In the article, we consider the symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. What is this pathology? How does it manifest itself?
Osteochondrosis is a disease that is almost the most common in the world. A lot of people after 30 years suffer from this pathology in various forms. There is also a tendency to rejuvenate the disease, that is, lower the age threshold. This may be due to the fact that now there are more and more people who are engaged mainly in work, where a person spends most of his time sitting and leads a sedentary lifestyle. By the way, such a disease is dangerous, and everyone must know what osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is, how it appears, how to treat it and how to identify its symptoms.
The main causes of the disease
A person is arranged so that the vertical placement of the spinal column can cause the vertebrae to be compressed, more and more over time, thereby allowing the bone-cartilage tissue to gradually degrade and deform.
The spine always begins with the cervical region, in which there are seven vertebrae. This is a particularly vulnerable part of it, because increased mobility is noted in this area. Such a disease of the cervical region is reflected primarily on the discs themselves, because they are a weak spot in the spine.
The frequency of cervicothoracic osteochondrosis is helped by factors such as the small size of the vertebrae and the comparative weakness of the neck muscles. In addition, poor blood supply to the cartilage tissue affects the developing ailment. What does all this mean?
Judging by this, the development of this disease seems to be a long and complex process, where it is very difficult to recognize the cause. Although a connection has been found between a sedentary lifestyle of a person and osteochondrosis of the cervicothoracic region, nevertheless, a similar ailment is often found in trained people, especially athletes, due to the fact that they have an increased load on the cervical spine. They lift various weights (rods, weights), which leads to deformation of the discs. So everything needs a measure.
In older people and the elderly, as a rule, such degradation of the vertebral structures is an inevitable process, which in turn is associated with the aging of the body and the weakness of its protective forces. But a pathological form of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine can also occur, the symptoms of which appear due to internal or external negative factors. These include:
- various back injuries;
- rachiocampsis;
- heavy weight;
- incorrect posture;
- physical inactivity;
- hard physical work;
- disturbed metabolic processes;
- hypothermia;
- overwork, stress;
- infectious diseases;
- heredity;
- congenital pathologies or special structural features of the body.
Stages of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine
Pathology has four stages. Sometimes it is quite difficult to determine what stage of the disease is present in the patient, according to a general analysis, since most often the level of bone tissue degradation may not coincide with the symptoms that are observed in the patient.
The first stage of the disease
At this stage, there are already destructive actions in the vertebrae. But the symptoms of osteochondrosis of the cervical region so far are not too pronounced. People may not notice them or do not associate these signs with spinal illness, call it stress or banal overwork.
Second stage of the disease
As already noted, the symptoms and treatment of cervical osteochondrosis are closely related.
At this stage, a noticeable thinning of the disk occurs, cracks appear on its surface. Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis at this stage are observed in constant pain, numbness of the face, weakness.
Third stage
How do symptoms of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine manifest themselves at this stage? There are hernias of the disc, the neck vessels and muscles are affected. A person notices dizziness and pain in the back of the head.
Fourth stage of the disease
With osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, osteophytes often occur - a bone tissue that protects the vertebrae from stress, resulting in nerve infringement. This is characterized by stiffness of movements and damage to neighboring joints.
Signs of cervical osteochondrosis
The main symptoms of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are:
- Sharp pains in the shoulders and neck.
- Muscle weakening.
- Increased sweating.
- Impaired coordination.
- Numbness of the hands.
- Dizziness.
- Hypertension.
- Hearing and sight decrease.
- Headaches.
These frequent symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis can occur at all stages of the disease. In most cases, only a few signs from this list are visible, the rest may be completely absent. The patient who encountered them for the first time practically does not diagnose cervical osteochondrosis. In this case, he can turn to different doctors - cardiologists, neuropathologists, therapists, surgeons. And a reliable diagnosis in the end can be identified with a significant delay.
Danger of pathology
Symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are not known to everyone.
The very initial symptoms of osteochondrosis can appear as early as 20 years old, while the pain and discomfort are mild, so many decide to wait, in the hope that the symptoms will go away, postpone the visit to the doctor and do not start treatment. Symptoms at an early stage of osteochondrosis can really go away by themselves, but the disease will not get away from a person from this. If prevention and therapy are not carried out, osteochondrosis begins to develop further, and this can be dangerous to human health.
What are the dangers of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine?
At the first stage, the symptoms are not expressed, so most prefer not to take this disease seriously. But if the patient does not begin treatment at the beginning of development, this can lead to dangerous, serious complications. The consequences of the neglected stage are a condition in which a person cannot carry out his functions. Often this can be accompanied by lesions in neighboring departments. Such an abandoned osteochondrosis will lead to very dangerous consequences, for which there is a disability.
