It has often been written and said that osteochondrosis of the cervical, cervical, and lumbar spine is not a disease in itself. This, if you like, is our "race. " Man, as a biological race, has been on two feet for only a few million years, but even less time. It is still the "middle of the road" in terms of evolution. It is not known what new anatomical variants of spinal development we will reach in a million years.
Currently, osteochondrosis is the most common disease of the musculoskeletal system and is faced by physicians in a variety of disciplines. Most often, these are therapists and neurologists, as a complication of osteochondrosis can lead to a variety of neurological syndromes, which are discussed below.
Osteochondrosis - what is it?
It should not be said that "osteochondrosis is common" because this is not true. Osteochondrosis, in its purest form, is a process of normal aging and dehydration of intervertebral discs that does not cause complaints during normal course. This is possible with vigorous elderly people who are agile, have a good posture and are free of excess weight. They exercise, swim, avoid heavy lifting, and pursue a so-called "healthy lifestyle. "
When we talk about osteochondrosis of any part of the spine as a disease, we always mean the complicated course of it, which causes various complaints and symptoms. And in this, the cervical spine is more vulnerable than the other underlying sections. Of course, the cervical region has the least load - only the head, but at the same time the vertebrae of the cervical region are more agile than others and at the same time less massive.
All this makes the lesions of the cervical region more pronounced with complications of osteochondrosis. The proximity of the head leads to the occurrence of headaches, which of course does not occur with lesions of the lumbar region. In addition, it should be remembered that the spinal cord passes through the central canal of the cervical vertebrae, which has absorbed all the underlying pathways. As a result, in the compression syndromes of the central canal, the patient's arms and legs may be paralyzed, all the way to immobility, and skin sensitivity and pelvic organ dysfunction may be reduced throughout the body. All of this can make a person with a disability at the moment, such as a cervical vertebral fracture (diving in small places on the head unknown).
Of course, such complex injuries are not associated with osteochondrosis: patients are much more likely to be disturbed by other symptoms. How to treat and cure osteochondrosis of the cervical spine? It is impossible to heal. To do this, from a childhood, he simply refuses to move on two legs and climb on all fours or live in the ocean like dolphins. The load on the intervertebral discs will be minimal or even absent.
Only an exacerbation of osteochondrosis can be cured, and you need to know not only its signs and symptoms, but also the risk factors.
About risk factors
In the case of the cervical spine, obviously weight lifting on the shoulder does not play as important a role in the incidence of pain syndrome as in the lower back. What conditions and diseases can contribute to the development of symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis? Here are the most common situations:
- Flat feet, longitudinal and transverse. The spine is a flexible, bent rod. In the event that the arch of the foot does not dampen, and during the step there is no "elastic" movement of the spine downwards but a blow, this "wavy" blow, like the whip, goes upwards. , and extinguishes exactly in the cervical region, at the site of the craniovertebral transition. All energy goes here. Therefore, running with a flat leg leads to a marked change in the intervertebral discs.
- Chronic injury. These are, above all, winter slipping on the ice, falling on the nape of the neck, and constant beating on low doorways, which often occurs in people with above-average heights.
- She wears a heavy winter hat, a tall hairstyle and lots of women’s jewelry. All this leads to fatigue of the neck muscles, the development of their chronic cramping, circulatory disorders, headaches and back pain.
- Sedentary lifestyle, "sedentary" work, presence of stiffness in the upper chest and cervical spine.
We do not list the specific risk factors that occur in sick patients. The causes of deterioration found in ordinary, healthy people are sufficient.
Symptoms and signs of osteochondrosis
The signs of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are very diverse. Few doctors know that generalized abdominal prolapse (splanchnoptosis) or liver prolapse, which is often misdiagnosed as an increase, is due to osteochondrosis of the cervical region. In this case, the phrenic nerve is irritated and the dome of the diaphragm contracts and falls.
As a result, the liver is "displaced" from the hypochondria. But there are other, more "common" symptoms in cervical osteochondrosis - pain and muscle tension. We’re not going to talk about the symptoms of cervical spine injuries and protrusions - we’ll dedicate a separate article to that. Let’s talk about the clinic that occurs with "whole" intervertebral discs, especially because such situations are much more common.
Cervical osteochondrosis causes pain in the neck itself. Muscle pain is manifested in constant, low-intensity painful pain. Turning and tilting the head aggravates it. It is often accompanied by stiffness in the suboccipital region.
Headache in osteochondrosis of the cervical region is almost always a tension headache. The attack takes many hours and even days in a row. The pain rises from the neck through the nape of the neck to the temple and covers the skull like a hook or helmet. With this pain, the ability to work does not suffer, but if radical symptoms are attached to it, they are given a shooting character and moving the head becomes very painful.
"Vertebral artery" syndrome
Speaking of cervical osteochondrosis, one should not mention this classic manifestation of cerebrovascular insufficiency caused by cervical osteochondrosis. Symptoms include vomiting and nausea, dizziness, imbalance. There is noise in the head and ears (tinnitus), severe speech problems (dysarthria), swallowing problems. Much more often there are various visual disturbances ("flies"), headaches. Sometimes there are fall attacks during which a person does not lose consciousness but falls and then rises quickly.
Compression of one of the two vertebral arteries may occur during sleep. In the case where a person simultaneously throws his head back and turns to one side, the vertebral artery is pressed contralateral to the first vertebra, the atlas, i. e. from the opposite side.
