Osteochondrosis and frequent back pain affect 60-80% of people over 30 years of age. Untreated osteochondrosis can reduce the quality of life and may lead to disability and disability, so it is important to identify it and seek medical help in the initial stages of development.
In this article, we will discuss osteochondrosis, its symptoms and diagnosis, and how to distinguish osteochondrosis from other diseases with low back pain, and what to do when signs of spine osteochondrosis appear.
What is osteochondrosis of the spine?
Osteochondrosis is a chronic disease in which the nucleus of the intervertebral disc is gradually destroyed. Over time, the injury of the intervertebral disc involves other structures of the spine in the pathological process, and leads to disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system. Osteochondrosis is also characterized by premature aging of joint devices or as a pathology resulting from vertebral injury (for example, after injury).
The development of osteochondrosis is affected by many factors, so researchers will systematically explain the origin of the disease:
- Involution-inflammatory processes and other damage to the spine lead to premature cartilage aging, for example, due to a sedentary lifestyle;
- Degenerative-Intervertebral disc disease is caused by metabolic disorders, such as unbalanced diet and alcoholism;
- Metabolic Disorders-Osteochondrosis is caused by dystrophy of the intervertebral cartilage, because with age, the number of blood vessels in it decreases to provide nutrients for the blood.
The development of osteochondrosis is a cascade in which one pathological process begins another. Thus, for example, nutrition is disturbed due to age-related changes and a decrease in the number of blood vessels in the intervertebral disc, leading to failure of the biochemical process and damage to the intervertebral disc.
Due to degenerative and dystrophic changes in the spine, muscle tone and the work of nerve roots leaving the spinal cord through natural openings in the vertebrae are disrupted. This can lead to neurological and musculoskeletal consequences.
Symptoms of spinal osteochondrosis
Osteochondrosis is a chronic disease that deteriorates periodically. It is caused by injuries, a sedentary lifestyle, heavy lifting, hypothermia, and emotional stress. The most common and typical symptom of nuclear disc dystrophy is regular back pain in different parts: neck, chest, and waist.
There are two symptoms of osteochondrosis: reflex and oppressive. Reflex symptoms due to irritation of the spinal cord. They manifest themselves in the form of spasms or vasodilation, muscle twitching, and weakening of muscle strength. Compression symptoms are caused by nerve compression (usually formed by a spinal hernia) and manifest as loss of sensation in the affected part (neck, arms, or lower back).
In addition, osteochondrosis is characterized by the following symptoms:
- Tension and soreness of neck and back muscles;
- The spine is curved to the side, back or forward;
- Violation of sensitivity and neuromodulation: there is a feeling of crawling on the skin, hot and cold swings on the skin of the back and limbs, numbness in the arms or legs;
- Weakened limb muscles;
- Frequent urination-up to 10-12 times a day.
Where can osteochondrosis be treated?
The pain of osteochondrosis is not limited to the back. They extend to the upper and lower limbs. On the feet:
- Hips;
- The back and sides of the thigh;
- The inner side of the calf and ankle;
- instep;
- toe;
- High heel.
In addition, the pain can spread to the arm:
- Deltoid muscle;
- The outer edge of the hand, all the way to the fingers;
- Back of the hand
- Three middle fingers
- Ring finger and little finger (rare).
How is osteochondrosis diagnosed?
The diagnosis of osteochondrosis is based on survey, physical examination and instrumental examination methods. The specific inspection method shall be determined through negotiation.
The doctor starts the diagnosis through the medical history: he determines the possible causes of back pain, determines the location and duration of the pain, and determines whether there are accompanying conditions such as allergies, congenital diseases, and drug intolerance. Then check. The physical examination is performed while standing or sitting. The doctor can detect the curvature of the spine, evaluate muscle strength and reflexes, and observe the color of the skin. To learn more about the disease, you need to consult relevant experts: neurologists, neurosurgeons, oncologists, rheumatologists, and neurologists.
