Osteochondrosis refers to degenerative diseases of the spine that include
Dystrophy, deformation and gradual erasure of vertebrae.This can lead to pain, a number of unpleasant consequences and in advanced cases even damage.It is important to pay attention to your health and consult a doctor immediately if suspicious symptoms occur.
The cervical and thoracic spine are more affected by the lumbar spine, but the appearance of osteochondrosis in these areas can be filled with serious consequences.Due to the proximity of the cervical spine to the head, it sometimes develops a disorder of the blood supply to the brain, leading to many complications.In addition, changes can lead to damage to the nerve roots, which causes the patient to experience severe pain and numbness.
Reasons for appearance
Osteochondrosis occurs in a very large number of people, especially these days, when the city's residents do not have adequate physical activity, proper nutrition and posture.The causes that can provoke the development of osteochondrosis of the cervical and thoracic areas include:
- Age -related changes;
- genetic predisposition;
- A sedentary lifestyle, physical inaction;
- posture disorders;
- Serious excess weight;
- Injuries;
- overload;
- flat legs and other imperfections of the musculoskeletal system;
- stress and bad habits;
- Hypothermia on the back and prolonged exposure to the cold.
Recently, osteochondrosis has become increasingly observed in young people, which is mainly associated with an unhealthy lifestyle.
Symptoms of cervicothorakal osteochondrosis
Like most chronic diseases, osteochondrosis of the cervical and thoracic areas is quite inspection and does not appear immediately.In the early stages, the patient may not notice anything other than periodic discomfort in the spine, but as the disease progresses, the symptoms worsen:
- Pain in the head or neck, which sometimes falls to the shoulder girdle and the upper limbs, and depending on the course of the disease, can be acute and painful or sick, dull, manifested in periods;
- dizziness, visual impairment and hearing, movement coordination;
- numbness, burning or tingling in the upper limbs;
- Asthenia, fatigue, loss of normal working capacity;
- Metostal neuralgia, heart pain, pressure drops.
Most of the negative symptoms are caused by the fact that the deforming areas of the spine squeeze the blood vessels and nerve roots, as a result of this normal functioning is impaired.Subsequently, such complications can lead to serious malfunctions in the body and even damage if you do not start timely treatment.
Diagnostics and treatment
The doctor begins to suspect osteochondrosis in the patient based on his / her complaints and the anamnesis collected.In order to confirm or disprove the diagnosis, the specialist prescribes diagnostic measures, the main of which is radiography of the spine in direct and lateral projection.In order to obtain more information, CT and MRI are performed: they help to track the complications on time.
With osteochondrosis of the cervical and thoracic spine, treatment is prescribed exhaustively.As a rule, it includes several basic directions:
- Medicinal therapy is mainly painkillers and anti -inflammatory ones that allow reduction in pain;In addition to them, muscle spasms, chondroprotectors to strengthen cartilage tissue and vitamins B are often prescribed to eliminate the condition of the nerve tissue;
- Physiotherapy includes massage and other procedures (ultrasound, magnetotherapy, etc.) aimed at improving the condition of the spine and eliminating the restriction of mobility;
- Therapeutic physical education allows you to activate blood flow, strengthen the muscles, thus removing excess load on the spine, bringing the body to tone and correct the stand;It also helps to reduce the pressure on the roots of the nerves.
The procedure for stretching the spine is applied periodically, aimed at returning the original shape to it.