Osteochondrosis is a disease of the spine, characterized primarily by damage to the intervertebral discs. Osteochondrosis usually develops in people over forty, but due to a sedentary sedentary lifestyle, metabolic disorders in the intervertebral discs can cause the disease much earlier. The intervertebral discs are made up of cartilaginous tissue and are designed to perform a kind of damper (cushioning) function and elastic (providing mobility to the body around its axis) under loads on the spine. In addition, they maintain the distance between the vertebrae through which the nerve roots pass from the spinal cord to the organs innervated by it. With a loss of elasticity of the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral discs, the vertebrae come closer together with compression of the outgoing nerve endings, which causes the main violations.
The arising osteochondrosis whose symptoms are well known to many are characterized primarily by back pain and limited mobility. Depending on the height of the lesion of the spinal column, cervical, thoracic, lumbar forms of osteochondrosis are distinguished . For example, in individuals performing physical work, the main load falls on the lumbar region, the intervertebral discs of which are damaged in the first place, causing sharp pain (the so-called "backache"). And people engaged in sedentary labor most often develop osteochondrosis of the cervical spine whose symptoms, in addition to neck pain, are also characterized by headache with dizziness. This is due to the fact that in this case not only the nerve roots are affected, but also the vessels (vertebral artery) that feed the ascending parts of the brain are compressed. In medicine, there is even a special term, “vertebral artery syndrome,” which refers to brain disorders caused by a disease such as osteochondrosis of the neck.
Constant compression of the nerve roots leads to their inflammation, called radiculitis (radiculitis) from the Latin radix (root) and the end of "itis", which means inflammation. Thus, osteochondrosis causes symptoms of radiculitis, being its main cause. The resulting inflammatory process, in turn, causes edema and even greater compression of the roots, up to their ischemia and partial death. If osteochondrosis is not treated, its symptoms increase rapidly, leading to complete immobilization of the affected areas and, as a result, disability of a sick person.
Treatment of osteochondrosis can be conservative and surgical. In any case, if osteochondrosis has occurred whose symptoms are manifested by pain, it is necessary to unload the affected parts of the spine. A sparing regime is needed and you will have to forget about great physical exertion, switching to easy labor. If cervical osteochondrosis occurs, the symptoms of which are rather painful, as they are associated with an obsessive headache, then a complete redistribution of physical activity is necessary. In the acute phase of the process, when pain is most pronounced, complete rest and horizontal position on a solid, even surface without bending are shown. You can lie in a supine position and without a pillow. Of the drugs in this period, powerful anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed both through the mouth and in the form of injections. Topically applied ointments based on the same anti-inflammatory drugs or on the basis of bee venom. In the latter case, it is necessary to verify its tolerability by treating a small, about two centimeter-long piece of skin with an ointment containing bee venom and evaluating the reaction within 2-3 hours. If hyperemia (severe redness), and especially blisters or blisters, is expressed, then the use of such a composition is strictly prohibited.
It is necessary to treat osteochondrosis under the supervision of a doctor, who will select the necessary drugs in a particular case. Self-medication, especially with various folk remedies in the acute phase, is fraught only with the progression of the disease with the onset of disability.