Cervical osteochondrosis is one of the most dangerous types of neurological diseases. What is this disease and how does it manifest? What measures can be taken to prevent this situation? How is cervical osteochondrosis treated? You will find the answers to these questions in this article.
Disease characteristics
Osteochondrosis is usually a degenerative change of the intervertebral disc, which in turn affects the bone tissue and nervous system. What will happen to this disease? In the metabolism, the cartilage disc, which begins to play a shock-absorbing function in the spine structure, begins to become dehydrated or simply dehydrated. The nucleus begins to press on the ring surrounding it, and the intervertebral disc extends beyond the vertebrae. This phenomenon is called protruding. If the membrane ruptures, an intervertebral hernia will occur, which is even more dangerous.
Cervical osteochondrosis is a disease that brings a lot of pain and discomfort to people’s lives. Unlike the thoracic and lumbar spine, the cervical spine is more mobile, they are the smallest, and are constantly affected by pressure. The disease most often affects these specific parts of the spine. A large number of nerves and blood branches are concentrated in the cervical spine. An important vertebral artery passes through here, transporting nutrients to the brain. The development of spinal cord or cerebral ischemia and stroke makes the contraction of blood vessels dangerous. If this artery and nerve fiber passing through the cervical spine are affected, the person will lose accurate motor coordination, hearing and vision will be weakened, often dizzy, and observe various neurological diseases, which will be discussed below.
Reason
Cervical osteochondrosis occurs even at a young age. What causes the development of the disease? Even in people under 30, what causes the onset of the disease? The treatment of cervical osteochondrosis requires a lot of time and patience for two reasons:
- Underpowered or sedentary lifestyle;
- Malnutrition.
As a result, the entire body, especially the metabolism (metabolism) in the bones and cartilage tissues was violated, the salt in the blood rose, and they did not find a way out, but took refuge in the kidney, liver and cervical spine tissues. By". Unbalanced diet can lead to lack of nutrients in cartilage, leading to pathological changes in the intervertebral disc. Osteochondrosis is particularly vulnerable to high-risk groups.
Let us name these factors, the presence of these factors will increase the likelihood of developing this disease:
- Heredity;
- Age after 40;
- Overweight;
- Frequent hypothermia (they say "Don't let your neck get cold! " is not unfounded);
- The endocrine system malfunctions, destroying the metabolism;
- Spinal injury;
- Systemic lupus erythematosus;
- Rheumatism;
- The nature of the activity-drivers, office workers, cashiers, athletes, people engaged in hard physical labor.
Symptoms
How does cervical osteochondrosis manifest? The symptoms of the disease and the nature of the pain produced depend on the area of damage. In this regard, the following states may appear:
- Vertebral artery syndrome;
- Hypertension syndrome;
- Root nerve syndrome;
- Neck migraine syndrome.
Let us look at each of them. For vertebral artery syndrome, severe headaches have already appeared in the early stages. A person is often dizzy, gait becomes unstable, and vision declines. Sudden head movement can cause loss of consciousness. The apical syndrome is characterized by multiple manifestations. These include:
- neck pain or severe neck pain;
- Crunches when you turn your head;
- Weakness and tinnitus;
- Numbness and soreness in the arm;
- Hearing and visual dysfunction;
- Tinnitus;
- Swelling and numbness of the tongue.
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The development of cerebral hypoxia (hypoxia). Cervical osteochondrosis usually manifests as arrhythmia, loss of a uniform heart rhythm. The squeezing of the lateral vertebral artery results in vegetative dystonia.
Diagnosis
The first step in diagnosing cervical osteochondrosis is to examine the patient. The neuropathologist visually inspects the state of the spine, back muscles and posture, and detects the presence of prominent spinous processes. During palpation, the doctor will be able to understand the area affected by the pain based on the patient's response. Use the diagnostic method from the hardware:
- Radiography;
- Computer tomography;
- Magnetic resonance imaging;
- Doppler imaging.
Treatment
Your doctor will tell you how to treat cervical osteochondrosis without harming your body. The following are the basic rules and recommendations for dealing with this unpleasant disease, but the beginning of successful treatment is to see a neurologist. There are a wide range of treatment methods for cervical osteochondrosis. Where:
- Medication;
- Physiotherapy;
- Traditional Medicine;
- Practice.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is the most dangerous because the important arteries that carry blood to the brain tissue pass through the vertebrae at this location. Therefore, you must be solely responsible for taking the medication and complying with the doctor's prescription.
Medications
How to treat cervical osteochondrosis with drugs? The medical treatment of this disease includes the following means:
- painkillers;
- Anti-inflammatory;
- Vitamins;
- Cartilage protection agent.
Analgesics can help relieve the pain symptoms during the worsening period of cervical osteochondrosis, and the use time is very short. The attending physician can prescribe tramadol, tolperisone hydrochloride, and etorocoxib as anesthetics. If there is very severe pain, lidocaine injection can be used.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are designed to reduce inflammation, including diclofenac, ibuprofen, and piroxicam. These funds are also used from outside. These are various ointments and gels: "Diclofenac" and so on. Among vitamins, as far as the maintenance therapy of osteochondrosis is concerned, the most valuable vitamin is B vitamins, which can reduce the sensitivity of tissues and weaken the neurological manifestations of the disease.
