Increasingly, in the modern world, people complain of back pain. If your work is related to weight lifting or it is sedentary, or spend a lot of time behind the wheel, then you are at risk. Most often, such a lifestyle leads to a disease such as herniated discs. They can occur both in the lumbar region and in the thoracic or cervical.
Our spine is a chain of vertebrae, interconnected by articular processes, and intervertebral soft discs between them, consisting of fibrous rings and a gelatinous nucleus. Due to the elasticity of the discs and their ability to “spring”, we can easily bend and change the position of the body. All this is held together by a powerful muscular framework that fixes the vertebrae. The spine is penetrated by the spinal nerves, coming from the spinal cord and passing between the vertebrae. The muscular framework, preventing the movement of the intervertebral discs to the sides of the center, protects the thin bundles of nerve fibers from damage by vertebrae.
However, there are situations in which the muscular framework does not cope with the task assigned to it, and then the spinal disc "falls out" of the general chain. Among these situations, we can distinguish:
- strong compression loads, i.e. weight lifting. It can be both lifting men of heavy weight, and women carrying heavy bags. It should be remembered that you can not lift heavy things, bending the back. It is necessary to sit down, take the load and rise with a straight back. So you reduce the load on the spine tens of times. Moreover, a strong compression load on the spine is created when wearing high-heeled shoes;
- long compression loads on the spine. So, an additional burden is placed on the lumbar region when a person is constantly sitting, especially if it is sitting behind the wheel. Indeed, in this case, it is supplemented by movements of the body up and down;
- turns of the upper body to the sides, especially sharp. At a young age, the muscular frame is strong, and with such turns, the muscles tighten, keeping the vertebrae from moving. But with age, the fibers in the muscles are less and less, and therefore there is a risk of getting intervertebral hernias with a sharp movement of the body. It should be remembered that in the cervical region, the vertebrae are more mobile, and even slight sharp turns of the neck can knock out a disk here;
When the intervertebral disc pops out of the vertebrae, it bursts and spreads. And when after a certain time the disk hardens, it begins to pose a significant threat to nerve fibers, because the frozen mass of a bursting disk not only constantly touches the nerve fibers, injuring them and causing severe pain, but can cut the nerves, which can lead to paresis. If the protrusion of the hernia occurred in the spinal canal, then it can damage the spinal cord and lead to paralysis.
Intervertebral hernia: symptoms
Among the symptoms of this disease, a sharp pain in the region of the shifted vertebra should be especially highlighted. Often patients complain of tingling, numbness in the arms or legs. The symptoms of the spine are somewhat different from which part of the spine is affected.
Lumbar intervertebral hernia: symptoms
There is pain in the lumbar region, as well as along the entire length of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the largest in our body. It transmits signals from the spine to the muscles of the hips and legs, providing sensitivity to these parts of the body and their proper movement. Accordingly, if the sciatic nerve roots are clamped by a displacement of the vertebra in the lumbosacral, severe pain along its course appears, sensitivity is disturbed, paresis occurs.
The pain can irrigate into separate areas through which the sciatic nerve passes, for example, into the lower leg, popliteal region. Most often, patients complain of pain in the lumbosacral, gluteal regions, as well as the posterior thigh. Complaints of pain in the foot are possible.
There is a violation of the sensitivity of certain areas, for example, a toe or a small area of the thigh. Sometimes its complete loss or distortion occurs in the form of severe burning or cold, tingling.
Paresis is a small paralysis. The feet are especially susceptible to them, the toes on the feet. The patient cannot climb on the toe of the foot, and in the supine position is unable to pull the foot on himself. Fingers on a damaged paresis foot do not move well. The functions of the pelvic organs are impaired - incontinence (possibly partial) of urine, feces, sometimes loss of potency.
A thoracic intervertebral hernia is somewhat different from lumbar. Symptoms of this disease are pain on the segment from the waist to the neck. Symptoms: pronounced intercostal neuralgia, dizziness, tingling or numbness of the upper limbs, especially the hands and fingers, their paresis. Often pain can be given to the internal organs and create the illusion of pain in the pancreas, gall bladder, heart. With a hernia of the thoracic vertebrae, it is difficult to take a deep breath, the chest is as if squeezed, and when you inhale, the pain in the hernia increases. In severe cases, paresis of the legs and paralysis appear.
And finally, the most dangerous of all is a cervical intervertebral hernia. Symptoms of a hernia of the cervical disc are pain in the neck, dizziness, nausea. The patient cannot freely turn his neck, his movements are constrained. There are acute pains in the shoulder girdle extending to the hands. Face pains similar to trigeminal inflammation may appear. Also there are slight paresis of the hands and their fingers, numbness or a change in the sensitivity of the shoulder girdle and upper limbs. With the intensification of the disease, not only hands are exposed to paresis, but also legs and feet. There are problems in the work of the pelvic organs. The danger of this hernia is that it can lead to paralysis of the whole body.
If you have a hernia of the intervertebral disc, treatment cannot be started without having passed the necessary examinations: NMR (preferably) and a computed tomography scanner.
Treatment
At the first stage of the disease, the following types of treatment are used:
- physiotherapeutic procedures: electrophoresis, laser, magnet, etc. They work well in combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These types of medical procedures are aimed at removing inflammation of pinched nerve fibers and tissues around. Often, pain in the area of a hernia of the intervertebral disc is aggravated by swelling of the tissues of the affected area, which presses on the nerve fibers. Removing inflammation, we eliminate edema. The nerve is released - and the pain goes away.
But massage and novocaine blockade are aimed at relieving muscle spasm in the affected area. Spasmodic muscles enhance pain and prevent the disc from returning to its place if the displacement was not strong.
Massage should be soft, without sudden movements. In no case should manual therapy be used in this condition. Sharp jerks are able to more strongly displace the displaced disk or provoke its rupture.
Novocainic blockade is the injection of this medication into the affected area. Muscle hypertonicity under the influence of anesthetic gradually disappears. This procedure is usually carried out 5-6 days. But it is worth keeping in mind that novocaine is a strong allergen. Therefore, those people who have a predisposition to allergies should be extremely careful in the use of this drug. on novocaine. An allergy can trigger asthma attacks. swelling of the larynx, face, impaired functioning of the heart muscle, up to cardiac arrest. Therefore, before prescribing novocaine blockade, it is necessary to make an allergic test for novocaine.
Swimming can act as a medical procedure in the absence of seizures and severe paresis of the limbs. During swimming, the vertebrae are stretched, the compression load on the damaged area goes away, and the spinal disc can fall into place.
Corsets for the lower back or for the thoracic spine, cervical bandages have a therapeutic effect with prolonged wear and are able to provide quick assistance with severe pain. They not only fix the spine in the correct position, thereby preventing further displacement of the intervertebral disc, but stretch it, as a result of which the pressure of the fallen disc on the nerve fibers decreases. Ideally, the drive returns to its original position.
Surgical intervention
Surgical intervention is required if the hernia of the lumbar or thoracic disc is more than 12 mm, and the cervical - more than 6 mm. Indications for surgery:
- compression of the structures of the spinal cord and nerve roots when the patient has multiple paresis,
- disruption of the pelvic organs, etc.
The purpose of the intervention is to release the nerve root. The prognosis is favorable with appropriate competent postoperative treatment and the correct lifestyle of the patient.
Observe the correct lifestyle and consult a doctor in a timely manner!