Sciatica - what is it? Radiculitis: causes, symptoms and treatment regimen

The back pain of a modern person is not surprising. Sometimes they arise periodically and disappear without a trace, but often such pain sensations with an enviable frequency torment a person. It can be sciatica. What is this disease, why does it occur, and what symptoms can be observed in a person? I want to talk about this.

Terminology

First of all, you need to deal with concepts. So, radiculopathy or radiculitis - what is it? These are severe pains that a person can feel not only in the back, but also in the cervical region. They can appear not only during movement, but also in a calm state of the body. It must be said that this is not an independent disease, but a complex of symptoms that are provoked by irritation or pinching of the spinal nerves. The neuropathologist is engaged in these problems.

Causes of occurrence

Having understood the concept of "sciatica", what it is and how this disease is also called in medicine, it is necessary to talk about the causes of its occurrence. So, at the very beginning it should be noted that this is a scourge of the elderly. Statistics show that approximately 10% of people over 40 know firsthand what it is. And the thing is that with age, the most important mineral substances are washed out of the body from a person. And this is the main cause of various problems with the spine and paravertebral nerves. It should be noted that even a slight overload of the body or a small draft can cause an illness such as radiculitis in older people.

But most often, sciatica causes various forms of osteochondrosis. According to statistics, this occurs in 95% of all cases. The reasons for this are dystrophic changes in the intervertebral discs and various complications of this disease. Also, sciatica can be a consequence of spinal injury, tumors, diseases of internal organs.

Doctors also say that sciatica is one of the symptoms of an intervertebral hernia. Spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canals) can also cause such irritation of the nerve roots.

Main symptoms

So, sciatica. What this is is understandable. Now you need to talk about what kind of symptoms accompany this disease.

1. Pain With this disease, the pain can be both acute and dull. Very rarely, it is localized in one place, most often gives to various parts of the spine.
2. Violation of sensitivity. With this disease, nerve fibers are damaged, which can lead to numbness in some parts of the body. Loss of sensitivity is often accompanied by tingling or a burning sensation.
3. Muscle weakness. Often with this disease, nerve impulses are interrupted, because of which the muscles simply stop working normally. Muscle atrophy may even occur.

Type 1. Cervical sciatica

There are three types of radiculopathy. The first of these is cervical sciatica. From one name you can understand that it is localized in the cervical spine. Symptoms are standard. The pain can be in any part of the neck, depending on where the affected nerve roots are located.

Type 2. Radiculitis of the thoracic region

The next type of radiculopathy is thoracic sciatica. From the name, one can draw a simple conclusion that it is localized in the middle of the spine. Tingling, pain with radiation, muscle weakness and numbness of the affected areas are characteristic. It is worth saying that thoracic sciatica is extremely rare. The fault is the slight flexibility of this spine. The most likely causes are degenerative disc changes, disc herniation, stenosis, etc.

Type 3. Lumbar sciatica

So, radiculitis of the lumbar. In this case, the disease is localized in the lower back, in its lumbar part (it is there that the center of gravity of the human body is located). Therefore, the problem may also be called sacral radiculitis. Symptoms for this type of disease are the same as for the rest. It is important to note that this particular subspecies of the disease is called sciatica in medicine. The most obvious symptom in this subspecies of the disease is pain that extends to the hips and buttocks. There is sciatica of the lumbar most often as a result of diseases such as arthritis, hernia or protrusion of the disc, degenerative changes in the vertebrae, compression fracture, and other problems.

Diagnostics

As already mentioned above, sciatica is a set of symptoms, and not a separate disease. However, with such problems, it is best to seek the help of a doctor. So, the complex of its actions will be as follows:

1. Clarification of symptoms. The doctor will need to find out about the nature, intensity of the pain, its duration and spread.
2. Next, the doctor will examine the patient. The procedure will take place with the feeling of the affected areas. So the doctor will be able to determine the range of motion of the patient and the weakness of his muscles.
3. A neurological examination may be necessary. In this case, the doctor will check the sensitivity and reflex activity of the muscles.
4. Also, the doctor can refer the patient to an x-ray. This is necessary in order to detect degenerative changes in various parts of the spine.
5. Sometimes the patient is sent for a CT scan or MRI. These studies perfectly visualize the presence of root compression.
6. EMG. This study makes it possible to determine the degree of damage to nerve fibers.

Treatment

At the very beginning, it must be said that treatment will depend on which particular symptoms are manifested in this disease. And also from what caused sciatica. So, initially it is necessary to cope with the cause of the disease. As for the symptoms, drug treatment will be aimed at relieving pain, inflammation and reducing possible swelling.

1. Manual therapy. Manual techniques are primarily aimed at stretching the spine along its entire axis. They also help to perfectly relieve spasm and pain, which is very important for the patient.
2. Exercise therapy. The body is important dosed physical activity. They can help restore the biomechanics of the spine, as well as the normal stereotype of movement.
3. Acupuncture. There is an effect on biologically active points of a person with the help of special needles.

Massage

One of the most effective methods is massage with radiculitis. So, it’s good if professionals can do it. Otherwise, however, any member of the family may carry out these actions.

1. Stroking. This is the initial stage (takes about 3-5 minutes), is carried out in order to stretch the muscles and prepare them for more serious exercises.
2. Kneading. In time, this stage takes about 20 minutes. With these movements, there is an acceleration of blood flow, metabolism. Edema and muscle spasm are also reduced. There are a lot of warm-up options. You need to choose one that helps the patient as much as possible.
3. Trituration. Movement data should take about 5 minutes. They help eliminate stagnation and blockages in the blood vessels, restore muscle tone. These movements are made with fingertips, more intense than stroking, but not as active as kneading.
4. Stroking. The first and last stage are similar to each other. However, in this case, the goal of the action is to bring the nervous system in order.

So, the massage for radiculitis is over. However, the patient is not recommended to get up. You need to lie down for half an hour, hiding behind a blanket. After this, the affected area should be wrapped in a warm scarf for two hours.

Medicines

You can get rid of some symptoms of radiculitis with medications.

1. Painkillers Tableted forms: Nimesulide, Ibuprofen preparations. Injection preparations: Ketanov, Dexalgin. Also very active is the patch "Olfen".
2. Ointments for radiculitis. Ointment "Quick gel", "Fastum gel", "Voltaren", "Diclovit."

Folk remedies

Such a problem as radiculitis (symptoms) has already been almost completely considered. Treatment with folk remedies is also important to talk about.

1. Sheep's wool. Traditional medicine experts say that clothing made of sheep wool helps a lot. To cope with the problem, you need to soak a piece of wool in saline and attach to the back. Wool with salt can "stretch" the pain.
2. The bathhouse. You can help cope with radiculitis with the help of a bath. So, you need to go to the bathhouse, steam out well, then you need to rub the affected area for 5 minutes thoroughly with black laundry soap. After that, you need to wrap yourself up and go to bed as soon as possible. The next day the pain will completely disappear.
3. Garlic. You need to put three garlic heads in a saucepan, pour half a liter of boiling water, simmer for a couple of minutes on a fire. From garlic you need to make gruel and put it all on the affected area. Attention: after this, there may be burns on the skin.
4. Ledum. Eliminates the ointment from this plant from sciatica. To prepare it, put two tablespoons of dry ingredients in a saucepan, add five tablespoons of sunflower oil, then everything is heated (the oil cannot be brought to a boil). After everything is poured into the jar, infused for 10 hours. Everything is filtered through gauze. The ointment is rubbed into a sore spot in the morning and evening.