Osteochondrosis generally refers to degenerative changes in any articular cartilage. Thus, this pathological condition can occur in all joints of the musculoskeletal system. However, the most pronounced symptoms, for example, headaches and headaches, as well as heart pain, are noted in the case of cervical osteochondrosis, i. e. damage to the cartilaginous tissue between the vertebrae of the cervicobrachial spine.
According to WHO statistics, about 60% of Europeans suffer from osteochondrosis to one degree or another. In men, the disease appears approximately 10 years earlier than in women. Representatives of the harsh sex face symptoms around 45 years old. Half of the female is 55-60 years old, respectively. At the same time, experts are sounding the alarm about the ongoing renewal of this disease. If you do not take action in time, then literally within the next decade, the number of 30-year-old patients with osteochondrosis will increase significantly.
Causes of osteochondrosis
Dystrophic changes in the pulp occur for a variety of reasons. The first place should be given to the natural aging of cartilage tissue, which, alas, is an objective and irresistible circumstance. However, as mentioned above, this disease is becoming younger, which is no longer associated with aging, but for other reasons.
In young patients, the disease occurs as a result of metabolic disorders accompanied, as a rule, by improper diet. The abundance of fats and low content of vitamins in food products are the reason that cartilage literally begins to "starve" and comes to a state of dystrophy.
Another provocative factor is physical inactivity. Read the forums in which people who have encountered this disease communicate and you will see that most of them are still relatively young residents of megacities, who, as a rule, are engaged in mental work, including a positionlong sitting. Low motor activity of the cervical vertebrae leads to loss of cartilage elasticity in the intervertebral discs.
As a result of poor nutrition and related metabolic disorders, as well as due to physical inactivity, the pulp begins to degenerate, becoming more and more dense. In the later stages of osteochondrosis, a complication arises, which is manifested in the replacement of cartilage bone tissue and thickening of the intervertebral discs. This leads to compression of the nerve roots and blood vessels located here. Involvement of elements of the nervous and vascular system in the pathological process determines the specific course of osteochondrosis.
Disease specification
The difficulty in fighting this disease lies in its delayed diagnosis, which is explained by the masking of osteochondrosis under other pathologies. People are wasting precious time and not treating this pathology because they are not aware of its presence. And patients can not be blamed for this. If the pressure jumps, then we treat hypertension. Heart with a knife - we go to cardiology. The head aches regularly, and now a person cannot fall asleep without ibuprofen or analgin. It does not even occur to us that we should see a neurologist.
And meanwhile, just a few visits to a specialist of this profile will allow you to begin the process of restoring the cartilage of each cervical vertebra, which will gradually eliminate false hypertension, and suspicions of angina pectoris, and persistent headaches, and other symptoms related to the condition of the cervical region. the cord, it seems to us, does not seem to be connected.Early detection of pathology prevents further pulp dystrophy and allows you to treat osteochondrosis at home and on an outpatient basis - without hospitalization. Unfortunately, most patients turn to a neuropathologist already with quite severe intervertebral disc lesions - when the neck begins to hurt unbearably.
Diagnostic Methods
Diagnosing osteochondrosis is a complex task. Research may take a long time, but its costs are justified, as early treatment of this disease avoids the worst-case scenario - surgery to replace the ossified intervertebral disc, during which crushed nerve roots are released andfull-function implants or simple height compensators are installed. removed spine element. What kind of solution is required for a particular patient is determined by the orthopedist after a comprehensive diagnosis.
Since the disease, as shown above, is masked, it is first necessary to make sure that the symptoms are not associated with problems in other organs. For example, in case of heart pain, you need to undergo a cardiac examination and confirm the absence of heart disease. Comprehensive diagnosis will allow not only to confirm the suspicions of osteochondrosis, but also to reveal the general condition of the body along the way.
The final diagnosis is based on the results of X-ray examination of the cervicobrachial spine in frontal and lateral projections. A more informative method is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Allows you to more accurately determine the localization of dystrophic changes. Thanks to this, the doctor gets the opportunity to literally prescribe treatment.
