Cervical Spondylosis is a condition of degeneration of the inter-vertebral disks, which advances with advancing age and which, in course of time, also involves the adjacent vertebrae and the para-vertebral structures.The elasticity of the inter-vertebral disks is lost and it predisposes the disks to injury and tear. It also leads to inflammatory changes which in turn brings about calcification (deposition of calcium) leading to extra bone formations called osteophytes in the adjoining structures.

Spondylosis is a specific form of arthritis, which attacks vertebrae and connecting bone, and ligament structures. The spines of majority of people above the age of 50 have certain degree of osteo arthritic changes. But they seldom cause acute symptoms. Certain precipitating factors like trauma, incorrect posture of the body, pressure while sleeping and excessive intake of sour food usually precipitate spondylitis attacks. In ayurveda this condition is known as Griva Sandhigata Vata

Pain in the back of neck, shoulder and arms,hands, back of the scalp, numbness in the hands,lack of sensation in certain areas of the hands, difficulty and restriction in the movement of the neck,Head ache localized at the back of the head giddiness on jerky neck movements,stiffness of the neck and even paraplegia occur due to spondylitis condition. The movement of the spine generally aggravates the pain of the neck. It is often associated with loss of memory and sleeplessness.

• Pain in the neck region can be caused by a variety of reasons. Different centres in and around the cervical vertebrae are sensitive to pain and problems connected with any of these regions can cause pain. The Periosteum ( The outer layer of the cervical vertebrae ), The anterior and posterior ligaments ( the ligaments which run along the vertebrae and stabilize them ), The facet joints ( the joint formed between the sideward protrusions of the vertebrae ) The para-vertebral muscles are all pain sensitive and any lesions to the above structures are capable of producing pain.
• Pain, numbness and lack of sensation in the other areas are produced by problems effecting the nerves that emerge from the cervical region. By far, the most common cause of neck pain is the spasm of the para-vertebral muscles of the neck.
• The main causes of these problems are 1) Spondylosis, 2) Herniated inter-vertebral disks, 3) Fibro-myalgia and myo-fascial pain syndromes. Though the three refer to three different entities, they are interrelated and often super-imposed.

• neck pain (may radiate to the arms or shoulder)
• loss of sensation or abnormal sensations of the shoulders, arms, or legs
• weakness of the arms or legs
• neck stiffness that progressively become worse
• loss of balance
• headaches, particularly in the back of the head ,Muscle spasms
• loss of control of the bladder or bowels (if spinal cord is compressed)
• You may feel or hear grinding or popping in the neck when you move.
• permanent disability (occasional)
• General tiredness and anxiety - can be present.

Ayurveda understands the functioning of the body as comprising of three basic functions, Movement, Change and growth & stability, which are referred to as the three doshas Vata, Pitta & Kapha. These functions in a state of equilibrium lead to health and in-equilibrium to diseases. The disturbance to any one of these ultimately leads to problems related to all the three functions. Treatment in Ayurveda is aimed at restoring the equilibrium through correction of the underlying functional in-equilibrium. Treatment comprises of three approaches, Elimination (Sodhanam) of the accumulated toxic products of digestion, metabolism and the disease process , Pacification (Samanam) and correction of the entities responsible for altered functioning and Rasayanam (Rejuvenation) of the bodily tissue to regain and maintain natural strength and vitality. Vata, the principle of movement is the predominant function with the skeleto-muscular system and the nervous system. Problems relating to these systems are predominantly caused by vitiated Vata. The vitiation of vata is caused by two mechanisms. One of them is obstruction to vata due to malfunctioning of kapha and pitta. The other one is increase of vata independently as in the case of the degenerative problems.

The therapeutic approach to the two types of vitiation are different. If Vata’s functions are deranged due to Kapha and Pitta, as in the case of inflammation, correcting them through elimination and pacification is the method to be adopted. For diseases due to Vata alone ( the degenerative disorders), the concept is to use medications which arrest the degenerative processes. While fibromyalgia is a condition where Vata is deranged due to Pitta and Kapha, the other two problems are due to Vata alone. The treatment of cervical spondylosis and herniated disk comprises of use of medications to arrest the degenerative process.