Cervical osteochondrosis- This is a disease, which is a process of violation of nutrition or the gradual destruction of the cartilage tissue of the intervertebral joints and neck discs.
How to wear your head on your shoulders with ease?
If it is difficult for you to turn your head when your name is on the street, if your neck does not literally hold the word and causes you only pain, then it is time to check yourself for osteochondrosis.
It is the cervical part that is most prone to injuries, since it is the most mobile and at the same time has a weak muscle corset. On small mobile vertebrae, the body creates a large load. And the spinal canal itself is quite narrow. It is easily squeezed at any pressure on it.
Thousands of people feel the severity in the back of the head or tingling in their hands. And, not suspecting the danger, they call such physiological manifestations with fatigue, and a nearby common cold. A lot of blood vessels and nerve endings are concentrated in the neck. With osteochondrosis, the vertebral artery is squeezed, which provides nutrition of the cerebellum, an oblong brain and the back of the brain. As a result, a person’s coordination of movements fail, a loss of a sense of equilibrium is possible, vision falls, hearing worsens, and sometimes this phenomenon leads to a stroke.
Fact. According to WHO statistics, people aged 30 to 40 years suffer from cervical osteochondrosis. Doctors explain this trend with a mass decrease in physical activity. And the prevalence of this ailment in industrialized countries is equated with 60-80%.
Syndromes and symptoms of osteochondrosis
- Stenosis (narrowing syndrome of the spinal canal): squeezing the vessels of the spinal cord of the hernia of the intervertebral discs, osteophytes (bone tissue growths) or thickened vertebral ligament. As a result, blood circulation in the affected area is disturbed. A person begins to feel constrained, feels a noticeable pain in the cervical spine. In the upper and lower extremities, numbness and tingling are found
- Rook syndrome: squeezing the intertebral nerve roots. This leads to headaches expressed in aching, burning or pulsating impulses, sometimes sensations are similar to the symptoms of hypertension. In this syndrome, speech defects and impaired smell, hypertrophy of the facial muscles, damage to the sensitivity of the linguistic muscles, a sense of "clogging" of the throat with lumps can occur. Breathing becomes interruption, a person suffers from snoring, he often, it would seem unreasonably, "laid" his nose.
- Vail artery syndrome: It is formed during compression (compression) of the vertebral artery. Its main satellite is pulsating pain. Attacks can capture the parietal share, the area above the eyebrows, the temporal and occipital shares.
- Cardial syndrome:It resembles attacks of angina pectoris, but their duration is much larger. Pain is reflected in the diaphragm. In some individuals, this phenomenon is accompanied by increased blood pressure, arrhythmia.
The main causes of the development of the disease
- Malfunctions in metabolism;
- Lifestyle with low motor activity;
- Hereditary predisposition;
- Age -related ossification;
- Clamps in the muscles, as a result of which the posture changes;
- Lack of fluid and vitamins in daily diet;
- A long stay in an uncomfortable position that increases the pressure on the discs and the spine;
- Overweight or overload to the spine due to wearing heels;
- All kinds of transmitted spinal injuries;
- Regular weight lifting;
- Autoimmune diseases (the process of self -destruction of the immune system), which lead to degeneration of cartilage tissue;
- Stress, which leads to muscle spasms and a violation of blood flow to Intervertebral discs;
- Hypothermia.
Diagnosis of cervical osteochondrosis
The starting diagnosis of "osteochondrosis of the cervical-thoracic department" or just the cervical department can make a doctor already during the initial examination of the patient. The expert will determine:
- Type of physique of a person;
- Posture;
- Line of spinous processes;
- Cervical lateral contours and angle of location of the shoulder blades;
- Localization of pain points and the level of pain;
- The amplitude of the flexibility of the spine
- Muscle relief.
All this together will tell you exactly how the disease flows. Further, the doctor will send to a number of examinations:
- Digital radiography;
- CT (computed tomography);
- MRI (magnetic resonance imaging);
- Ultrasound dopplerography of the main arteries of the brain: a special ultrasonic sensor determines the condition of blood flow and walls of blood vessels.
