Osteochondrosis: treatment, symptoms, signs, causes

Here is another pathology that is considered age-related, but often occurs with no relation to age.

For example, this fact: more than half of all patients with osteochondrosis worldwide experience the first signs of developing it by the age of 25. Yes, no one believed that old age could come so soon. . . Some people see these years as mature, some are more accustomed to mentioning them almost in adolescence and for some, 60s does not seem to be a reason to feel good. But firmly everyone will agree that for the aging process is not, to put it mildly, still age.

What is the problem? In fact, it is multifaceted and can seem complicated to a layman. But there is really nothing complicated about it. In the section on spinal disc herniation we said that its contents are water with proteins dissolved in it, right? Thus, all osteochondrosis, along with its speed, severity, and treatment projections, is actually based on these proteins. What do we mean? Now everything will be clear.

The proteins in the "filling" for the intervertebral disc are called glycosaminoglycans. Maybe we don't need to remember that name.

But we must remember that the main purpose of glycosaminic acid is to retain water. In addition, with the possibility of gradual release under pressure. In other words, the proteins that create the texture that resembles the "magazine" jelly for the tray are made so that the water is heated inside calmly and under load is gradually compressed outwards.

Of course, the water itself is too fluid to do so. This is why the body synthesizes special proteins - unique! analogue of food gelling agents such as carrageenan, gum, starch.

In order for the contents of the intervertebral disc (and this, we remember, is the basis of its anti-vibration properties) to remain in order, we need throughout life:

• we monitor what we eat, avoiding deficiencies of vital substances, especially proteins.
• avoid muscle cramps in the back.
• maintaining the active circulation of cerebrospinal fluid and blood in it to normalize metabolic processes in the tissues of the spine.
• avoid injury and infection of the spinal tissues.
• maintaining the rate of water-salt metabolism in the body.

Symptoms of osteochondrosis

So, in the beginning, our back will start to "tap-dance" to the rhythm of our every movement. However, for a long time this trauma is only heard. In the future, there will be a period of sensation - constant pulling, pain and discomfort in the areas affected by osteochondrosis. They make themselves feel calm and with the movement they gradually increase. Subjectively, patients note that the joints affected by the procedure appear to tire faster than others. Similarly, as the feeling of fatigue intensifies, the pain also increases.

But that, of course, is far from the end of the process, although it is no longer the beginning. After all, the condition of the disc does not improve, and the condition of the cartilage deteriorates as long as the condition is very slow. Over time, the creases themselves become painful.

Any such sound is now accompanied by an outburst of dull pain both at the site of onset and in nearby tissues of any type. It seems to propagate as an extensive painful wave from one point of the joint - exactly according to the laws of coordination.

Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis

If we have problems with the cervical spine, we may feel:

• Resistant to headache in standard treatment - dull, aching, throbbing, firm, evenly distributed throughout the head. It coincides with an increase in neck pain and resembles headaches that occur with increases in blood pressure. As a rule, with osteochondrosis, too high a pressure leads to a headache.
• unmotivated dizziness during the day: with sudden changes in posture, head movements, trembling. Often, dizziness coincides with the rhythm of breathing - a dangerous "lightness" in the head appears with each inhalation and disappears during exhalation. Such symptomatology means that at the moment the intracranial pressure is reduced and not excessive, as in the previous example. Typically, these two symptoms occur alternately in all patients with cervical osteochondrosis, occur periodically, and last for several days. Sometimes they replace each other, sometimes they are separated by periods of relative pressure.
• neck pain, especially at the base of the skull. In the initial stages it is expressed with vague discomfort during the day and stinging when turning the head. But touching the spine in this area or trying to massage the muscles causes pain and stiffness of the muscle fibers. Then the pain is permanent, it increases with the rotation of the head to the side, the bending of the chest, after sleeping on a high or very soft pillow.
• pain in the chest (as if below the ribs), below the scapula, returning to the shoulder and upper chest muscles. They look like angina or coronary heart disease as much as disc herniation, but they are more permanent. For example, in diseases of the cardiovascular system, the pain rarely lasts more than a few hours and depends little on the respiratory rate. With osteochondrosis, it is stable, worsens with each breath, lasts for periods of up to several days or more.
• "Lubago" all over the shoulder line, often up to the fingertips. As a rule, depending on the degree of progression of osteochondrosis, the patient suffers simultaneously either from short-term "lumbar" in the shoulder joint, or from numbness attacks and prolonged acute "back pain" on the entire inner surface of the hand. As for the infection of the small neurons of the shoulder, it is not felt at rest, but it worsens sharply with the first movements of the head after a long immobility. Patients describe it as "electrical discharges along the spine, in the shoulder muscles. And hand irradiation is often accompanied by spasm of the wrist muscles and violation of the sensitivity of the index finger, as well as the little finger.
• quite often, although in less than half of cases with cervical osteochondrosis, the sensitivity and mobility of the tongue is reduced. Patients may not be able to distinguish some flavors (not recognizing bitter, sour, sweet, but it is easy to name a mixed flavor). Some people report changes in vocabulary, especially when it is necessary to speak quickly and / or clearly.

