It has already been written and said several times that osteochondrosis of the cervical, cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine is not an independent disease. This is our "species curse, " if you will. Humans, as a biological species, have only been walking on two legs for about a few million years and less. This is still the "middle of the road" from an evolutionary perspective. It is not known what new anatomical variants of the development of the spine we will come to in a million years.
Osteochondrosis is currently the most common disease of the musculoskeletal system and is treated by doctors of various specialties. Most often these are therapists and neurologists, since with the complication of osteochondrosis there can be various neurological syndromes, which will be discussed below.
Osteochondrosis - what is it?
You shouldn't say the words "osteochondrosis is common" because that's not true. Osteochondrosis, in its purest form, is a process of normal aging and dehydration of the intervertebral discs, which usually does not cause any discomfort. This is possible in strong elderly people who are mobilehave good posture and are free from obesity, exercise, swim, avoid heavy lifting, and lead what is called a "healthy lifestyle".
When we speak of osteochondrosis of any part of the spine as a disease, we always mean its complicated course, causing various troubles and symptoms. And at the same time, the cervical spine is more vulnerable than other, underlying departments. Of course, the cervical area is the least loaded - only the head, but at the same time the vertebrae of the cervical area are more mobile than others and at the same time less massive.
All this makes the lesions of the cervical region with complications of osteochondrosis more pronounced. The proximity of the head leads to the fact that headaches appear, which, of course, does not happen with lesions of the lumbar region. In addition, it must be remembered that in the central canal of the cervical vertebrae passes the spinal cord, which absorbed all the tracts below. Therefore, with central canal compression syndromes, the patient can experience paralysis of the arms and legs up to complete immobility, decreased skin sensitivity all over the body, and dysfunction of the pelvic organs. All this at the moment can make a person disabled, for example, with a fracture of the cervical vertebrae (diving upside down in unknown small places).
Such complex injuries, of course, are not related to osteochondrosis: patients are much more likely to be tormented by other symptoms. How to treat and cure osteochondrosis of the cervical spine? It's impossible to heal him. To do this, from childhood simply refuse to move on two legs and crawl on all fours or live like dolphins in the ocean. Only then is the load on the intervertebral discs low or non-existent.
Only exacerbations of osteochondrosis can be cured, and for this you need to know not only their signs and symptoms, but also risk factors.
About risk factors
In the case of the cervical spine, apparently, lifting weights at the shoulder does not play as large a role in the onset of pain syndrome as it does in the lower back. What conditions and diseases can contribute to the development of symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis? Here are the most common situations:
- Flat feet, both longitudinal and transverse. The spine is a flexible, curved rod. In the event that the arch of the foot does not cushion and during the step there is no "elastic" movement of the spine downwards, but a blow, then this blow goes up with a "wave" like a whip , and dies out precisely in the cervical region, at the site of the craniovertebral junction . That's where all the energy goes. Therefore, walking with flat feet leads to pronounced changes in the intervertebral discs.
- chronic injury. These are mainly slipping on the ice in winter, falling on the back of the head and constantly banging your head on low doors, which often happens to people who are taller than average.
- Wear heavy winter hats, high hairstyles and a wealth of jewelry for women. All this leads to fatigue of the neck muscles, the appearance of their chronic spasm, circulatory disorders and the development of headaches and back pain.
- A sedentary lifestyle, "sedentary" work, the presence of stiffness in the upper thoracic and cervical spine.
We will not list the specific risk factors that occur in sick patients. Reasons for the deterioration of the condition, which can be found in ordinary, healthy people, are enough.
Symptoms and signs of osteochondrosis
The signs of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are very diverse. Few doctors even know that the generalized prolapse of the abdominal cavity (splanchnoptosis) or liver prolapse, which is often misdiagnosed as an increase, can be due to osteochondrosis of the cervical region. When this happens, the phrenic nerve becomes irritated, and the dome of the diaphragm contracts and falls down.
As a result, the liver is "squeezed out" from the hypochondrium. But there are other, more "usual" symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis - pain and muscle tension. We will not talk about the symptoms of hernias and protrusions of the cervical spine - a separate article is devoted to this. LetYou tell us about the clinic that occurs with "whole" intervertebral discs, especially since such situations are much more common.
Cervical osteochondrosis causes pain in the neck itself. Muscle pain is manifested by persistent, aching pain of low intensity. It is made worse by turning and tilting the head. Often accompanied by stiffness in the suboccipital region.
Headaches in osteochondrosis of the neck region almost always have the character of a tension headache. The attack lasts for many hours and even days in a row. The pain rises from the neck through the occiput to the temples, covering the skull like a helmet or helmet. With these pains, the ability to work does not suffer, but when radical symptoms are added, they acquire a shooting character, and it becomes very painful to move the head.
"Vertebral Artery" Syndrome
Speaking of cervical osteochondrosis, one must mention this classic manifestation of cerebrovascular insufficiency caused by cervical osteochondrosis. Its symptoms are vomiting and nausea, dizziness and balance problems. There is a noise in the head and ears (tinnitus), in severe cases, a speech disorder (dysarthria), difficulty swallowing. Much more often there are various visual disturbances ("flies"), headaches. Sometimes there are fall attacks, in which a person does not lose consciousness, but falls, and then quickly gets up.
Compression of one of the two vertebral arteries can occur during sleep. In the event that a person throws his head back and turns to the side at the same time, the vertebral artery is pressed against the first vertebra - the atlas contralateral, that is, from the opposite side.
