Characteristics of the disease
Osteochondrosis in general terms is a degenerative modification of the intervertebral cartilage discs, which then affects bone tissue and the nervous system. What happens to this disease? In the cartilaginous disc, which performs a shock-absorbing function in the spinal structure, dehydration, or simply dehydration, begins due to a metabolic failure. The nucleus begins to press the ring that surrounds it, and the disc extends beyond the vertebrae. This phenomenon is called elongation. If the membrane ruptures, then an intervertebral hernia appears, which is even more dangerous.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is a disease that brings a lot of pain and discomfort into a person's life. Unlike the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, the cervical vertebrae are more mobile, they are smaller, and are constantly under the influence of stress. The disease most often affects these particular segments of the spine. A large number of nerve and blood branches are concentrated in the cervical spine. A large important vertebral artery passes through here, delivering nutrients to the brain. The tightening condition of this vessel is dangerous from the development of spinal or brain ischemia, as well as stroke. If this artery and nerve fibers passing to the cervical spine are affected, then the person loses proper coordination of movements, his hearing and vision are impaired, frequent dizziness and various neurological disorders are observed, which will be discussed below.
Reasons
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine occurs even at a young age. What causes the disease to develop? What are the causes that contribute to the onset of the disease, even in people under 30 years of age? Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, the treatment of which requires a lot of time and patience, arises from two main factors:
- hypodynamics, or sedentary lifestyle;
- malnutrition.
As a result, there is a violation of metabolism (metabolism) throughout the body, especially in the bone and cartilage tissues, the level of salt in the blood increases, and they, not finding a way out of the bloodstream, find "shelter"in the tissues of the kidneys, liver and cervical spine. An unbalanced diet leads to a lack of nutrients in the cartilage, as a result of which pathological changes in the intervertebral discs begin. Osteochondrosis is particularly sensitive to people at risk.
Let us mention the factors whose presence increases the likelihood of developing the disease:
inheritance- ;
- age after 40 years;
- overweight;
- frequent hypothermia (it 's not for nothing that they say "do not get cold in the neck! ");
- malfunctions of the endocrine system, disrupting metabolism;
- spinal cord injuries;
- systemic lupus erythematosus;
- rheumatism;
- nature of activity - drivers, office workers, cashiers, athletes, people engaged in heavy physical work.
Symptoms
How is cervical osteochondrosis manifested? The symptoms of the disease and the nature of the pain that arise depend on the damaged segment. In this regard, the following states can be developed:
- vertebral artery syndrome;
- hypertensive syndrome;
- radicular syndrome;
- cervical migraine syndrome.
Let's take a look at each of them. With vertebral artery syndrome, severe headaches appear already in the early stages. A person is often dizzy, gait becomes shaky and visual acuity decreases. Sudden head movements can lead to loss of consciousness. Radicular syndrome is characterized by a variety of manifestations. This includes:
- cervical pain, or severe neck pain;
- crumb when turning the head;
- weakness and tinnitus;
- numbness and soreness in the arm;
- disorder of auditory and visual functions;
- tinnitus;
- cervicobrachialgia, or pain that spreads from the neck to the arms;
- feeling of swelling and numbness of the tongue.
Cervical migraine syndrome is mainly characterized by impaired blood circulation to the brain tissue, which causes hypertension and the development of symptoms such as ringing and noise in the ears, their overload, dizziness, rapid pulse. The risk of this condition is the possibility of developing a spinal cord injury. Hypertensive syndrome is accompanied by headaches, aggravated by head movements, nausea and vomiting (especially in the morning), irritability, sudden changes in pressure, the appearance of dark circles under the eyes, lightheadedness.
Hypoxia (oxygen starvation) of the brain develops. Osteochondrosis of the cervix is often manifested by cardiac arrhythmia, in which a uniform heart rhythm is lost. Due to the narrowing of the lateral vertebral arteries, vegetative-vascular dystonia develops.
Diagnosis
The first step in diagnosing cervical osteochondrosis is to examine the patient. A neuropathologist visually examines the condition of the spine, back muscles, and posture and determines the presence of prominent spinous processes by probing. On touch, the doctor, from the patient's reaction, will be able to understand which parts are affected by the pain. From the hardware diagnostic methods used:
- radiography;
- computed tomography;
- magnetic resonance;
- dopplerography.
The first method often involves inserting a contrast agent into a specific tissue (discography, angiography, etc. ). This is necessary to obtain more accurate information about the features of the course of the disease.
Treatment
Your doctor will tell you how to treat osteochondrosis of the cervical spine and not damage the body. Below are the basic rules and recommendations for treating this nasty disease, but starting successful treatment is a visit to a neurologist. Treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is performed using a whole range of methods. Among them:
- drug therapy;
- physiotherapy;
- traditional medicine;
- exercises.
Drug therapy
How to treat osteochondrosis of the cervical spine using medication? Drug therapy for the disease includes the following tools:
- pain medication;
- anti-inflammatory;
- vitamins;
- chondroprotectors.