Symptoms of osteochondrosis of the thoracic region

Signs of thoracic osteochondrosis:

• pain, traction of chest pain, "somewhere below the ribs. " In contrast to coronary heart disease, the patient finds it difficult to determine its center more accurately. Such pain depends significantly on the rhythm of breathing - it increases with inspiration and coughing. And despite the uncertainty about its position in the chest, any such attack clearly resonates in the causal vertebra / vertebra. In 99 out of 100 cases, it is the displaced vertebra that hurts the most.
• disturbances in the sensitivity and mobility of the pulmonary septum - the appearance of a feeling of incomplete inhalation, inability to perform lower exhalation.
• pain and discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract - especially in the stomach, upper intestine, liver and pancreas. The pain can range from mild, inaudible discomfort to obvious cramping. Therefore, osteochondrosis of the thoracic region is often confused with hypotonic gastritis, enteritis, colitis, chronic pancreatitis.

Symptoms of lumbar osteochondrosis

Lumbar osteochondrosis, also called lumbar osteochondrosis (to know that it is one and the same), is the most common form of the disease.

We will have with him:

• Painful pain in the lower back, aggravated by crouching, prolonged sitting or standing - generally, almost any body movement. As a rule, it bothers the sick at night, in the presence of the habit of sleeping on their backs, with straight legs. It subsides only with prolonged stay or the habit of sleeping in the position of the fetus. That is, with the knees buried in the chest. Patients with lumbar osteochondrosis change quickly and voluntarily from a soft bed to a hard one, as it is easier to maintain the fetus's position on a hard floor overnight.
• lumbar stiffness syndrome. Implies: the inability to quickly bend over after prolonged standing or sitting, which is associated not so much with pain as with a general reduction in muscle extensibility and bone stiffness in the affected area. Rapidly progressing numbness in the lumbar region when sitting or standing, associated with acute involvement of the nerve endings in this position of the vertebrae.
• entrapment of the sciatic nerve (the main nerve trunk for the legs, which enters the spine in the area of the coccyx). With osteochondrosis of the lumbar region, it belongs to the number of sciatica scenarios, although not the only one. Despite the many other variants, sciatica is often a painful complication of osteochondrosis.

Treatment of osteochondrosis

We will have to undergo treatment for a long time, so first we will improve the quality of life of our own back.

1. Let's remove the feather bed and the feather pillow from the bed. Let's leave a main layer, take an orthopedic pillow - dense, low, with a firm dent in the middle. Usually, these pillows are made of polyester. So you have to make sure it is not too soft - now it's harmful to us. And the chance of it "disappearing", turning into a flat pancake in a week, is very high. The thickness of the cylinder along the edges should be equal to the length of our neck from the base of the skull to the 7th vertebra that protrudes when the head is tilted. If it is 1, 5-2 cm lower, the better.
2. Will we buy another not very thick pillow or will we use our old feather in new quality. From now on, we should always put this pillow under the thighs or buttocks in a supine position, as well as below the upper knee when sleeping in a fetal position. Let's experiment with the optimal height, width and position of the pillow - the right one, placed in the right position, will bring the immediate disappearance of pain to the most noticeable focus in that position.
3. It is strictly forbidden to lift and carry objects weighing more than 10 kg in case of osteochondrosis. Therefore, any workout should be done with us with your own or minimal weight. With any type of osteochondrosis, it is wiser for us not to do it alone, but to go to the gym. He is in the gym, since the cardio (treadmill, bike, skiing) and physical condition are not the same. Now, of course, we have to organize the extra support of our back and work with exactly the same, correct body position. The best for such purposes is a simulator - a steel frame, in which both we and the lifting weight can move only at a width limited by the structure.
4. After any effort (including the usual upright walking), you should do a light massage on the back, stretching it gently. The heat can be applied to areas with particularly severe back pain - provided the focus of pain does not migrate along with the change in posture, of course. And because pain migration is common in osteochondrosis, sometimes a simple "five minutes" on a mat like the Lyapko applicator proves to be five times more effective than any heating pad. After all, we really can not buy a heating mattress! In addition, in hot weather, heating such a large area runs the risk of heatstroke. . .