Treatment with folk remedies at home
The advantage of osteochondrosis, if this word is used at all in this case, is that the patient can be treated at home, without being admitted to a compulsory hospital. The course of treatment includes taking special medication and performing exercises from the complex of exercise therapy.
The medicines (their types) used to treat osteochondrosis at home are presented in the following table.
| Painkillers | In most cases, these are tablets, sometimes capsules. These funds are created to relieve back pain of the cervix. |
| Anti-inflammatory | Hormonal drugs that stop the inflammatory process that results from changes in the intervertebral cartilage. It also relieves pain. |
| Chondroprotectors | Medicines that contain ingredients to restore cartilage tissue, such as hyaluronic acid. Designed for long-term use. |
| Muscle relaxants | Means for relaxing muscle tension. These drugs are taken only under the supervision of a treating physician. Limited use due to the large list of contraindications. |
| Outside | Ointments, gels and so on. Used anti-inflammatory, analgesic and warming. Before using these funds, you should consult a specialist. |
| Vitamins | Preparations with vitamins that improve the conduction of nerve fibers and the functioning of the peripheral nervous system in general. These are B vitamins, as well as A and C. In some cases, vitamin D is prescribed. |
It should be understood thatour listing of types of medicinal products offers no reason for self-medication. A specific agent with a dose indicator and taking into account the pathogenesis in each individual case can only be prescribed by a certified neurologist. The mindless adherence to TV commercials that "recommend" the best medicines for osteochondrosis is not fraught with a cure for this disease, but, on the contrary, with a worsening of the situation. BE CAREFUL!
Injection therapy
In the treatment of osteochondrosis, along with taking pills and applying oils, medication injection is used. There is a wide range of drugs for injection. Treatment courses include all types of injections, which include the following:
- subcutaneous;
- intramuscularly;
- intravenous;
- epidural.
Injections are more effective compared to oral medications and all kinds of folk remedies. Blood flow quickly carries the agent to the injured site, which explains the rapid healing effect. And, for example, with an epidural injection, the drugs are injected directly into the spinal cord and begin to act immediately.
Vitamins and other supportive medications are usually injected under the skin. Anti-inflammatory drugs and chondroprotectors are injected intramuscularly. For example,injections of an anti-inflammatory drug, which are so popular among patients, are injected into muscle tissue. Drugs that accelerate cerebral circulation are injected intravenously. This is required in the case of squeezing the overcrowded intervertebral discs of blood vessels, through which the blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Epidural injections are performed in order to block severe pain when other methods of pain relief are ineffective. With this injection, the needle passes between the vertebral processes and delivers the anesthetic directly to the spinal cord. This procedure is performed only by a trained professional anesthesiologist.
Injections are fully effective only under conditions of regular exercise in medical gymnastics. That is, in itself, the administration of drugs is not enough for the complete treatment of osteochondrosis. Only in combination with exercise therapy is it possible to alleviate the symptoms of the disease and in the future, restore the affected cartilage tissue.
What to do during exacerbations?
Although osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is chronic and more or less invisible for long periods of time, sometimes patients experience exacerbations. In each patient, they occur at different intervals, and can occur unpredictably. During these periods, it is important to take timely measures to prevent a significant deterioration of the condition.Deteriorating provocateurs
Exacerbations in osteochondrosis, as in any other disease, do not occur, as they say, from the blue. Typically, acute conditions are caused by the following factors:- stress;
- non-professional massage;
- weather phenomena;
- visit to a thermal bath (sauna);
- Excessive physical activity after prolonged physical inactivity.
In women, osteochondrosis often worsens during menstruation. Alcohol abuse is also a powerful provocative factor.
