Cervical osteochondrosisis a disease that is a process of malnutrition or gradual destruction of the cartilage 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 doesn’t hold up and only causes you pain, 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 muscle corset.The body creates a large load on small moving vertebrae.And the spinal canal itself is quite narrow.It is easily pinched under any pressure on it.
Thousands of people feel a heaviness in the back of their head or tingling in their hands every day.And, unaware of the danger, they call such physiological manifestations fatigue, and sometimes a common cold.The neck area contains many blood vessels and nerve endings.With osteochondrosis, the vertebral artery is compressed, which provides nutrition to the cerebellum, medulla oblongata and posterior parts of the brain.As a result, a person’s coordination of movements becomes ineffective, a sense of balance may be lost, vision decreases, hearing deteriorates, and sometimes this phenomenon leads to a stroke.
Fact.According to WHO statistics, people aged 30 to 40 years are increasingly suffering from cervical osteochondrosis.Doctors explain this trend by a massive decrease in physical activity.And the prevalence of this disease in industrialized countries is equal to 60-80%.
Syndromes and symptoms of osteochondrosis
- Stenosis (narrowing syndrome of the spinal canal): compression of spinal cord vessels 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 constrained and experiences noticeable pain in the cervical spine.Numbness and tingling are detected in the upper and lower extremities
- Radicular syndrome: compression of the nerve roots by the intervertebral disc.This leads to headaches, expressed in aching, burning or pulsating impulses, sometimes the sensations are similar to the symptoms of hypertension.With this syndrome, speech defects and disturbances in the 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 often, seemingly for no reason, is “stuffed up.”
- Vertebral artery syndrome: formed by compression (squeezing) of the vertebral artery.Its main companion is throbbing 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 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;
- Clamps in the muscles, as a result of which posture changes;
- 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 due to wearing heels;
- All kinds of spinal injuries;
- Regular lifting of weights;
- 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 impaired blood flow to the intervertebral discs;
- Hypothermia.
Diagnosis of cervical osteochondrosis
The doctor can 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 position;
- Line of the spinous processes;
- Cervical lateral contours and the angle of the shoulder blades;
- Localization of pain points and level of pain;
- Spinal flexibility range
- Muscle relief.
All this together will tell you exactly how the disease progresses.Next, the doctor will order a number of examinations:
- 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.
Treatment method 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: medication in combination with physiotherapy, or he will prescribe an operation that is gentle on your body.
Conservative treatment– This is, first of all, drug therapy.It relieves pain, relieves muscle tension and extinguishes inflammation.For such purposes, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics are prescribed.The prescription list also includes chondroprotectors to activate regenerative processes in 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 cartilage tissue of the intervertebral disc and promotes cartilage regeneration.The doctor will also prescribe exercises for therapeutic gymnastics - to strengthen the muscle corset and develop the flexibility of the ligament 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 the event that medication and physical intervention are unavoidable.People turn to him if the patient’s spinal canal has become catastrophically narrow.The surgical intervention was called anterior cervical discectomy.The surgeon immobilizes the affected spinal segment and removes the intervertebral hernia, which is pressing on the spinal nerve.Over time, the vertebrae between which the disc was removed become fused.This is called spondylodesis.For greater adhesion, a specialist can perform an operation with stabilization with a cage - that is, the intervertebral space is filled with an artificial insert.
After 3-5 days, the operated patient is discharged from the hospital for outpatient treatment.Rehabilitation takes on average about 3 months and depends on the implant 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 time in a sitting position for a long 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 a good idea to take a hot shower (except for 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'll have to give up alcohol.
Is it possible to visit the sauna during an exacerbation of osteochondrosis?
Warming usually benefits the patient, but after intense steaming you will have to avoid immersion in cold water.You should also not run out into the cold.Otherwise, the disease will worsen.Cervical osteochondrosis is sensitive to any temperature changes, including climatic ones.For example, autumn chilliness can negatively affect a person’s well-being.
What complications may arise after cervical osteochondrosis?
If you do not start a course of treatment in time, when the first signs of the disease appear, then 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 may be injured.Or osteophytes (bone growths on the vertebrae) may appear. Complications often include weakening of muscles or paresis - a condition when the head begins to hang to the side or forward.In this section, in the processes of the cervical vertebrae, there are vertebral arteries that supply the brain with blood.Disruption of this blood circulation is one of the most serious phenomena.Reluctance to undergo treatment can lead to neuralgia, deafness and even loss of vision.But if you address the issue at an early stage of its development, the disease can be prevented.
Why do you need a Shants collar?
This is an orthopedic brace made of flexible material, which is used to immobilize the neck in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis.But you cannot wear such a device for fixing the neck for a long time, since 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 vertebrae to move and retains the corrective effect after a massage session.It takes the weight of the head and distributes it equally to the collarbone and base of the neck.At the same time, the head remains in the correct position.