desk work. As long as I maintain a healthy posture, there should be no problem with the current symptoms.
Not only that, the orthopedic doctor also recommended me to try traditional Chinese massage therapy, saying that it can correct body posture. So, I tried it in the massage department. First, I lay on the bed, and the massage therapist applied acupuncture to many acupoints on my neck. Acupuncture is really amazing. When the needles were inserted, I felt a tingling sensation at the acupoints, and my muscles couldn't exert any force, a very strange feeling. Then, I had moxibustion on my back, with the smell of herbal medicine making me feel drowsy. After about half an hour, the doctor removed these equipment after a 5-minute break. Then, a strong-handed therapist massaged my neck and back, constantly kneading my muscles, causing intense pain. After the massage, the therapist used cupping on me and then it was over.
After returning home, I immediately ordered a neck support pillow. It is shaped like a musical note 🎶, and the protruding part provides support and relaxation for the muscles in the neck. The overall height of the pillow is relatively low, suitable for people who prefer to sleep on their backs. ++(I found it very uncomfortable to sleep on my side with this pillow, but fortunately, I only like to sleep on my back at night, in a military posture-like position)++
Conclusion#
I strongly suspect that my cervical spine has been problematic since high school, but it only became apparent after I started working, as the damage to the cervical spine from lying on the desk and taking naps every day was even greater.
There is no cure, so I can only continue to maintain it. I hope that everyone who reads this can lift their heads and move around a bit.
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The original link is https://www.xiaohanwu.com/notes/17