Disruptions in the heart with osteochondrosis - a common phenomenon. To explain it, you need to get an idea of the process taking place inside the spine itself. This pathology is a disease of the spinal column, against the background of which a chronic degenerative inflammatory change develops with a violation of the intervertebral cartilage and joints. The disease affects as many as sixty-five percent of the world's population. The number of patients continues to increase every year due to increased physical inactivity, due to malnutrition and metabolic disorders.
How are heart failures with osteochondrosis manifested?
Pathology Features
A pronounced manifestation of osteochondrosis appears, as a rule, at forty-five or fifty years, before this pathology develops almost asymptomatically. At the same time, there is always a deterioration in the blood supply and spasms occur in the paravertebral muscles along with fusion of the vertebrae. Symptoms are many-sided, with it often there is pain and dysfunction in various organs, for example, interruptions in the work of the heart with osteochondrosis, that is, changes in its rhythm. In this case, arrhythmia is often expressed in the form of extrasystoles.
At a young age, against the background of any loads on the spine, it can be compensated by the intervertebral disc. In this case, it works like a shock absorber. Over time, for various reasons, the discs may wear out: their blood supply is gradually deteriorating due to a decrease in the number of blood vessels, while they gradually dry out. Cracks appear on the surface that deepen and widen, and the fibrous protective ring of the disk breaks. The pulp can protrude in this case, and an intervertebral hernia is formed. Neighboring vertebrae begin to grow together in a compensatory way. They merge with the discs and thereby limit the mobility of the spinal column. As a result, the patient forms spondylosis, which is the next stage of osteochondrosis. The effect on the heart appears even brighter.
In this way, the human body tries to reduce pain by slowing down the degeneration processes. Disks against this background begin to thin. In addition, even a small load already causes pain in the spine and endurance is significantly reduced. At first episodic, later it becomes permanent. Moreover, the pain sensation appears not only in the heart. Disruptions in osteochondrosis scare many patients.
Symptoms
Signs of osteochondrosis are determined by the presence of damage to a particular sector of the spine: thoracic, cervical, lumbar. With the cervical type, migraine headaches often occur, especially in the back of the head and collar zone. During the movement of the head, dizziness is observed along with fainting states until the person loses consciousness. With osteochondrosis of the cervical region, tachycardia is always accompanied by cephalgia, especially in the morning. The appearance of pain in the lower vertebra of the neck is considered characteristic.
When a lesion in the thoracic sector is characteristic, as a rule, intercostal neuralgia. This is a sharp intense pain, which intensifies with laughter, during coughing and inhaling. The presence of precisely the vertebral type is indicated by suffocation along with palpitations, increased sweating, increased hard pulse and arterial hypertension.
Can osteochondrosis give in the heart?
The disease often causes interruptions in the rhythm. With it, scoliosis develops with a curvature of posture. Lumbar osteochondrosis can also cause tachycardia, but the mechanism in this case is somewhat different. Against the background of irritation of the nerve endings, the adrenal cortex may be involved in the process, which begins to secrete due to this excessive amount of the substance, which provokes vascular spasms (catecholamines). Because of them, pressure drops occur, and the pulse quickens.
How to get rid of heart failure with osteochondrosis?
Treatment
An important role in making a correct diagnosis is played by an electrocardiogram. A CT scan or magnetic tomography of the vertebral column is also performed. In the treatment of heart manifestation provoked by osteochondrosis, treatment always aims to improve the condition of the spine. Therefore, acupressure is used along with local treatment with irritating ointments, manual and physiotherapy.
General massage on the back is considered unacceptable, since it can only contribute to the relaxation of the superficial muscle. He simply does not reach the deep tissues of the back.
Warming Ointments
In order to warm, ointments with bee or snake venom are used in combination with pepper and turpentine preparations, for example, Zhivokost along with Kapsikam, Apizartron, Nikofleks, Finalgon and others. These ointments relieve deep muscle spasms and restore tissue nutrition. The symptomatology of pain is well stopped by analgesics, but these remedies do not eliminate the causes of the pathology.
The provoking factors of heart failure in osteochondrosis are important to eliminate.
How does pathology affect the heart?
All the insidiousness of this disease lies in the fact that it can cause a strong pain in people in the most unexpected places. Heart discomfort (or cardialgia in another way) is one of the most common manifestations of the disease of the spine in question, which occurs in people at almost any age.
How does a heart ache with osteochondrosis? Symptoms can be very diverse.
Oddly enough, but in the presence of this disease, a person can even get a completely healthy heart. Symptoms can be manifested by pressing, aching, boring pains, sometimes even a feeling of heat in the chest. The pain can be long, persistent, sometimes it cannot be removed with the usual Validol, and even Nitroglycerin can not cope, which scares the patients very much, as it seems to them that something terrible is happening. The greatest panic, as a rule, is caused by cases when the pain sensation arising in the heart gives to the left hand. As you know, this is one of the signs of myocardial infarction, but in the presence of osteochondrosis this is also not uncommon.
In such situations, a frightened person may rush to the doctor, but the electrocardiogram shows that the heart and its rhythm are normal, and the pressure is also good. If the doctor is attentive, then he will necessarily begin to check whether there is no osteochondrosis, identify the disease and prescribe the required treatment. Unfortunately, often instead of carrying out diagnostic appropriate studies, the patient is told that he simply has a false pain, nerves have broken out, or, even worse, may accuse him of simulating. Both conclusions are very offensive and dangerous. After all, the patient suffers, his working capacity decreases, he himself feels that he is sick, and instead of therapy, he is invited to drink valerian and not interfere with the doctors' work.