If we understand all this, take them into account and we are sure that we will not forget, we will organize the activation of metabolic processes for our spine. As already mentioned, you should not exercise at home with osteochondrosis. In particular, one should not be seduced by it - it is best to work with a professional orthopedist or trainer where there is equipment that can compensate for the lack of strength that has occurred in our spine. But because, unfortunately, not everyone has such an opportunity, we still dare to suggest some warm-up exercises with a reduced chance of complications.

There is only one rule here that should not be broken. That is: if we decided to take matters into our own hands before we start training, we must definitely order or buy a special medical bandage or corset. Bandage for reliable attachment of exactly that part of the back where there is a pathological process. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people.

So:

1. We will sit near the table, the lid of which would rest on our stomach, in a chair with a narrow and high back. We need to have firm support for both the back and the back of the head. Let us lean back with our whole back to the back of the chair, stretch our arms, dragging them along the lid, to the maximum. It is still necessary to slide a little, pushing the shoulders forward, but for this it is forbidden to cut the back of the head or the back from the support. On the line where our palms remain in this position, we must put an object weighing more than 10 kg. Its shape and surface should be comfortable, since then we will need to take this object with our palms slightly below and pull it towards us, without lifting it from the surface. You need to move it not so much with your hands as with the effort of the shoulder muscles, which are now trying to return the forks that extend forward to their normal position. As you can see, we are talking about a "domesticated" and slightly tuned rowing machine for our needs. More specifically, its modification, which implies a simple weight pull on itself. In any case, this exercise develops well the muscles of the lower back - between the shoulders, as well as the lats. After pulling the weight towards us, it should move backwards and the pull should be repeated 15 more times.
2. Let us stand near the table already familiar to us and let us rest the bones of our pelvis on the edge of the lid. Let us put our hands behind our heads, let our heads fall so that our foreheads rest on the table. At the same time, the back should not be rounded - we will round it later. At the moment, our task is to make 15 turns on the table itself with a straight back and arms at the back of the head. The correct position of the body means that in the future, if we fall on the table, we will be the whole face and not our forehead. Therefore, over the lid itself, we should be late, avoiding relying on it.
3. We use one of the exercises described in the section for the prevention of back diseases. That is: we lie prone on the floor, with our arms outstretched above our heads, with our legs straight together. Raise one (either) hand off the floor and stretch forward and the opposite leg at the same time. Of course, you should not try to throw your foot over your head, but pull it back with a kick. Then lower the extremities, counting to three, and repeat with another pair of "hand-to-foot". In total, you need to do 20 reps for both pairs of ends.
4. We sit on the floor, with our backs to the wall, with our legs outstretched in front of us. Do not rest your back too tightly against the wall and rest your palms securely on the floor. Now we have to lift the body with one hand above the floor as high as we can. It is better to keep your legs straight while maintaining their sitting position. If it does not come out in straight lines, you can try tightening them on your chest. In this case, you should keep in mind that changing the position of the legs will shift the center of gravity and ask you to lean your head against the wall. Repeat 5-7 times.
5. We will get a special belt for lifting weights - wide, made of thick leather that perfectly fastens the lower back. In milder forms of osteochondrosis, it is very likely that you will leave only the bandage that secures the affected area. Take to the bathroom a basin or bucket of 15 liters that we use on the farm. Fill it with water so that it does not splash on the edges, take it out in any free space. Water dishes should be placed on the floor, feet slightly open and bent. knees for stability, move the body slightly forward. We should take a very ambiguous stance - a slight forward bend, with well-adjusted buttocks, but a uniform line of the spine at the top of the torso. This is perfectly normal and correct from the point of view of the anatomy of the human body. When we reach the desired position, we will still have to sit until we can catch the handles of the pelvis without rounding the back. After that, the pelvis should be raised, with a synchronized movement that straightens the knees and lower back.

As mentioned above, self-massage is easier for most people to understand intuitively, based on the senses in the process. And we recommend that you simply conduct a regular (daily) independent session with a massage device, discovering the structural features of your back - with all its pathologies and proportions. However, there are no two identical spins in the world. So no masseur or doctor will study this instrument better than us. Meanwhile, individual details of our back structure can be extremely important here. Especially if only a part of the spine is affected or its damage includes "aggravating circumstances" in the spirit of curvature, hernia, malformations.

Nevertheless, here are some recommendations related to the shades of massage of different sections. Indeed, in the original they are known only to specialists and are often omitted in the popular presentation of massage techniques. So:

With cervical osteochondrosis, the process affects both muscle types equally often and intensely. Therefore, a regular, albeit in-depth massage does not always bring the patients the relief they hoped for. After all, the shoulder girdle is the most voluminous in the whole body and the skeletal muscles are nowhere "hidden" as deep as here.

