Cervical osteochondrosisis a disease that is a process of malnutrition or gradual destruction of the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral joints and discs of the neck.
How to carry your head on your shoulders with ease?
If you have difficulty turning your head when someone calls you on the street, if your neck literally does not hold and only causes pain, then it's time to check yourself for osteochondrosis.
It is the cervical part most susceptible to injury, since it is the most mobile and at the same time has a weak muscle corset.The body creates a large load on small moving vertebrae.And the spinal canal itself is quite narrow.It pinches easily under any pressure on it.
Thousands of people feel a feeling of heaviness in the back of their head or tingling in their hands every day.And, unaware of the danger, they call such physiological manifestations tiredness and sometimes the common cold.The neck area contains many blood vessels and nerve endings.With osteochondrosis, the vertebral artery is compressed, providing nutrition to the cerebellum, medulla oblongata and the posterior parts of the brain.As a result, the coordination of a person's movements becomes ineffective, a sense of balance may be lost, vision decreases, hearing deteriorates, and sometimes this phenomenon leads to a stroke.
Done.According to WHO statistics, people aged 30-40 are increasingly suffering from cervical osteochondrosis.Doctors explain this trend with a massive decrease in physical activity.And the prevalence of this disease in industrialized countries is 60-80%.
Syndromes and symptoms of osteochondrosis
- Stenosis (spinal canal narrowing syndrome): compression of the vessels of the spinal cord by herniated intervertebral discs, osteophytes (growths of bone tissue) or thickened spinal ligament.As a result, blood circulation in the affected area is disrupted.The person begins to feel constricted and experiences significant pain in the cervical spine.Numbness and tingling are noted in the upper and lower limbs
- Radicular syndrome: compression of the nerve roots by the intervertebral disc.This leads to headache, expressed in aching, burning or pulsating pulses, sometimes the sensations are similar to the symptoms of hypertension.With this syndrome, speech defects and smell disorders, hypertrophy of the facial muscles, damage to the sensitivity of the tongue muscles and a sensation of "clogging" of the throat with lumps can occur.Breathing becomes intermittent, the person snores, and his nose often, seemingly for no reason, is "stuffed".
- Vertebral artery syndrome: formed by compression (squeezing) of the vertebral artery.Its main companion is excruciating pain.Attacks can involve the parietal lobe, the area above the eyebrows, the temporal and occipital lobes.
- Cardiac syndrome:resembles angina attacks, but their duration is much longer.The pain is reflected in the diaphragm.This phenomenon in some individual cases is accompanied by hypertension and arrhythmia.
The main reasons for the development of the disease
- Metabolism problems;
- Lifestyle with little physical activity;
- Hereditary predisposition;
- Age-related ossification;
- Clamps in the muscles, as a result of which the posture changes;
- Lack of liquids and vitamins in the daily diet;
- Staying in an uncomfortable position for a long time, which increases pressure on the discs and spine;
- Excess weight or tension on the spine due to heels;
- All types of spinal injuries;
- Regular weight lifting;
- Autoimmune diseases (the process of self-destruction of the immune system), which lead to the degeneration of cartilage tissue;
- Stress, which leads to muscle spasms and impaired blood flow to the intervertebral discs;
- Hypothermia.
Diagnosis of cervical osteochondrosis
The doctor may make the initial diagnosis of “osteochondrosis of the cervicothoracic region” or simply of the cervical region during the initial examination of the patient.The expert will determine:
- Human body type;
- Posture position;
- Spinous process line;
- Cervical lateral contours and angle of the scapulae;
- Location of painful points and level of pain;
- Spinal flexibility range
- Muscle relief.
All this together will tell you exactly how the disease progresses.Next, your doctor will order a series of tests:
- Digital radiography;
- CT (computed tomography);
- MRI (magnetic resonance imaging);
- Doppler ultrasound of the main arteries of the brain: a special ultrasound sensor determines the state of blood flow and vessel walls.
Method of treatment for cervical osteochondrosis
The doctor will help you choose the most optimal solution to the problem.And he will offer a variety of treatment methods: drugs in combination with physiotherapy, or he will prescribe a gentle operation on your body.
Conservative treatment– This is, first of all, a drug therapy.It relieves pain, relieves muscle tension and extinguishes inflammation.For this purpose, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics are prescribed.The list of prescriptions also includes chondroprotectors to activate regenerative processes in the cartilaginous tissue of the joint, as well as B vitamins and external preparations: gels and ointments containing NSAIDs.
Physiotherapy, in turn, saturates the nutrient medium of the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral disc and promotes cartilage regeneration.The doctor will also prescribe therapeutic gymnastics exercises - to strengthen the muscular corset and develop the flexibility of the ligament system.He can conduct an introductory class with you so that you can correctly perform the exercises on your own in the future.
Surgical treatmentIt is appropriate when medications and physical intervention are unavoidable.People turn to him if the patient's spinal canal has become catastrophically narrowed.The surgery was called anterior cervical discectomy.The surgeon immobilizes the affected spinal segment and removes the intervertebral hernia that is pressing on the spinal nerve.Over time, the vertebrae between which the disc was removed fuse.This is called spondylodesis.For greater adhesion, a specialist can perform a stabilization operation with a cage, that is, filling the intervertebral space with an artificial insert.
After 3-5 days, the operated patient is discharged from the hospital for outpatient treatment.Rehabilitation lasts about 3 months on average and depends on the system installed and the patient's professional activity.
What is the best way to build a lifestyle for a person diagnosed with neck osteochondrosis?
The daily routine should include mandatory walking, while jumping and running should be avoided.Spending a long time in a sitting position is contraindicated;swimming is beneficial: it not only strengthens muscle tone, but also relieves spasms that constrict the body.In the evening it would be a good idea to take a warm shower (with the exception of the period of treatment of the cervical spine during a flare-up of the disease).It is also important to pay attention to your diet.Eat foods rich in magnesium and calcium: nuts, dairy and seafood, legumes.You will have to give up alcohol.
Is it possible to visit the sauna during an exacerbation of osteochondrosis?
Heating usually benefits the patient, but after intense steaming, immersion in cold water should be avoided.Also, you shouldn't run outside in the cold.Otherwise the disease will get worse.Cervical osteochondrosis is sensitive to any temperature changes, including climatic ones.For example, autumn cold can negatively affect a person's well-being.
What complications can arise after cervical osteochondrosis?
If you do not start a course of treatment on time, when the first signs of the disease appear, your neck may stop listening to 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 beyond the spine, which can subsequently take the form of a hernia.Nerve roots in the neck area can be injured.Or osteophytes (bony growths on the vertebrae) may appear.Complications often include weakening of the muscles or paresis, a condition in which the head begins to tilt to the side or forward.In this section, in the processes of the cervical vertebrae, there are vertebral arteries that supply blood to the brain.The interruption of this blood circulation is one of the most serious phenomena.Reluctance to undergo treatment can lead to neuralgia, deafness and even vision loss.But if you address the problem at the initial stage of its development, the disease can be prevented.
Why do you need a Shants collar?
It is an orthopedic brace made of flexible material, which is used to immobilize the neck in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis.But you can not wear such a device to fix your neck for a long time, as the muscles may weaken over time, and you will get used to involuntarily tilting your head to the sides without additional support.The Shants collar does not allow the movement of the vertebrae and maintains the corrective effect after a massage session.It takes the weight of your head and distributes it equally across your collarbone and base of your neck.At the same time, the head remains in the correct position.