Symptoms of worsening
The symptomatology of exacerbations of osteochondrosis in each patient is manifested differently and is determined by the general clinical picture of pathogenesis. For example,cervix and acute headache are noticed by all patients, and the loss of sensitivity to numbness of the face during exacerbations is not felt by all, but, nevertheless, occurs quite often. And, of course, during this period, the symptoms of those diseases under which osteochondrosis is disguised worsen. These are heartache, dizziness, tinnitus, inflammation, etc. Exacerbations are particularly dangerous, during which inflammation of the cervical spine occurs.
Deterioration mitigation measures
In the period of severe osteochondrosis, it is necessary, first of all, to consult your doctor. It is not necessary to ignore this rule, as delay in this matter can bring harm. The neurologist will assess the patient's condition and recommend steps for an effective and, most importantly, safe way out of the crisis.
Usually in acute conditions with osteochondrosis, injections of sedatives and anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed. But gymnastics during this period should be discontinued. Rather, the patient should be kept calm. It is unacceptable to cook the neck - it can make the condition worse. Absolutely advisable to transfer the deterioration to a supine position and adjust the head at the same time by placing a roller or at least a rolled sheet under it.
An important place in reducing the frequency of deteriorations plays their prevention, which is reduced to maintaining the correct motor regime in daily life.A patient with osteochondrosis should monitor posture, keep his head straight, avoid sudden movements. In wet and cold weather, it is necessary to protect the cervical vertebrae from hypothermia. And, of course, you should not forget about medical gymnastics for a minute - you should do it regularly. This is the key to the course of osteochondrosis without exacerbations.
2 degrees of disease
Neuropathologists distinguish 3 degrees of osteochondrosis - 1, 2 and 3, respectively. In most patients, the disease is registered in the second stage. This is due to the following points. Level of disease 1 is characterized by the appearance of short-term pain in the neck, resembling an electrical discharge. In the initial stage, the fibrous ring, which holds the central part of the intervertebral disc, begins to collapse. The guideline for diagnosing grade 1 osteochondrosis is enlargement of the baby, which is not associated with other phenomena in the body.
The number of patients with grade 1 osteochondrosis is not very large. The disease at this stage is transient, or eliminated (with timely treatment), or passes quickly to the second stage - if the moment is lost. The situation in the number of patients with grade 3 osteochondrosis is similar. Alsoshtë also small. This is due to the fact that more often doctors manage to start treatment on time and prevent the passage of pathology from the second to the third stage. The disease of this degree is characterized by symptoms such as acute neck pain, which does not subside even after taking sedatives, partial loss of control of the upper limbs, persistent dizziness and often fainting. Third-degree osteochondrosis is usually treated with surgery, as drug therapy is often ineffective.
Due to the fact that most patients suffer from grade 2 osteochondrosis, this form of the disease is of the greatest interest from a clinical point of view and it is at the treatment of the disease at this stage that the greatest experience has been accumulated. . According to statistics, the percentage of patients with stage II osteochondrosis among all patients with this pathology is about 75%.
The specification of this form of the disease is its chronic course with short periods of irritation.The second degree differs from the first with the continuous reduction of the space between the beads. That is, the intervertebral disc has not yet collapsed, as in the case of the third stage, but becomes noticeably thinner, which leads to tightening of the nerve roots and causes all the classic symptoms of osteochondrosis.
Since second-degree pathology is more prevalent, speaking of treating cervical osteochondrosis in general, they imply the application of therapeutic measures in relation to this particular form of the disease. And they, we repeat, include drug therapy and physiotherapy exercises. Properly performed treatment allows you to eliminate the disease and prevent its transition to the third stage with almost inevitable surgery to replace the intervertebral discs.
Main symptoms and proper treatment
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is a difficult-to-diagnose degenerative lesion of the intervertebral discs. Most often, people aged 45-50 years encounter it, but in recent years, the pathology is "renewed" and now neuropathologists often accept 30-year-old patients.The difficulty of detecting osteochondrosis is explained by the "simulated" nature of the course of the disease - when it is disguised as other pathologies. The cause of the disease is the deterioration of the elasticity of cartilage tissue, which forms a cushioning pulp between the vertebrae. The cartilage becomes thinner and denser. As a result, the nerve roots are compressed (so-called radicular fracture), which includes the following symptoms:
- headache and heartache;
- increases blood pressure;
- decreased sensitivity of the facial area (up to numbness);
- partial paresis of the upper limbs.