And for complete satisfaction with the result, we will take into account several provisions that will be easier to reach:

• When you massage the aching deltoid muscles, their outer edge is easier to "reach" by pressing a finger over the cavity between the key and the "hit" of the shoulder joint. You should not press your finger too hard - there. in addition to the muscle, the shoulder joints are also located. However, as we knead the stiff head of the muscle, we will begin to distinguish more precisely its soft fiber and the elastic ligament. It is necessary to work exclusively with a soft head, kneading it with rotating movements. Then you can climb 2-3 cm up along the shoulder line, continuing to work from above.
• the inner edge of the deltoid (the most problematic shoulder muscle in everyday life) is connected to the 7th vertebra. It acts louder than others when, as they say, we bow our heads to our chests. But under the head of the deltoid muscle there is a number of skeletal muscles and it completely covers them from manipulation from above. Meanwhile, the lion's portion of the "discharges" of osteochondrosis pass through their fibers. Therefore, we must lie on our backs on a soft surface.

The middle of the back will create less problems for us with the very number of muscle fibers. However, their design is very complicated - in the sense that most of the muscular heads here are not attached to the ends of the bones, but, as it were, go under them. This is especially true of the shoulder blades, to which all the muscles of the waist are attached on one side, but none of these components are located directly on the edge of the bone or on top of it:

• if we are tormented by burning pains or gunshot wounds "somewhere below the shoulder", it does not matter if they are observed at the top of the shoulder, below or even in the middle. The fact is that in the usual lying position we will not get to these places. We must lie down so that the hand that has massaged hangs freely from the bed and lies on the floor. The working hand is always the opposite and should be wrapped tightly from above, behind the back of the head. Uncomfortable, but effective. It is best to massage the middle part below the shoulder with a hard massage - it will be difficult to reach with our fingers and therefore we will not be able to push. To increase the area we reach, a pillow can be placed under the elbow of the working hand.
• how to stretch the upper corners of latissimus dorsi, putting his hand on top, even the genius of acrobatics will not be able to. The lats are the muscles that allow bodybuilders and well-developed individuals in general to display the classic V-shaped extension of the back from the torso to the shoulders. They are the ones that the rowing machine develops well - pulling heavy objects to the chest. They are located on the upper back and strictly on the sides. The value of developed lats for the strength of the arms and lower back can not be overestimated, so they must not only develop, but also monitor their condition. In addition, the vast majority of people do not follow them at all and in ordinary life are used very rarely. For lats massage, it is best to use a reclining position on the side. In this case, for stability, the legs should be pulled closer to the stomach, the working arm should be pulled forward along the bed and brought under the armpit of the massaged arm. For convenience, the hand you are going to massage does not need to be kept low to the side - it is more convenient to lower it to the bed at chest height. Then the lower end of the shoulder will be stretched after that and the lats are attached immediately to it.

The lumbar region has its own structural characteristics. First, the same series of small skeletal muscles run along the spine here, moving the vertebrae in the turn. Second, in this place, many muscles coming from above are attached to the sacrum. That is, by connecting the lower back to the upper - in fact, allowing you to maintain and maintain throughout your life the percentage of curvature of the back in the shape of S. Incidentally, for this reason, the weaknessin the middle of the back (scoliosis) is often accompanied by curvature of the back - lordosis and kyphosis. The main muscle of the lumbar spine is the lats. Without her health, we would not see a normal S-shaped bend like our ears. Both the sacrum and the tail will hurt us constantly, even without osteochondrosis.

So let's start:

• we must remember that the broad back muscle goes sharply obliquely: its upper extremity is attached to the lower part of the scapula and the lower - to the sacrum, ie to the coccyx. Therefore, if we walk directly from the armpit with our fingers or a massage down the side, we will knead a muscle that is equally related to both the back and the abdomen - the oblique abdominal muscle. This is not the lats, which connect the lower back to the shoulder - the oblique muscle is responsible for tilting the body strictly to the side. Mainly for the successful correction from this slope. He suffers a lot from scoliosis and pelvic lesions. Its main part for us is the lower part, close to the femur itself. There are two heads with which it is connected to the tibial joint. One is closer to the buttocks (merges with its upper lobe) and the second goes slightly forward in the groin. So if we make it a habit to massage the entire area around the ridges of the pelvic bones, it certainly will not be unnecessary;
• If for some reason (most often due to pain) we decide to warm the buttocks, it is better to do it lying on the side, pressing our knees to the chest. This position makes all the gluteal muscles available for massage. For the first time, the buttocks may look very sore and seem to be made up entirely of tendon tissue - they will be so thick to the touch. In fact, it should not be so - it is a spasm. It is particularly noticeable in the upper lobes and in the middle part. Normally, the finger in the middle of the buttocks should be pressed freely at the bottom of a phalanx - the row of gluteal muscles is not less than the row of shoulder muscles. This is what we must achieve without looking at any burning pain.