Analgesics help relieve the manifestations of pain during the worsening of cervical osteochondrosis and are used for a short time. Your doctor may prescribe Tramadol, Tolperisone hydrochloride and Etorikoxib as anesthetics. In case of a very strong pain, it is possible to use Lidocaine injections.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been developed to reduce inflammation, including Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, Piroxicam. Such funds are also used from abroad. These are different oils and oils: "Diclofenac", etc. Of the vitamins, the most valuable vitamins in terms of maintenance therapy for osteochondrosis are B vitamins, which can reduce tissue sensitivity and weaken the neurological manifestations of the disease.
Chondroprotectors
They are formulated by pharmacologists to restore cartilage tissue. There are two active substances that make up such drugs - glucosamine and chondroitin. Both compounds can be included in a preparation or used separately. Examples of chondroprotectors: glucosamine patches, chondroitin sulfate oil, etc. These tools must be used for a long time, at least 3-6 months, otherwise you can not achieve the desired result.
Blockade
In case of severe pain, injections of medication directly into the lesion site help alleviate the patient's condition. This injection is called a blockade. A mixture of drugs is commonly used as medicine. One of them has an analgesic effect, the other is created to relieve inflammation. Blocking can only be done by a very qualified doctor, in no case do this procedure yourself! This can not only harm the patient's health, but also become a threat to his life. This injection is done in two ways:
- injection of drugs into the ligaments and tissues around the joint; injection
- directly into the intervertebral disc.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapeutic procedures are very effective in cervical osteochondrosis. They accelerate healing, have a beneficial effect on the whole body as a whole. Before talking about them, we list the contraindications for physiotherapy:
- tumors, oncological diseases;
- blood diseases;
- acute dermatological diseases;
- taking medications that may increase the effect of physiotherapy.
How to treat cervical spine osteochondrosis using physiotherapy? In this regard, the use of many methods has a good effect. For example, shock wave therapy is the application of acoustic waves to a lesion. Reduces inflammation, swelling, pain, stimulates collagen synthesis and improves tissue metabolism. Also used laser therapy, magnetotherapy, ultrasound treatment, vibration therapy. Impact on the injured site with low voltage impulse currents, or diadynamic therapy, reduces the severity of the pain. Electrophoresis with the drug "procaine" gives an analgesic effect during a deterioration. Additional methods of physiotherapy are ultraviolet radiation of the affected area and spinal traction, or detensor therapy.
Physiotherapy exercises
Gymnastics for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine allows you to achieve tangible results. Importers it is important that it be applied only in the final stage of treatment, as active movements in the neck area are strictly prohibited in the first and intermediate stages. Gymnastics is performed with a supportive cotton gauze collar worn in the cervical region. Resistance exercises are performed with the help of a doctor who tries to tilt the patient's head with his palm, and he, in turn, makes an effort to overcome the doctor's actions. This strengthens the muscular corsets of the neck. A head-holding exercise is also helpful. As follows. The patient, lying on the sofa, raises his head and holds it in this position for 5 seconds. This time increases to 40-60 seconds if the pain and neurological syndrome have already been overcome. Therapeutic gymnastics provides for the implementation of each exercise no more than 5 times in one approach.
Gymnastics for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is designed for:
- improve blood supply to the affected area;
- to strengthen the muscles of the back and neck;
- reduce the load on the beads;
- normalize joint movement;
- Accelerate glucose metabolism for active nutrition of intervertebral discs.
In a disease such as osteochondrosis of the cervix, massage is required. It refers to the methods of manual therapy and aims at muscle relaxation, improving blood circulation and lymphatic movement at the wound site.
Traditional medicine
Treatment of a disease such as osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, folk remedies are considered as an adjunct and in no case as the main therapy. The number of recipes that use different herbs and products is very large. They widely use products such as lemon, garlic, burdock or horseradish leaves (as a compress), dandelion root, St. John's wort, yarrow, lavender and many others. The patient himself bears responsibility for his health when using traditional medicines.
Nutritional characteristics
How to treat cervical osteochondrosis? This question is being asked by many people. But how to feed this disease, what foods will be useful? Let 's list them:
- dairy products;
- lean meat and fish;
- favorite meat;
- marmalade;
- pelte;
- fresh fruits and vegetables;
- sources of vitamin B - liver, nuts, brown rice, broccoli, buckwheat, brewer's yeast, green vegetables, kidneys;
- complex carbohydrates - whole grain breads, cereals, vegetables;
- vegetable fats - olive, sunflower, linseed oil.
Do not forget about products that can be harmful in the treatment of osteochondrosis. Do not use too many cakes, baked goods, alcohol, smoked meats and salty foods, spicy foods, animal fats, coffee and strong tea. Remove sugar, potatoes and white bread from the menu.
Prevention
Do not neglect your morning exercises, as well as neck stretching during your work day. Helps to improve blood circulation, thus ensuring the supply of nutrients to the cartilage tissue and to relax the muscles. Move more - regular running, fitness classes are considered an important measure to prevent osteochondrosis. Excess weight often provokes the development of the disease, so try to follow the arrow on the scales. Do not eat too much, do not overdo it with high-calorie foods, fatty foods and sugar. Eliminate all chronic infections in your body. Particular attention should be paid to the correct body position during sleep and rest - the neck muscles should not be squeezed.
For example, every patient should have an orthopedic pillow for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, and its use is also helpful in preventing disease. Resting in it relaxes the neck muscles and blood vessels do not experience strong pressure.