Cervical osteochondrosisis a disease that is a process of malnutrition or progressive 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 find it difficult to turn your head when someone calls you on the street, if your neck literally does not hold and only hurts, then it's time to check yourself for osteochondrosis.
It is the cervical part that is most susceptible to injury, since it is the most mobile and at the same time has a weak muscular corset.The body creates a significant load on the small moving vertebrae.And the spinal canal itself is quite narrow.It pinches easily under any pressure.
Thousands of people feel heaviness in the back of their heads or tingling in their hands every day.And, ignoring the danger, they call such physiological manifestations fatigue, and sometimes colds.The neck region contains many blood vessels and nerve endings.With osteochondrosis, the vertebral artery is compressed, which supplies the cerebellum, medulla oblongata and posterior parts of the brain.As a result, a person's coordination of movements becomes ineffective, the sense of balance may be lost, vision decreases, hearing deteriorates, and this phenomenon sometimes leads to a stroke.
Do.According to WHO statistics, people aged 30-40 years increasingly suffer from cervical osteochondrosis.Doctors explain this trend by 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 a herniated intervertebral disc, osteophytes (growths of bone tissue) or a thickened spinal ligament.As a result, blood circulation in the affected area is disrupted.The person begins to feel constrained and experiences noticeable pain in the cervical spine.Numbness and tingling are detected in the upper and lower limbs
- Radicular syndrome: compression of the nerve roots by the intervertebral disc.This leads to headaches, expressed by painful, burning or pulsating impulses, sometimes the sensations are similar to the symptoms of hypertension.With this syndrome, slurred speech and impaired sense of smell, hypertrophy of the facial muscles, damage to the sensitivity of the tongue muscles, and a feeling of “clogging” of the throat with lumps may occur.Breathing becomes intermittent, a person suffers from snoring, and his nose is often, seemingly for no reason, “stuffed”.
- Vertebral artery syndrome: formed by compression (compression) of the vertebral artery.Its main companion is throbbing pain.Attacks can affect the parietal lobe, the area above the eyebrows, the temporal and occipital lobes.
- Cardiac syndrome:resembles attacks of angina, but their duration is much longer.The pain is reflected in the diaphragm.This phenomenon is accompanied in some individual cases by high blood pressure and arrhythmia.
The main reasons for the development of the disease
- Metabolism problems;
- Lifestyle with low physical activity;
- Hereditary predisposition;
- Age-related ossification;
- Pinching in the muscles, causing changes in posture;
- Lack of fluid 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 strain on the spine from wearing heels;
- All kinds of spinal injuries;
- Regular lifting of weights;
- Autoimmune diseases (self-destruction process of the immune system), which lead to 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 the cervical region during the initial examination of the patient.The expert will determine:
- Human body type;
- Posture;
- Line of spinous processes;
- Lateral cervical contours and scapula angle;
- Location of pain points and pain level;
- Range of spinal flexibility
- Muscle relief.
All of this together will tell you exactly how the disease is progressing.Next, the doctor will prescribe a number 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 of cervical osteochondrosis
The doctor will help you choose the most optimal solution to the problem.And he will offer you various treatment methods: medication in combination with physiotherapy, or he will prescribe a gentle operation for your body.
Conservative treatment– It is above all a medicinal treatment.It relieves pain, relieves muscle tension and extinguishes inflammation.For these purposes, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and painkillers are prescribed.The list of prescriptions also includes chondroprotectors to activate the regeneration processes of the cartilage 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 gymnastic exercises - to strengthen the muscular corset and develop the flexibility of the ligamentous apparatus.He can conduct an introductory lesson with you so that you can perform the exercises correctly on your own in the future.
Surgical treatmentIt is appropriate in case medications and physical intervention are unavoidable.People turn to him if the patient's spinal canal has become catastrophically narrow.The surgical procedure 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 together.This is called spondylodesis.For better adhesion, a specialist can perform a stabilization operation with a cage, that is, the intervertebral space is filled with an artificial insert.
After 3 to 5 days, the operated patient is discharged from the hospital for outpatient treatment.Rehabilitation lasts on average around 3 months and depends on the implant placed and the professional activity of the patient.
What is the best way to build a lifestyle for a person diagnosed with osteochondrosis of the neck?
The daily routine should include mandatory walking, while jumping and running should be avoided.Spending time in a sitting position for a long period of time is contraindicated;swimming is beneficial: it not only strengthens muscle tone, but also relieves spasms that constrain the body.In the evening, it would be wise to take a hot shower (except during the period of treatment of the cervical spine during an exacerbation of the disease).It is also important to watch 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 go to the sauna during an exacerbation of osteochondrosis?
Warming usually benefits the patient, but after intense steaming you will want to avoid submerging the patient in cold water.You should also not run outside in the cold.Otherwise, the disease will get worse.Cervical osteochondrosis is sensitive to any temperature changes, including climatic ones.For example, the fall cold can harm a person's well-being.
What complications can occur after cervical osteochondrosis?
If you do not start 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 then take the form of a herniation.Nerve roots in the neck area may be injured.Osteophytes (bony growths on the vertebrae) may also appear.Complications often include muscle weakening or paresis – a condition in which the head begins to hang to the side or forward.In this section, in the processes of the cervical vertebrae, there are the vertebral arteries that supply the brain with blood.The disruption 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 the problem is addressed at an early stage of its development, the disease can be avoided.
Why do you need a Shants collar?
This is an orthopedic brace made of flexible material, used to immobilize the neck during the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis.But you cannot wear such a neck fixation device for a long time, because the muscles can 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 vertebrae to move and maintains the corrective effect after a massage session.It takes the weight of the head and distributes it equally between the collarbone and the base of the neck.At the same time, the head remains in the correct position.