If the following conditions occur, the neurologist will make a diagnosis of "osteochondrosis":
- Often aching back pain;
- Increased pain when lifting weights, sneezing, and coughing;
- Numb and painful joints;
- Reduced joint range of motion;
- Muscle cramps;
- Damage to nerve roots;
- Changes in X-rays of the spine.
Do I need X-rays of the spine?
Spinal X-ray or chiropractic is one of the mandatory examinations for osteochondrosis, which can identify structural abnormalities of the spine. Chiropractic allows you to find pathological changes, for example, thinning of intervertebral discs. Usually for the cervical spine, thoracic spine and lumbosacral spine, X-rays are done in two (sometimes three) projections to obtain more detailed information.
Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging can identify pathologies related to osteochondrosis: herniated discs and reduced spinal canal lumen, herniated discs into the spinal canal and compression of the spinal cord.
Cervical osteochondrosis
There are two main symptoms of cervical spine osteochondrosis-cervical spondylosis and neck pain. Cervicago is an acute painful neck and back pain that occurs when the head and cervical spine muscles are tense. Neck pain is neck pain and severe pain. Paresthesia is added to cervical pain-an invasion of sensitivity in the form of numbness and peristaltic sensations on the skin.
If the failure of the nucleus of the cervical intervertebral disc progresses, there will be cervical radiculitis-pain in the occipital bone. Pain is characterized by regularity, in addition, they can occasionally increase, especially when moving the head.
This triad of signs—cervical pain, cervical sciatica, and cervical pain—may be complicated by night hand hypoesthesia syndrome, in which sensitivity is distorted. For example, a warm object may feel cold with your fingers, but if you shake it with your hand, the sensitivity will be restored.
Thoracic Osteochondrosis
For thoracic osteochondrosis, chest pain (back pain) is the most typical. Chest pain can be worse when you move your arms, sneeze, cough, and lift weights. In most cases, the pain is band-like. In addition, paresthesias often occur in the chest. Sometimes, damage to the nucleus of the intervertebral disc can be disguised as a visceral disease, such as gastritis or angina, because the pain can be localized in the upper abdomen and heart.
How to tell-heartache or osteochondrosis?
Chest pain syndrome is pain in the front chest wall, similar to heart pain. Chest pain may be a sign of osteochondrosis and heart problems.
However, the pain of angina and heart attack is different from the chest pain syndrome of osteochondrosis. The characteristic of angina and myocardial infarction pain is that they are compressive and spread to the left scapula, arm, and chin.
Osteochondrial chest pain syndrome does not extend beyond the border of the front chest wall, does not extend into the arm and scapula, and does not accompany the fear of death. However, these are just subjective feelings. Therefore, in order to rule out heart disease, you need to consult a doctor and do an electrocardiogram, which will reveal signs of a heart rhythm disorder or myocardial infarction.
If the pain begins to spread to the left scapula, arm, and chin, and is accompanied by a sense of fear, and the glycerol trinitrate has not been eliminated, and the duration exceeds 10-15 minutes, you need to call an ambulance.
Why is lumbar osteochondrosis dangerous?
Lumbar osteochondrosis most often presents with low back pain or low back pain-low back pain and soreness often occur in the waist. Restricted movement due to constant pain: a person cannot bend over, exercise, or lift heavy objects.
Low back pain can pass by itself. However, they are prone to deterioration, and each deterioration indicates additional displacement of the intervertebral disc into the spinal canal. If the destruction of the intervertebral disc progresses, lumbosacral radiculitis will form, accompanied by lumbar pain, and radiate to the hips and thighs.
What is the difference between osteochondrosis and osteoarthritis?
Osteochondrosis and osteoarthritis (spinal osteoarthritis) belong to the category of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. However, there is a key difference between them: osteochondrosis affects the nucleus of the intervertebral disc, while osteoarthritis affects the intervertebral joints. This makes the symptoms and treatment different.
In osteochondrosis, back pain is regular and painful, manifested as calmness and increased movement, while in spondyloarthropathy, the appearance of pain is related to the extension and bending of the spine. Generally, the pain syndrome of spine osteoarthritis is unilateral and spastic. In addition, spinal osteoarthritis is characterized by morning stiffness, which lasts 30 to 60 minutes.