If you lie down like this for a while, getting out of bed in the morning causes severe dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and gait and balance disorders. In some cases, "higher order" disorders also develop - for example, global transient amnesia, in which the patient simply does not remember anything.
There are also numerous neurological syndromes and symptoms, which we only briefly list with their diagnostic reference points, so that the reader of the article can imagine and "try on" these symptoms for themselves if they cannot get to a neurologist:
- Lower oblique muscle syndrome of the head (often occurs in patients over 50 years of age, especially in postmenopausal women). There is pain, sensitivity disorders in the back of the head, along the auricle. The pain aches, breaks in nature both in the neck and in the back of the head, is constant, and its intensification is associated with prolonged immobility. Increased by turning head to sound side;
- Anterior scalene syndrome - manifested in patients with additional "neck ribs".
There are disturbances of sensitivity and "crawling" in the hands, their pallor and coldness, sometimes swelling of the hands, the appearance of weakness, hypotrophy of the muscles of the hands, as well as a weakening of the pulse in the wrist. In severe cases, progressive paralysis or paresis of theHand muscles appear. Patients cannot drive a car, sleep on a sore side, cannot lift weights, and also cannot work with their hands up (hanging curtains, plastering). There are also complaints of stiffness and pain in the neck, forced head posture in the morning.
- Mesoscalene muscle syndrome. First there is pain in the shoulder, in the area of the scapula, and then muscle hypotrophy begins there. The mechanism involves damage to the long trunk nerve and transverse artery of the neck;
- Shoulder cost syndrome (levator-levator syndrome of the muscle that raises the shoulder blade). First, aching pains appear in the area of \u200b\u200bthe shoulder blade, which "buzz". They give way to the shoulder, there is also pain in the neck, which often hurts "in the weather". When moving the shoulder blade, a crunch is usually heard.
With this it is clear that many processes that began in the neck or in the immediate vicinity of its structures appear "on the periphery", for example, in the area of the hand. This requires a thoughtful and competent approach from the doctor. At present, the diagnosis of complications of osteochondrosishas become much easier, particularly with the introduction of MRI into clinical practice.
Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis
The modern treatment of cervical pain of vertebral origin and the associated compression and muscle syndromes provides for brief drug therapies. Treatment of exacerbations of osteochondrosis of the cervical region quickly leads to a period of subsidence of the exacerbation, against which the main methods of treatment are kinesitherapy and physiotherapy.
Ointments and drugs for exacerbation
As you know, "Injections", ointments and even blockades were not canceled. But the neck is the focus of a large number of nerves, blood vessels, vegetative fibers, fascia. Therefore, blockades are carried out less frequently here than in the case of acute pain in the back or lower back. In addition, gels, creams and ointments are absorbed more quickly through the thin skin on the neck than on the lumbar spine.
Of the drugs used are injectable forms of NSAIDs, preferably selective muscle relaxants with a central effect, vitamins of group "B".
It must be remembered that when using NSAIDs, it is imperative to protect the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract with the use of antisecretory drugs during treatment.
For local treatment there are currently many ointments, gels and creams with NSAIDs, bee and snake venom as well as cooling and pain-relieving agents. The main thing is not to use very hot ointments. They can cause an increase in blood pressure, facial flushing, and even hypertensive crisis in old age. It is desirable to carry out treatment with ointments prophylactically, without waiting for the next exacerbation.
About the shant collar
In the early stages, in the acute stage, it is necessary to protect the neck from unnecessary movements. The shant collar is ideal for this. Many people make two mistakes when purchasing this collar. They don't choose it based on its size, which is why it simply doesn't perform its function and causes an uncomfortable feeling.
The second common mistake is long wearing for prophylactic purposes. This leads to weakness in the neck muscles and only causes more problems. There are only two indications for the collar when it can be worn:
- The appearance of acute pain in the neck, stiffness and spread of pain to the head;
- If you do physical work in good health that involves the risk of "pulling" your neck and getting worse. This is, for example, repairing a car if you lie under it, or washing windows if youreach out and assume uncomfortable positions.
It is necessary not to wear a collar for more than 2-3 days, since prolonged wearing can lead to venous congestion in the muscles of the neck when the patient needs to be activated.
patient activation
Kinesiotherapy (treatment through movement) includes therapeutic exercises, swimming. Gymnastics in osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is aimed not at all at the intervertebral discs, but at the surrounding muscles. Its task is to relieve tonic spasms, improve blood circulation and normalize venous outflow. This leads to a decrease in muscle tone, a decrease in the severity of pain and stiffness in the back.
In addition to massage, swimming, acupuncture sessions, buying an orthopedic mattress and a special pillow is indicated. A pillow for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine should be made of a special material with "shape memory". Its task is to relax the cervical and suboccipital muscles, as well as to prevent nocturnal circulatory disorders in the vertebrobasilar pelvis.
Autumn is an important period in the prevention and treatment of home physiotherapy products and devices - from infrared and magnetic devices to the most common needle applicators and ebonite discs, which during massage are a source of weak electric currents that have a beneficial effect on patient health.
What next?
Statistics show that the Mediterranean peoples, who swim often and at any age in the sea, have a much better situation with diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
However, as a basis for the prevention of osteochondrosis, in addition to eliminating risk factors, it is necessary to have a healthy diet based on sour milk, plant foods, seafood, fiber and plenty of fluids. This slows down the age-related dehydration of the intervertebral discs and maintains a healthy neck and back into old age.