Osteochondrosis, the symptoms and treatment of which are described below, is an illness that only representatives of the species of homo sapia suffer. The back pain is the result of the development of the straight line: due to the change in the position of the spine, the intervertebral discs are compressed and deleted over time, with uncomfortable symptoms occurring. About 60% of the planet's population suffer from osteochondrosis. Treating osteochondrosis is a fairly difficult matter, but there are methods with which you can forget pain for a long time. What kind of illness is this, what does the deformation of the intervertebral discs occur and how can you treat osteochondrosis? You can find out everything about osteochondrosis by examining this article.
What is osteochondrosis?
Many have heard that there is such a disease as osteochondrosis. What is that? The leading sign of pathology is the deformation and inflammation of the articular cartilage. Osteochondrosis, the signs of which many over 40 people can observe, can affect not only the spine, but also other joints. To understand how to treat osteochondrosis and how this disease develops, you must remember the structure of the spine.
The spine consists of 35 vertebrae, which are separated by articular cartilage. Soft cartilage ensures the flexibility of the spine and its stable position in space. The basis of the articular cartilage is intervertebral discs that are exposed to different types of loads in the process of vital activity. These charges can either be static (long stay in one position) and dynamic (running, walking quickly, jumping). Over time, the intervertebral discs are suddenly gradually abrupted due to loads, whereupon the distance between the vertebrae decreases. For this reason, a person begins to experience signs of osteochondrosis, for example pain, cannot make certain movements or remain in some poses for a long time, etc.
For what reasons develops osteochondrosis?
There is not a single cause of osteochondrosis: the disease develops due to a combination of several factors from which the main things can be distinguished:
- Hereditary disposition. Of course, the disease itself is not inherited by osteochondrosis, but in the characteristics of the bone structure: very often the causes of osteochondrosis lies in the inadequate production of certain proteins, which give cartilage resistance.
- The intervertebral osteochondrosis often provokes metabolic disorders;
- the presence of diseases of the musculoskeletal system, for example curvature of the spine or flat feet;
- The presence of an injury history in the spine: professional athletes often suffer from vertebratic osteochondrosis;
- Lack of physical activity, sitting lifestyle;
- the presence of overweight;
- Frequent loads;
- Pregnancy: In this case, the cause of osteochondrosis is an increased load on the spine.
These are the main causes of osteochondrosis that cause the development of the disease.
It is generally recognized that signs of osteochondrosis normally manifest in adulthood. In recent years, however, the disease has been "younger": the diagnosis of osteochondrosis is often made by young people, while the disease appears under the age of 15.
In most cases, the osteochondrosis of the intervertebral discs affects people with a high stature whose spine is exposed to increased loads. The emerging voltage means that the intervertebral discs are deformed, with pain and restrictions on mobility occurring, with intervertebral osteochondrosis.
Signs of osteochondrosis
Only one doctor can make a diagnosis and heal intervertebral osteochondrosis: you should not convey yourself. But everyone should know which symptoms show the possibility of osteochondrosis.
The main signs of osteochondrosis:
- A feeling of severity and pain in the back;
- the regular occurrence of "goosebumps" in the area of the lower back, neck or back;
- a feeling of pain that shoots in a certain spine;
- Pain when picking up the hands;
- The frequent attacks of dizziness;
- Nausea and noise in the ears;
- Dustiness of the limbs.
In the presence at least one of the above symptoms you should obtain medical advice. The earlier the treatment of osteochondrosis of the back, the easier it will be to get rid of the unpleasant manifestation of this disease. Is osteochondrosis treated in a late stage? The answer will be positive. How to defeat osteochondrosis will only learn after an examination in the clinic. An experienced orthopeter will recommend dealing with osteochondrosis, prescribing the necessary medication and procedures. You shouldn't be afraid: If you diagnose osteochondrosis, the treatment is quite long but effective. After all, osteochondrosis can quickly come to Naugh due to modern therapy methods and do not disturb the patient for long.
To decide how the osteochondrosis of the spine is to be treated, the doctor must determine the degree of damage to the spine. This is impossible without a complete diagnostic examination: the patient does not have enough symptoms of osteochondrosis to make a diagnosis. Diagnostic procedures such as X -Ray, MRI and CT are typically prescribed.
Varieties of osteochondrosis
There are two most common classifications of the disease. The first of them is based on the transfer of the lesion, the second - to the degree of the development of pathology.
Depending on the affected section, they differentiate:
- cervical osteochondrosis. His main symptoms are pain in the neck, dizziness and headache, chest pain that flows into the hand, a feeling of clouding in the eyes. Hypertension attacks are often observed in patients with cervical osteochondrosis;
- Osteochondrosis of the Brustr region. The Brustr region is relatively rare. Pain in this type of spinal disease is a rather rare event. Typically, patients complain about unpleasant sensations in the chest and pain in the heart, which often last as signs and symptoms of angina pectoris. Sometimes it helps to diagnose an EKG that has no disorders of the heart muscle with osteochondrosis. Typically, the cause of the osteochondrosis of the Brustr region is an injury or curvature of the spine;
- Osteochondrosis of the lumbar region. Since the lumbosacral region withstands heavy loads, the disease has a lot of effect. The main syndromes of osteochondrosis of the lumbar region are pain that is particularly severe in spring and autumn. Pain can be given in heels, caviar and knee. In the event of violations of the sciatic nerve, the patients cannot bend in one direction. If you do not start with timely treatment, osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine can be complicated by appearing a hernia. In men, the vertebral disease of the osteochondrosis of the lumbar region can be accompanied by an impaired effectiveness.