The treatment methodology for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine
The doctor will help choose the most optimal solution to the problem. And he will offer a variety of treatment methods: medication in combination with physiotherapy or prescribes an operation sparing for your body.
Conservative treatment- This is, first of all, drug therapy. She relieves pain, relieves muscle tension and extinguishes inflammation. For such purposes, non -steroidal anti -inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics are prescribed. Chondroproprotectors also fall into the recipe list to activate recovery processes in the cartilage tissue of the joint, as well as group B vitamins and external drugs: gels and ointments containing NSAIDs.
Physiotherapy, in its turn, saturates the nutrient medium of the cartilage tissue of the intervertebral disc and contributes to the regeneration of cartilage. The doctor will also write out exercises for therapeutic gymnastics - to strengthen the muscle corset and develop the flexibility of the ligament apparatus. You can conduct an introductory lesson with you so that you will properly perform exercises correctly yourself.
Surgical treatmentIt is appropriate if drug and physical effects cannot be dispensed with. It is turned to him if the patient has a spinal canal catastrophically narrow. Operational intervention is called anterior cervical discoctomy. The surgeon immobilizes the affected spinal segment and removes the Intervertebral hernia, which presses on the spinal nerve. Over time, the vertebrae, between which the disk was removed, are fed. This is called Spondylodesis. For more of them, a specialist can conduct an operation with cage stabilization - that is, Intervertebral space is filled with an artificial insert.
After 3-5 days, the operated one is prescribed from the hospital for outpatient treatment. Rehabilitation takes an average of about 3 months and depends on the established implant and professional activity of the patient.
What is the best way to build a human lifestyle with a diagnosis of neck osteochondrosis?
The daily routine should include mandatory walks, while jumps and running are better to avoid. It is contraindicated for a long time to spend time in a sitting position, swimming is useful - it not only strengthens muscle tone, but also relieves spasms constraining the body. In the evening it will not be superfluous to take a hot shower (with the exception of the treatment period of the cervical region during the exacerbation of the disease). It is important to follow the diet. Use products saturated with magnesium and calcium - nuts, dairy and seafood, legumes. We'll have to abandon alcohol.
Is it possible to visit the sauna during the exacerbation of osteochondrosis?
Usually heating is beneficial to the patient, but after increased praise, you will have to refuse to dive into cold water. You can’t run out of frost. Otherwise, an exacerbation of the disease will occur. Cervical osteochondrosis is sensitive to any temperature differences, including climatic. For example, autumn chilling can negatively affect the well -being of a person.
What complications can arise after osteochondrosis of the cervical region?
If in time, when the first signs of the disease appear, not to start a course of treatment, then the neck may stop obeying you in the literal sense of the word. And the complications of this disease are quite serious. There is a risk of protrusion - the so -called "protrusion" of the intervertebral disc outside the spine, which is subsequently able to acquire the shape of a hernia. Nerve roots in the neck can be injured. Or osteophytes (bone growths on the vertebrae) will appear. The words are often weakening of muscles or paresis - a state when the head begins to hang to the side or forward. In this department, in the processes of the cervical vertebrae, the vertebral arteries that feed the brain with blood are located. Violation of this blood circulation is one of the most serious phenomena. Unwillingness to be treated can lead to neuralgia, deafness and even loss of vision. But if you deal with the solution of the issue even at the early stage of its development, then the disease can be prevented.
Why do you need a chantsis collar?
This is an orthopedic latch made of flexible material, which is used to immobilize the neck in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis. But it is impossible to wear such a device for fixing the neck for a long time, since the muscles can weaken over time, and you will get used to involuntarily tilt the head to the sides without additional support. The chansa reset does not allow the vertebrae to shift and retains the corrective effect after the massage session. He takes over the weight of the head and distributes it equally to the collarbone and the base of the neck. At the same time, the head remains in the right position.