Cartilage protector
They are formulated by pharmacists to restore cartilage tissue. There are two active substances that make up this class of drugs-glucosamine and chondroitin. Both compounds can be contained in one formulation, or they can be used separately. Examples of chondroprotective agents: glucosamine patch, chondroitin sulfate ointment, etc. These funds should be used for a long time, at least 3-6 months, otherwise you may not be able to achieve the expected results.
Blocked
In the case of severe pain, injecting medicine directly into the lesion can help relieve the patient's condition. This injection is called blockade. Usually a mixture of drugs is used as a medicine. One of them has analgesic effect and the other is designed to relieve inflammation. The blockade can only be done by a highly qualified doctor, never do it yourself! This will not only damage the patient's health, but also threaten his life. This injection is done in two ways:
- Inject drugs into the ligaments and tissues around the joints;
- is injected directly into the intervertebral disc.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is very effective for cervical osteochondrosis. They promote recovery and have beneficial effects on the entire body. Before discussing them, we listed the contraindications of physical therapy:
- Tumors, tumor diseases;
- Blood diseases;
- Acute skin disease;
- Take drugs that can enhance the effectiveness of physical therapy.
How to use physical therapy to treat cervical osteochondrosis? In this regard, the use of many methods has good results. For example, shock wave therapy is the application of sound waves to lesions. It reduces inflammation, swelling, pain, stimulates collagen synthesis and improves tissue metabolism. Laser therapy, magnetic therapy, ultrasound therapy, vibration therapy are also used. The effect of low-voltage pulse current or dynamic therapy on the painful area can reduce the severity of pain. The electrophoresis of the drug "Procaine" produces analgesic effects during the exacerbation period. Other physical therapy methods are irradiating the affected area with ultraviolet rays and performing spinal traction or extensor therapy.
Physiotherapy practice
Gymnastics for cervical osteochondrosis enables you to obtain tangible results. It is important to use it only in the final stage of treatment, because active movements in the neck area are strictly prohibited in the first and intermediate stages. When doing gymnastics, wear a supporting cotton collar in the cervical spine area. The resistance exercise is carried out with the help of a doctor. The doctor tries to tilt the patient's head with the patient's palm, and then he tries to overcome the doctor's behavior. This strengthens the muscles of the neck corset. Headrest exercises can also help. as follows. The patient lying on the sofa raises his head and holds it in this position for 5 seconds. If the pain and neurological syndrome have been overcome, then this time will rise to 40-60 seconds. Therapeutic gymnastics stipulates that the number of executions of each exercise shall not exceed 5 times in one method.
The gymnastics design for cervical osteochondrosis is:
- Improve blood supply to the affected area;
- Strengthen the muscles of the back and neck;
- Reduce the burden on the vertebrae;
- Normalize joint mobility;
- Accelerate glucose metabolism and provide active nutrition for the intervertebral cartilage discs.
In diseases such as cervical osteochondrosis, massage is needed. It refers to a manual therapy method aimed at relaxing muscles and improving blood circulation and lymphatic movement in the diseased area.
Traditional Medicine
In the treatment of diseases such as cervical osteochondrosis, folk remedies are considered to be a supplementary measure and are not the main treatment under any circumstances. The number of recipes using various herbs and products is very large. They widely use lemon, garlic, beef bur or horseradish leaves (as a dressing), dandelion root, St. John's wort, arrow grass, lavender and other products. When using traditional medicine, the patient himself is responsible for his own health.
Nutritional characteristics
How to treat cervical osteochondrosis? Many people are asking this question. But how to eat with this disease, which foods will be useful? Let's list them:
- Dairy products;
- Lean meat and fish;
- Jelly meat;
- jam;
- jelly;
- Fresh fruits and vegetables;
- The source of vitamin B-liver, walnuts, brown rice, broccoli, buckwheat, brewer's yeast, green vegetables, kidneys;
- Complex carbohydrates-whole wheat bread, grains, vegetables;
- Vegetable fats-olive, sunflower, linseed oil.
Don’t forget about products that may be harmful in the treatment of osteochondrosis. Do not overuse sweets, baked goods, alcohol, smoked meats and savoury foods, spicy foods, animal fats, coffee and strong teas. Remove sugar, potatoes and white bread from the menu.
Prevention
Don’t neglect your morning exercises and stretch your neck during the working day. It helps to improve blood circulation, thereby ensuring the supply of nutrients to cartilage tissue and relaxing muscles. Exercise more-jogging regularly, fitness classes are considered to be an important measure to prevent osteochondrosis. Being overweight usually induces the development of the disease, so try to follow the arrows on the scale. Don't overeating, don't overuse high-calorie foods, high-fat and high-sugar foods. Eliminate all chronic infections in the body. During sleep and rest, special attention should be paid to the correct position of the body-the neck muscles should not be squeezed.
For example, every patient should have an orthopedic pillow for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis, and this pillow can also be used to prevent diseases. Leaning on it can relax the neck muscles, and the blood vessels will not bear much pressure.
Cartilage health and diet
I would also like to mention the trend of girls and women experiencing various diets. These diets are sometimes so cruel and low in calories that the body begins to use its own tissues as a source of energy. Remember that any diet should be balanced and contain the minimum necessary nutrients, mainly protein, accompanied by vitamin and mineral intake. Otherwise, you not only risk becoming the owner of the old cartilage, which is difficult to recover in the future and very expensive, but also brings many unpleasant diseases. Remember, the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis will be successful only if the patient follows all the recommendations and prescriptions of the attending physician.