Everyone has experienced back pain, and many people have been living with this pain. In 2/3 of the cases, the cause of back problems is osteochondrosis of the spine. For osteochondrosis, the bones and cartilage of the spine-cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine will be destroyed. With age, the risk of tissue wear and tear increases. Every resident over 30 years old on the planet has signs of osteochondrosis.
Spinal diseases can cause back injuries and continue to be under pressure during hard physical labor. Genetic predispositions, high-intensity training, improper diets, and sedentary lifestyles all play a role-most city dwellers are at risk.
How to recognize osteochondrosis
For osteochondrosis, the symptoms are general, specific, and characteristic of degenerative changes in articular cartilage, intervertebral discs, and spinal tissue.
Osteochondrosis can manifest as persistent back pain, numbness of the affected vertebrae, restricted movement, increased pain during sudden movements, and weight lifting.
Specific symptoms of osteochondrosis:
- Cervical spondylosis causes blood circulation disorders, causing headaches, tinnitus, and "flies" in front of our eyes. There is a problem with the nutrition of the brain, which leads to constant stress;
- With the development of osteochondrosis in the sternum area, intercostal neuralgia, pain in the chest and ribs;
- Lumbar disease can lead to the progression of the disease-low back pain, sciatica (sciatica), lumbar sciatica.
Sciatica can affect the sciatic nerve. Symptoms are hip pain, low blood pressure in the calf, and gluteal muscles.
Low back pain can be identified by severe pain in the lower back caused by vertebral displacement and intervertebral disc prolapse.
With sciatica, low back pain appears in the hip area, given to the back of the thigh, calf, foot, and popliteal fossa.
Treatment of osteochondrosis
The clinical manifestations of spinal osteochondrosis are different, and sometimes it is necessary to see different doctors to understand the cause. The correct diagnosis will be made by neurologists, orthopedists, chiropractors in some private clinics, spinal neurologists, and doctors who treat spinal diseases.
During the first examination, the doctor will touch the patient's back and report the initial diagnosis. After X-ray, computed tomography, MRI, treatment is prescribed.
The treatment of osteochondrosis of the spine aims to eliminate pain and prevent further tissue destruction and spinal deformity.
Vertebral osteochondrosis is a chronic disease that has stages of deterioration and remission. Treatment of spine disorders during an acute attack includes bed rest for 1-2 weeks and analgesics for severe pain.
For cervical osteochondrosis during deterioration, it is recommended to wear a special restriction collar. If the thoracic and lumbar spine areas are affected, the spine corset will help alleviate the condition. Types of corsets:
- For the chest area-a bandage similar to a vest. Used to straighten the spine;
- For spine fractures-cast, stretch corset;
- Wear a rigid corset after spinal surgery and injury. Help support internal organs when muscles are weakened;
- A corset in the form of a wide lumbar belt. It is recommended for hernia and displacement.
The treatment of spine osteochondrosis should be integrated: medication, exercise therapy, manual therapy, diet-conservative therapy. Sometimes surgery.
medical treatement
The doctor will prescribe drugs to treat osteochondrosis. The drug group has different treatment goals.
In the early stages, take anti-inflammatory drugs. If back pain persists for more than 2 weeks but less than 3 months, additional painkillers are required. If back pain exceeds 3 months, add antidepressants.
The drug, the dose is set by the attending physician, and self-activity is destructive-the drug has side effects.
Treat with folk remedies
In addition to the main treatment methods, folk remedies are also used to treat diseases, which cannot replace pills. For spinal osteochondrosis, home treatments will relieve pain and reduce inflammation.
recipe:
- One teaspoon of dried burdock leaves in a glass of boiling water. Put the compress on the painful area and keep it for 20-30 minutes. Then wrap the sore area in a warm scarf.
- Pour three teaspoons of broken roots of medicinal marshmallows into a glass of cold boiling water. Hold for 8 hours and do compression.
During remission, oral medicinal materials are infused-they can prevent the deterioration of osteochondrosis.
Manual therapy
An effective method for conservative treatment of the disease is manual treatment of spinal osteochondrosis. It is worth looking for a highly qualified expert. A good chiropractor will relieve the pain syndrome, eliminate muscle spasms, and improve the mobility of the intervertebral joints. Unqualified therapists can cause irreparable damage to the spine.
In order for manual therapy to help resolve changes in malnutrition, it is important to follow the rules. Before the massage, it is worth warming up the tense muscles and stretching the muscles smoothly so that the patient will not feel pain. Then relax the muscles. After half a minute, take a deep breath and stretch the patient as much as possible until slight pain occurs. The muscles in this state are fixed for half a minute and then relaxed. Because it stimulates nerve endings, it has a therapeutic effect.
Exercise therapy
Using other methods to exercise the spine suffering from osteochondrosis can improve metabolism, spine mobility, strengthen muscles and restore damaged intervertebral discs.
Morning exercises for spinal osteochondrosis include:
For the cervical spine:
- Keep your head and shoulders straight. Slowly turn your head all the way to the right and left;
- We tilted our heads back and tried to reach the left shoulder with our right ear. We repeat to the left.
For the chest area:
- We sit on the chair with our hands between our knees. When we inhale, we lean to one side, when we exhale, we straighten ourselves. We repeat in the other direction;
- We sat on a low-back chair, with our shoulder blades resting on the chair. Bend down slowly and saw the back wall.
For the lumbar spine:
- We lie on our backs, bend our knees, and press them against our chests. We swing back and forth-from the back to the sacrum for 1. 5-2 minutes. We stretched our bodies and lay quietly.
The complex exercises of exercise therapy for spine osteochondrosis, the treatment complex should be found on the Internet, ask the orthopedist.