How to distinguish heart pain from osteochondrosis?
How can heart pain caused by osteochondrosis be recognized?
Is the patient able to independently distinguish pain in the heart caused by this disease from the same angina pectoris? That's quite possible. There are a number of characteristic signs that clearly indicate that the cause is most likely the spine:
- Discomfort can last for hours, days, or even months.
- The pain sensation does not lend itself to the usual remedies for the heart, but subsides after the use of analgesics.
- Attacks can be triggered by an uncomfortable long posture, sudden movements of the head, coughing, sneezing, rapid changes in body position.
- Such discomfort does not occur in patients with nervous strain.
What to do when osteochondrosis gives in the heart?
Standard ways to combat the disease
The basis of this pathology, as a rule, is the dystrophic process that occurs in the spine. There are many reasons for this. One of them is the lack of movement. If a person leads a sedentary lifestyle, then you can immediately say that he is at risk. The lack of balanced physical exertion worsens tissue nutrition, causing its atrophy, that is, a decrease with gradual death. Thinning of the intervertebral disc just leads to the accelerated formation of osteochondrosis, and at the same time to a whole bunch of pain syndromes in different parts of the body. In this case, osteochondrosis affects the work of the heart.
To conduct an effective fight against this insidious enemy, just medical treatment, unfortunately, is not enough. It is best to use a simple set of exercises that perfectly support the body in shape. Many tricks are so simple that they can be carried out anywhere, for example, even while sitting at work or in transport, and at the same time you can completely not attract attention from others. No one, looking at the slight nods of his head, will begin to think that a person is busy with such an important matter as the prevention and treatment of osteochondrosis.
What are the differences?
Whether heart can hurt from osteochondrosis is now known.
First of all, pay attention to the localization of discomfort. Most often, this is discomfort behind the sternum or on the left side of the chest. Pain can be given to a person between the shoulder blades, in the left hand or in the lower jaw. Next, it is worth focusing on the characteristics of sensations. In the classic version, we are talking about pressing, compressing, baking, or dagger pain.
The next important factor is that heart problems most often have provocative factors in the form of physical or emotional overload. This means that at rest the pain is absent, and during exercise it appears again. Against the background of a critical narrowing of the vessels supplying the heart muscle, the disease can appear even with minimal loads at night and at rest.
In assessing the origin of pain in the chest, the time factor is always taken into account. True heart pains are not of a prolonged nature, the count usually goes for minutes. In other words, the heart will not be able to pull, whine and stab for several hours, days, or day after day. Such discomfort is often a manifestation of pathologies from the skeletal and muscle systems. True, true heart pain, characterized by a duration of more than twenty minutes, indicates the development of a most dangerous complication, namely, myocardial infarction.
It is worth, among other things, to pay attention to under what circumstances such discomfort in a person passes. Angina pectoris usually stops on its own within about a few minutes, for example, if the patient calms down or stops. Some people benefit from Nitroglycerin, which reduces or completely relieves heart pain for one or two minutes at most. If the patient develops myocardial infarction, then the chest pain will not be stopped even after using such tablets. In this case, emergency assistance will be required.
Against the background of heart disease, only a temporary violation of the blood flow occurs in the coronary arteries affected by atherosclerotic plaques. Reception "Nitroglycerin" makes it possible to expand the lumen of blood vessels, improving blood flow and thereby the pain goes away, which as a result leads to a regression of pathological discomfort. With the development of a heart attack, the narrowing of the lumen is so pronounced that it leads to irreversible damage to the heart muscle. In this case, the pain has other causes, and taking such drugs no longer gives effect.
In addition to the classic characteristics, heart problems can be of the so-called atypical form, even manifesting as shortness of breath or abdominal pain. Thus, in most cases, cardiac pathology can be recognized, although it is far from always so easily recognizable. It is in this regard that it is very important that if a person has such sensations in the chest, he feels a lack of air, then it is necessary to consult a doctor immediately. When the heart presses with osteochondrosis, you need to be examined.
Surveys to confirm or refute the diagnosis
In the case when it comes to heart disease, then an electrocardiogram is an extremely important study. With many ailments, the ECG changes, however, in the presence of angina pectoris in patients at rest, this analysis can be completely normal. This means that the diagnostic data will be within normal limits, and the patient’s uncomfortable sensations will still bother. Thus, with a suspicion of heart problems and as part of the exclusion of osteochondrosis, you can not limit yourself to an ECG.
Load test
An important stage of the examination in the process of determining the genesis of chest pain is a stress test. Often they use a combination (bike or track) in combination with recording an electrocardiogram. Changes to it during exertion and complaints from the patient with a high degree of probability make it possible to judge the presence or absence of angina pectoris. With concomitant symptoms, for example, complaints of interruptions in the work of the heart, the doctor may prescribe daily monitoring of the ECG, which allows you to record a rhythm disturbance, if any. And in some situations, a violation of the heart rhythm may indicate a problem in the blood supply to the organ muscles.
In addition, vascular risk factors are evaluated: age along with the patient’s gender, heredity, blood pressure, the presence of certain diseases, as well as a number of blood counts, whose increase is associated with an increased risk of angina pectoris.
We examined how osteochondrosis affects the heart.