Depending on how osteochondrosis manifests itself, four stages of development of this pathology are differentiated. Of course, effective treatment of osteochondrosis with conservative methods is only possible in the early stages. The osteochondrosis of the spine develops in four stages:
- The first stage. The intervertebral discs are flattened, which takes the space between the vertebrae. Small cracks appear on the cartilage;
- The second stage. The distance between the vertebrae is reduced to such an extent that they shift relatively.
- The third stage. Intermediate swirls are gradually pressed out of the intervertebral disc. At this stage, the symptoms of osteochondrosis of the spine influence the quality of life that restrict mobility and cause considerable suffering.
- The fourth stage. Bone spikes grow between the vertebrae, which reduces the mobility of the spine. Spikes violate nerves and vessels that are near the spine, which is why the symptoms of osteochondrosis of the back are almost unbearable and forced to take great doses of painkillers. At this stage, treatment with osteochondrosis is often carried out by surgical methods.
What to do with osteochondrosis? Is it possible to get rid of unpleasant symptoms of intervertebral osteochondrosis forever, and what procedures can relieve the patient's disease? You will find the following answers.
Medicinal treatment of osteochondrosis
Is it possible to heal osteochondrosis? Many doctors say that this is impossible. However, in order to slow down the development of the disease, to alleviate the symptoms and to completely eliminate some signs of osteochondrosis. When the disease is in the early stages, conservative treatment methods are usually used: special drugs are used, physiotherapy, spa treatment and a special diet.
Medicines are used for exacerbations of osteochondrosis. Medicines help to remove the patient's concerns and to slow down the development of pathology. The main groups of drugs treated with intervertebral osteochondrosis include:
- Anti -inflammatory medication. These drugs help remove pain and limit mobility in the spine. After the unpleasant manifestations of osteochondrosis can take off, patients are advertised for tablets. As a rule, the treatment is about a month. Together with injections and tablets in the affected areas, anti -inflammatory and analgesic ointments are used.
- Musorelaxants. In the case of osteochondrosis, an intersection of the muscles occurs, which does not affect the patient's condition in the best way. With muscle axants you can remove muscle clamps and relieve unpleasant symptoms.
- Special protectors. Preparations related to this group help to slow down the process of deforming cartilage and thus slow down the development of the disease.
How can you defeat osteochondrosis of the spine? Treatment in 2-4 stages is done by additional medication:
- Vitamin complexes that accelerate the metabolism and improve fabric regeneration;
- Medicines that normalize blood flow;
- Glucocorticosteroids that reduce inflammatory processes and eliminate the swelling of the tissue;
- Stimulants that improve the metabolism.
Prescribing drugs and determining their dosage should only be the treating doctor.
Physiotherapy
Medicines work better if they are used together with physiotherapy measures. Most of the time is recommended for osteochondrosis:
- Electrophoresis. If you don't know how to heal osteochondrosis of the spine, pay attention to electrophoresis. The process helps to relax the tense muscles and save the patient from pain. Thanks to the electrophoresis, blood circulation in affected tissues and the metabolism accelerates.
- Acupuncture. The therapist acts on biologically active points with thin needles and defeats pain and inflammatory process.
- Magnetotherapy. With this method you can reduce the pain and swelling of the tissue. In addition, with the help of magnetotherapy, it is possible to normalize metabolic processes in the tissues of the body affected.
- Massage. The massage course is an excellent tool to reduce pain and restore the mobility of the spine in osteochondrosis. Massage with osteochondrosis can only be carried out by an experienced specialist: Unprofessional intervention can lead to the spine being injured even more. In the worst case, you can damage your back. It is advisable to search for a masseur among friends who defeated osteochondrosis.
- Medical physical education. Patients who suffer from osteochondrosis are recommended for physiotherapy exercises that help strengthen the muscle frame of the spine and to accelerate the process of regeneration of damaged tissues. Reviews show that sports education is one of the best methods for therapy for back diseases. The symptoms look up after a few months of regular courses. If you get in pain, you shouldn't stop doing exercises, otherwise symptoms can reappear.
- Thermotherapy. This type of treatment of osteochondrosis between vertebrae therefore has a number of contraindications. You must consult your doctor before the start of thermotherapy. Thermotherapy has an analgesic effect and helps to quickly restore damaged tissue: after several sessions, the patient forgets about pain for a long time and that osteochondrosis manifests itself much less often than before.
- Dirt. Thanks to the therapeutic sludge that is applied to the patient's back, you can reduce muscle spasm, eliminate inflammation and improve the bloodstream of the spine. Patient reviews show that osteochondrosis will stop for a long time after several treatment courses.
Typically, patients are prescribed the entire complex of physiotherapy measures. The duration of the course and the best treatment methods depend on the degree of damage to the spine. In the course of the year, the treatment of osteochondrosis of the back of three to four times is recommended: As a result, the pain and symptoms of the disease are no longer gradually carried out.
Is it possible to heal osteochondrosis without physiotherapy? Every doctor gives a negative answer: it is advisable to use a number of methods to achieve the required result.