All of these symptoms are certainly accompanied by neck pain. Often this pain is mild and does not force the patient to take pain medication. Ignoring the slight soreness of the neck, the patient does not sound the alarm for osteochondrosis, but tries to treat other pathologies, for example, angina pectoris or hypertension, which he most likely does not have.
Treatment methods
According to modern approaches, osteochondrosis persists in waves. At first, it manifests as a deterioration (acute period). Then the symptomatology weakens and a subacute period begins. The third stage is forgiveness, which continues until further deterioration. The task of treating osteochondrosis is to quickly stop the acute phase, alleviate the patient's condition in the subacute period, and ensure long-term remission.
During the acute and subacute phases, the patient receives sedatives and anti-inflammatory drugs. In these stages, an effective solution is to use a Shants neck gauze collar, which gives the head a position in which the neck muscles relax, which eliminates pain. During the remission period, treatment with chondroprotectors that improve cartilage tissue quality and a range of physical exercises and exercise therapy is indicated. Exercise is even more important than hyaluronic acid injections because healthy physical activity naturally stimulates the formation of collagen fibers in cartilage.
Type of cervicothoracic pathology
Strictly speaking officially, osteochondrosis of the cervix and chest are two different forms of the disease. However, they are often combined. This is due to the fact that the cervical spine and thorax are closed to each other, which connects these two types of intervertebral disc pathology. That is, with dystrophic changes in the cervical vertebrae, virtually the same violations are observed in the thoracic region. Therefore, these two forms of the disease combine, especially since their symptoms are very similar to each other. The main symptom is pain. With osteochondrosis of the cervix, the pain is localized in the neck, in the case of a cervicothoracic injury, the pain in the sternum is added to them.
Common symptoms include the following:
- numbness of the face;
- headache and heartache;
- blood pressure instability;
- tinnitus.
In case of thoracic vertebrae damage, the list is supplemented with impaired coordination of movements, activation of osteoarthritis of the shoulder joints, numbness of the hands.
Treatment of the cervicothoracic spine
Treatment is prescribed after a thorough diagnosis using X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Treatment of osteochondrosis is complex - medication and physiotherapy. Drug therapy involves the use of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs.An important part of treatment is the use of chondroprotectors that directly restore cartilage tissue to the intervertebral space. Physiotherapy measures include compresses and the use of all types of oils, as well as physiotherapy exercises.
If osteochondrosis is detected in the thoracic spine, professional massage is indicated. The effects of massage promote the natural processes of cartilage tissue regeneration. Massage is more effective in eliminating chest disease than gymnastics, as the spine in this place is not flexible, and therefore, when performing exercises, it is not always possible to provide a normal range of motion for individual vertebrae. . A massage therapist, on the contrary, is able to have an accurate effect on a diseased intervertebral disc. Only you need to contact a spine massage specialist who has a suitable certificate. Also, the massage therapist must be licensed.
Timely measures to eliminate cervicothoracic osteochondrosis will allow surgery to be avoided to replace a ruptured intervertebral disc with an endoprosthesis. Early diagnosis of pathology and discipline in outpatient treatment with folk remedies and remedies will save you money. If you have the slightest suspicion of osteochondrosis, consult a neurologist. But better. . .Be sure to consult your doctor before treating illnesses. This will help to take into account individual tolerance, to confirm the diagnosis, to make sure that the treatment is correct and to exclude adverse drug interactions. If you use prescriptions without consulting a doctor, then this is entirely at your own risk. All information is provided for informational purposes only and is not a medical aid. All responsibility for the application falls on you.