In addition, the following may develop:
- bulging intervertebral discs;
- protrusion and intervertebral hernia;
- drive outs;
- lumbago or sciatica;
- spinal cord canal.
In special cases, the above diseases are forced to undergo surgery, and the consequence of an advanced stage is disability.
The problems listed above are characteristic of osteochondrosis of the cervicothoracic spine.
Complications of the disease
The danger of the disease lies in the fact that the cervical region is connected to the vessels that supply blood to the brain. The consequences of cervical osteochondrosis disease are sleep disturbance, migraines, vision problems, dizziness. With an advanced disease, the listed symptoms will become more noticeable. With cervical osteochondrosis, there is the possibility of concomitant problems:
- increased or decreased pressure and vegetovascular dystonia;
- thyroid disease;
- vestibular disorders;
- hypertension or hypotension;
- stroke;
- epicondylitis;
- humeroscapular periarthrosis.
Diagnosis of cervical pathology
Symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are of interest to many.
For proper diagnosis, you need to contact a therapist. He will provide a referral to other specialists - a neurologist, vertebrologist, orthopedist.
The following types of studies are attached to diagnose the disease:
- CT scan;
- radiography;
- MRI
- Doppler scanning.
X-ray reveals the presence of growths, displacement of the vertebrae, salt deposits and osteophytes, disk seals. Using computed tomography, you can get a fairly voluminous picture of the organs, in this case, the cervical spine. It will allow you to detail the stage of the pathological process, as well as the nature of nerve clamping, the height of the discs, the structure of osteophytes, etc. Magnetic resonance imaging provides an even more detailed picture of the structure of the spine. Ultrasound scans can help determine how the blood flow in the great vessels of the neck that caused the disease has changed.
Treatment of this disease
Symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are interrelated.
In order for a person to resist the disease, medicine is developing many methods. There are also methods of therapy that you can use at home. But this procedure is a long and complete recovery is unlikely, especially in old age. But it is also worth noting that it is possible to stop and slow down the pathological processes in the spine at any stage of the disease.
In the early stages of the disease, methods for treating osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are mostly conservative. For therapy, several methods can be used:
- physiotherapy;
- medications;
- massage;
- physiotherapy;
- special devices for fixing the spine.
If such a disease has passed to the extreme stage, while the bone-cartilage structure of the spine is destroyed, then surgical intervention should be used to cure osteochondrosis of the neck.
Drugs for the treatment of pathology
Essential drugs for the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine:
- analgesics;
- vitamins;
- chondroprotectors;
- anti-inflammatory drugs;
- antispasmodics.
When an acute pain syndrome that is associated with osteochondrosis appears, the most important task is to remove it. In such cases, oral medications, such as Baralgin or Analgin, are taken, however, if there is no noticeable effect from them, novocaine blockades can be used.
Symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine often remain controversial for many.
Antispasmodics are often taken. The greatest effectiveness in osteochondrosis is shown by Midokalm, but it is also possible to take other muscle relaxants. As painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, the patient can use ointments that contain non-steroidal drugs - “Ibuprofen”, “Diclofenac”, “Naproxen”, “Butadion” or their analogues.
If there are signs associated with a violation of the blood supply to the brain and vertebral artery syndrome, it is necessary to use drugs that remove their unpleasant manifestations - drugs that lower blood pressure, and nootropic drugs.
Symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are no longer a secret.
Physical therapy classes
Physiotherapy exercises is the simplest and most affordable type of therapy and prevention of cervical osteochondrosis, as well as quite effective. Physical therapy can be practiced at home. With cervical osteochondrosis, the saturation of classes does not play a big role, only their regularity is needed. First of all, physical education is designed to strengthen the muscles of the neck, the task of which is to replenish the insufficient functionality of the spine and help in supporting weakened vertebrae. Treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine should be regular.
To strengthen muscles, daily exercises are needed. Such exercises can be very simple, including turning and tilting the head in different directions, and quite complex, which connect the hands to help the neck muscles. They can be done both at home and at work. Suppose if you have to work all the time while sitting, it is very useful to perform various exercises every hour of sitting at the table and monitor. But it is necessary to do this only when there is no exacerbation of the disease and there is no pain syndrome. Otherwise, these same exercises can only worsen the condition.
It is also effective in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis to strengthen the muscles of the shoulder girdle, for example, use light dumbbells in regular classes. However, such lifting weights as weights or barbells are contraindicated. Regular swimming exercises that can unload the spine can be helpful.
We examined the symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.