If you lie like this for a while, you will experience severe dizziness, nausea, vomiting, difficulty walking and balance in the morning when you try to get out of bed. In some cases, "higher order" disorders also develop - such as global transient amnesia in which the patient simply does not remember anything.
There are also a number of neurological syndromes and symptoms, which we will only list briefly, indicating their reference diagnostic points, so that the reader of the article can imagine and "try" these symptoms if he or she cannot get to a neurologist:
- Lower extremity muscular syndrome (common in patients over 50 years of age, especially in postmenopausal women). There are pains and tenderness disorders in the back of the head, along the earlobes. The pain is painful, fracture, both in the neck and in the neck, constant, and intensified by prolonged immobility. Rotate the head to a healthy side;
- Scalenus anterior syndrome - occurs in patients with additional "cervical ribs".
Hypersensitivity and "creep" in the hand, whitening and coldness, sometimes swelling of the hand, weakness, hypotrophy of the muscles of the hand, and weakening of the pulse in the wrist. In severe cases, progressive paralysis or paresis of the muscles of the hand may occur. car, they can’t sleep on sore sides, they can’t lift weights, and they can’t work with their hands up (hanging curtains, plastering) They also complain of neck stiffness and pain, forced head position in the morning.
- Middle squamous muscle syndrome. First there is pain in the shoulder, in the region of the shoulder blade, then muscle hypotrophy begins there. The mechanism is associated with damage to the long nerve of the trunk and the transverse artery of the neck;
- Shoulder-rib syndrome (shoulder-lifting muscle levator levator syndrome). At first, there are aching pains in the area of the shoulder blade that "rumble. " It also gives pain to the shoulder, which often hurts "in the weather. " A crackle is usually heard when the shoulder blade is moved.
Thus, it is clear that many processes that begin in the neck or in the immediate vicinity of its structures appear "in the periphery, " such as the hand. This requires a thoughtful and knowledgeable approach from the physician. By introducing MRI into clinical practice.
Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis
Modern therapy for vertebrogenic cervicalgia and the associated compression and muscle syndromes provides short-term medication. Treatment of exacerbations of osteochondrosis of the cervical region rapidly transitions to a phase of exacerbation, in contrast to which the main treatments are kinesiotherapy and physiotherapy.
Ointments and drugs for exacerbation
As you know, "injections", ointments and even blockades have not been deleted. But the neck is the focus of many nerves, blood vessels, autonomic fibers, fascia. Therefore, blockades are less common here than in the case of acute back or back pain. In addition, the thin skin of the neck allows for faster absorption of gels, creams and ointments than in the lumbar spine.
Among the drugs, injectable forms of NSAIDs are used, preferably selective, centrally acting muscle relaxants, group B vitamins.
It should be borne in mind that if non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used, it is essential to protect the gastrointestinal mucosa during treatment with antisecretory drugs.
As for topical treatment, there are currently a lot of ointments, gels and creams containing NSAIDs, bee and snake venom, as well as cooling and painkillers. The point is not to use very hot ointments. They can cause an increase in blood pressure, flushing of the face, or even a hypertensive crisis in old age. It is desirable to treat ointments prophylactically without having to wait for the next exacerbation.
About Shants collar
In the initial stage, the acute stage, the neck should be protected from unnecessary movements. The Shants collar is excellent for this. Many people make two mistakes when buying a collar. It is not selected on the basis of its size, which is why it simply does not perform its function, it causes an unpleasant feeling.
The second common mistake is to wear it for a long time for prophylactic purposes. This leads to weakness in the neck muscles and only causes additional problems. The collar has only two markings that can be worn in its presence:
- Appearance of acute pain in the neck, stiffness and spread of pain to the head;
- If you are going to do physical work in complete safety where there is a risk of your neck being "pulled out" and getting worse, such as repairing a car when you lie under it or washing your windows when you need to reach out and take an uncomfortable position.
It is necessary to wear the collar for up to 2-3 days, as prolonged wearing can cause venous stagnation in the neck muscle when it is time for the patient to activate.
Patient activation
Kinesiotherapy (movement therapy) includes therapeutic exercises and swimming. The gymnastics of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is not focused on the cartilage discs at all, but on the surrounding muscles. Its function is to relieve tonic cramps, improve blood flow and normalize venous outflow. This leads to a decrease in muscle tone, a decrease in the severity of the pain, and stiffness in the back.
In addition to massages, swimming and acupuncture treatments, it is recommended to buy an orthopedic mattress and a special pillow. The cushion for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine should be made of a special material with "shape memory. "It is responsible for relaxing the neck and suboccipital muscles and preventing nocturnal blood flow disorders in the vertebrobasilar pelvis.
Autumn is an important stop in the prevention and treatment of home physiotherapy products and devices - from infrared and magnetic devices to the most common needle applicators and ebonite discs, which are sources of weak electrical currents during massage that have a beneficial effect on the patient.
What is the next step?
Statistics show that the peoples of the Mediterranean, who swim in the sea often and at any age, are often better off with diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
However, in order to prevent osteochondrosis, in addition to eliminating risk factors, you also need a healthy diet based on sour milk, plant foods, seafood, fiber, and plenty of fluids. This slows down the age-related dehydration of the intervertebral discs and maintains a healthy neck and back until the most advanced years.