What is the difference between osteochondrosis and radiculitis?
Nerve radiculitis is inflammation of the root of the spinal cord, accompanied by pain along the affected nerve. In fact, these are two different diseases, but sciatica is a common complication of osteochondrosis, so it is often one of the symptoms of osteochondrosis.
Symptoms of sciatica
For osteochondrosis, radiculitis most commonly occurs in the cervical and lumbar spine. Sciatica is manifested as pain along the damaged nerve, sensory disturbances, and sometimes movement disturbances. Sciatica is characterized by pain that extends beyond the back and spreads to the buttocks, buttocks, calves, and feet.
VSD or cervical osteochondrosis?
Phytovascular dystonia is a syndrome in which the autonomic nervous system is damaged. VSD is a dysfunction in which there are no structural changes in the spine or the nucleus of the intervertebral disc.
Phytovascular dystonia has psychiatric causes-it is a neurosis related to interpersonal conflict or childhood trauma. Externally, VSD and osteochondrosis may be similar to each other: headache, dizziness, pain in the front chest wall.
In order to distinguish the disease, you need to perform instrumental diagnosis-X-rays of the cervical spine and other parts, computers and magnetic resonance imaging. As a result of the diagnosis of VSD, contrary to osteochondrosis, there will be no organic changes.
Treatment of vegetative vascular dystonia
Phytovascular dystonia is treated with medication, psychotherapy and lifestyle adjustments. Symptomatic treatment of patients: tranquilizers, anxiolytics, hypnotics, restoratives and vitamins. The task of VSD psychotherapy is to teach patients to regulate negative emotions and increase their ability to resist stress. In addition, the lifestyle has also been adjusted: balance work and rest, exercise, and adhere to a balanced diet.
Is osteochondrosis treated?
Osteochondrosis can be cured. The goal of treatment is to eliminate back pain and stiffness, restore muscle tone, prevent or stop neurological complications, and improve a person's standard of living. If you stick to the doctor's prescription, the disease can be cured.
How to treat osteochondrosis at home?
It is not recommended to treat osteochondrosis at home. There are several reasons:
- At home, it is impossible to accurately diagnose osteochondrosis, because back pain has different origins: neurogenic, vascular, visceral (due to internal organ diseases) and psychogenic. In other words, a person has been treated for osteochondrosis, but actually has back pain, for example, due to kidney disease;
- If there is no controlled diagnosis, it is impossible to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment;
- Patients cannot adequately choose treatments for themselves, and folk remedies have no evidence basis, so it is likely that they are ineffective and have side effects.
At home, you can receive treatment under one condition-only after consulting a doctor can the doctor correctly diagnose, prescribe an appropriate treatment plan, and use X-ray, CT or MRI to regularly monitor the effect of the treatment.
Treatment of spine osteochondrosis
The treatment of osteochondrosis is conservative and surgical. Which method is the main method depends on the stage of the disease and neglect of the musculoskeletal system.
Conservative treatment includes medication, exercise therapy, and lifestyle adjustments. Among drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants are mainly used to relieve pain and normalize muscle tension. In physiotherapy practice, one of the main conditions for recovery is early activation, that is, you need to walk, run, exercise in the swimming pool or ride a bicycle 1-3 days after the pain is gone. It is also important to change your lifestyle to an active lifestyle, because sedentary is one of the factors leading to back pain and the destruction of the nuclei of the intervertebral discs.
When conservative treatment is ineffective within 2-4 weeks, and when the spine structure changes significantly, surgical treatment will be used. What kind of surgery is required will be determined by the surgeon after consulting a neuropathologist and studying the research data. For example, in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis, the method used is to reduce the pressure of the spinal cord from the vertebrae or hernias (discectomy and decompression).
If you experience back pain, accompanied by back pain in the spine or neck, chest pain, muscle weakness in the arms or legs, and unpleasant touch and numbness in the skin, please consult a neurologist for advice.