According to medical statistics, osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is a fairly common disease in recent years. Everyone has encountered their unpleasant symptoms at least once in their entire life.
The disease itself is a malfunction of the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine. After all, this is where the human spine is exposed to maximum continuous stress.
The cervical spine consists of 7 discs. Due to his weak muscles and constant stress, various injuries and work interruptions can occur. Because of all these factors, cervical osteochondrosis begins to develop.
Types of diseases
Osteochondrosis is an insidious disease that may not manifest itself for a long time. There are several stages in the development of this disease:
- 1st degree cervical osteochondrosis (manifested by initial diseases of the spine);
- 2nd degree cervical osteochondrosis (the space between the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine begins to decrease);
- 3rd degree cervical osteochondrosis (complete destruction of the disc ring occurs, and severe deformation of the entire spine begins);
- Grade 4 cervical osteochondrosis (the final stage of disease progression that can lead to disability).
Causes of the onset and development of the disease
Like any other disease, cervical osteochondrosis has its own causes and developmental factors. Until a few decades ago, only the elderly were susceptible to this disease. Osteochondrosis of the neck also affected men after 40 years who did heavy physical work.
Nowadays, osteochondrosis of the neck is becoming more common and affects young people over the age of 20. There are many reasons for the development of diseases of the cervical and thoracic spine:
- existing overweight;
- incorrect posture and, as a result, curvature of the spine by 1 or 2 degrees;
- hard physical work or professional sports as a result of which various spinal injuries were suffered;
- Reasons for stress and severe emotional stress;
- weak muscles of the cervicothoracic region;
- abrupt sports stop after prolonged training;
- Work that involves sitting at the computer or sitting in one position for a long time.
If you find yourself with the reasons listed, you belong to the so-called risk group. In this case, it is necessary to prevent osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
Manifestation of the disease
With 1 degree osteochondrosis, a person practically does not feel symptoms of a developing disease. It just begins the initial pinching of the neck muscles.
2nd degree osteochondrosis of the cervical spine usually manifests itself as mild pain that can occur in the neck and chest area. It does this by pinching nerve endings due to a reduction in the space between the intervertebral discs of the spine.
Grades 3 and 4 of the disease cannot go unnoticed. In this case, the deformation of the spine can be seen with the naked eye, not to mention the sensations that a person experiences.
The main and more common symptoms of this disease are:
- severe persistent headache;
- Ringing in the head;
- restricted movement and coordination;
- Deterioration in eyesight and dental health;
- cerebrovascular accidents, insomnia and various neurological problems.
If the disease is 1, 2, 3, or 4 degrees, the pain can spread to the shoulder joint and arm area. A feature of this symptom that sets it apart from other diseases is that the discomfort changes its strength and concentration depending on the position of the neck and the rotation of the head.
Disease syndromes
All symptoms that occur in osteochondrosis can be wrongly justified and thus a misdiagnosis is possible. Therefore, with the existing symptoms, it is necessary to find out all the reasons for their occurrence. Medicine knows several syndromes that differentiate between the causes of their development:
Radicular Syndromes
When this happens, the nerves become pinched and the person feels pain and numbness in part of the neck. Unpleasant sensations can spread to the back, the area of the shoulder blade, as well as the arm;
Stimulus reflex syndromes
Manifested by severe, excruciating pain in the back of the head that spreads across the neck. Most often it occurs with a sharp movement or rotation of the head;
Vertebral artery syndrome
In this case the name speaks for itself. There is a pinch in the artery and the person experiences a severe throbbing headache which can lead to unconsciousness or vomiting;
Heart syndrome
Manifested by increased heart rate, dizziness and loss of consciousness. In this case, it is not uncommon for a wrong diagnosis to be made and treatment of angina pectoris to begin.
treatment
Immediate treatment is always indicated to a person for osteochondrosis. His tactics are chosen depending on the degree of the disease. At 1 or 2 degrees, a full recovery is possible after therapy. In later stages, medical correction is usually aimed at avoiding complications and improving quality of life.
First aid
What to do when the first symptoms of the disease appearFirst, you need to relieve pain in the cervicothoracic region. To do this, you need to take a pain reliever regularly, lie down, or just relax.
The next step is to see a doctor for the correct diagnosis and treatment.
Conservative treatment
If osteochondrosis is confirmed, conservative treatment is usually prescribed. The patient is taking anti-inflammatory, analgesic drugs. Various gels or ointments can be used to relieve swelling and inflammation. The doctor can also prescribe massages and therapeutic exercises. Physiotherapy for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is prescribed in almost all cases.
surgery
In rare cases, if the osteochondrosis is very advanced, surgery is possible. In this case, the patient is put into a sleep state with the help of general anesthesia, after which the removal of bone formations between the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine is carried out. After the manipulation, the patient is shown another conservative treatment or physical therapy.
Precautions
Due to the decrease in the age of the onset of cervicothoracic osteochondrosis, it is necessary for each person to conduct its prevention. This is especially true for people at risk.
Important rules
Prevention of cervical osteochondrosis consists in following simple but very important rules:
- watch your posture, don't let it bend;
- do not subject the spine to heavy loads;
- You cannot make sudden head movements;
- don't be nervous, avoid stress;
- do not catch a cold, do not get hypothermic;
- Get rid of bad habits, switch to proper nutrition.
Special exercises
To protect yourself from such a disease, you need to do preventive exercises:
- place your palm on your forehead, contract your neck muscles, then move your hand towards the back of your head and repeat the exercise. You need to do this in 3 sets for 7 seconds.
- put your palm to your temple, then also tense your neck muscles, repeat a similar action on the other side, the number of approaches is the same as in the first paragraph;
- Take your head back and then slowly reach your chin towards the chest area. You need to do the exercise three times.
- turn your head in different directions - you need to do this exercise slowly and without sudden movements.
- Tilt your head back, touch one shoulder with your ear first, then the other, repeat the exercise 5 times.
If you experience one or more symptoms of the disease, contact your doctor immediately. Maybe you will only be prescribed physical therapy and that will be over. Do not hesitate, do not start with the disease.
Do your daily gymnastics. It is better to do elementary exercises than to suffer from an illness later.
Ask your doctor how to sleep if you have cervical osteochondrosis. Follow all the rules, be healthy!