Every second person in his life at least once, but felt systematic back pain. The reason for this in 95% of cases is osteochondrosis of the spine. With it, the cartilages of the intervertebral discs undergo degenerative-dystrophic damage, due to which the development of reactive changes in the neighboring vertebrae and tissues around them occurs. Often this disease is accompanied by a reflex syndrome, expressed in painful spasms of the spinal muscles. At first, they are protective, and then the disease begins to progress.
In the presence of dorsalgia due to osteochondrosis of the spine, the patient is recommended to observe bed rest. The doctor prescribes drug therapy, which consists in the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants and antidepressants.
Below we consider in more detail how muscle relaxants affect the disease.
With osteochondrosis, muscle spasms should be stopped to relieve pain. Muscle relaxants are drugs that have a relaxing effect on muscle tissue. With the help of such medications, it is possible to relieve pain caused by muscle spasms.
Muscle relaxants in osteochondrosis block voluntary muscular reflexes. This property is of great importance for surgical intervention and anesthesia, because muscle tone most often interferes with intubation or surgery.
Medicines that relax muscles are classified by type of effect on muscle tissue. There are two types of drugs: peripheral influence and central influence. The former directly affect cholinergic receptors of the muscles of the body and distort the interaction of reactions of nerves and muscles. Peripheral muscle relaxants at the level of neuromuscular synapses cause relaxation of the skeleton muscles. These are curare-like drugs. In medicine, they are used for reposition of bone fragments, straightening dislocations, surgical interventions.
The second group consists of drugs that inhibit the central structure of regulation of muscle tone. Muscle relaxants of central action reduce muscle tension, relieve pain, as a result of which motor function is normalized. They do not inhibit the transmission of impulses between the muscles and nerve endings, unlike the first type. Their effect is to suppress the activity of inserted neurons of the pathways of reflection of the spinal cord and the nerve endings located above.
Doctors prescribe muscle relaxants for osteochondrosis until pain is completely relieved. The course of treatment can last several weeks.
Muscle relaxants are used:
- to ensure conditions for tracheal intubation;
- to ensure muscle relaxation during surgical interventions, to create normal working conditions for a team of surgeons without the introduction of large doses of drugs of general anesthesia ;
- if necessary, muscle relaxation during certain diagnostic procedures that are performed using general anesthesia;
- for mechanical ventilation in order to suppress an independent respiratory reflex;
- to eliminate seizures in case of insufficient exposure to anticonvulsants;
- for the blockade of such protective reflexes to the cold, as muscle hypertonicity, muscle tremors;
- for muscle relaxation during reposition of bone fragments and reposition of dislocations.
Muscle relaxants have a number of contraindications:
- myasthenic syndrome;
- Duchenne myopathy;
- myasthenia gravis;
- myotonia;
- Becker myopathy;
- systematic family paralysis.
You can not use them in the absence of conditions for performing mechanical ventilation.
Side effects can occur in dizziness, lethargy, drowsiness. Sometimes there is a dependence, if you take muscle relaxants for a long time with osteochondrosis.