Osteochondrosis of the cervical area: diagnostics and treatment

The girl was sick in her neck

Do you feel the pain in the back and numbness of the limbs?These are the first signs of osteochondrosis.Insufficient mobility in lifestyle, sitting work, neck and spine load leads to the fact that cartilage wears and loss of moisture, as a result they are damaged.

With cervical osteochondrosis, degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc occurs.Not only the disc is subject to damage, but also vertebrae and joints in the cervix region.If you do not treat the disease for a long time, the general health of the patient is getting worse: persistent headache, vertebrate appearance, deterioration in cerebral circulation, resulting in reduced cognitive function.

The cause of the development of osteochondrosis

Improper sitting position, where the neck stretches forward leads to the development of cervical disease.In this case, excessive pressure on the intervertebral disc occurs, leading to changes in the pulposus nucleus and squeezing the blood vessels.This position is the person who occupies the work in front of the computer.Therefore, office workers are most often subject to the development of cervical spinal osteochondrosis.

A man on a computer

In addition, the cause of pathological development can be:

  • incorrect load distribution when wearing bags;
  • too soft beds (spine is bent in improper form);
  • genetic tendency;
  • vitamin deficiency and trace elements in the diet;
  • disruption of the endocrine system;
  • spinal curvature and posture violations during active growth of the body;
  • cervical vertebral injury;
  • The presence of bad habits.

Stage of disease

To determine if the symptoms of your pain are signs of the development of cervical spinal osteochondrosis and the stage of the disease can only be determined by experienced doctors after examination and palpation.Overall, cervical osteochondrosis approved four stages of development:

  1. Nucleus pulposus - the center of the intervertebral disc in the first stage is subject to moderate dehydration.As a result, the support and shock function that absorbs the intervertebral disc gradually disappears.In the first stage, you will experience pain with the movement, hypothermia and stay in one pose for a long time.
  2. The second stage of development is characterized by the emergence of prominent phenomena and spasms that squeeze the capillaries and blood vessels, preventing normal blood circulation.As a result, the intervertebral disc frame is thinner, forming compliance (standing forward or backward).Under the influence of excessive load on the cervical vertebra, osteophytes are formed.The pain sensation is located in one place, with sharp turns and head tilt, there can be dislocations of cervical vertebrae.
  3. Extraction is formed as a result of the intervertebral disc thinning.The tip of the pulpoose nucleus breaks the fibrous ring and goes beyond the edge of the vertebral body.The muscles and ends of the nerves are squeezed.It is felt by pain in the neck, back and limbs.
  4. In the fourth stage of the disease, the intervertebral disc is transferred and formed by central and lateral hernia.In addition, scars are formed on the disc, leading to the affected joint immobility.Patients suffer from persistent back pain, given to other parts of the body, constant feelings of fatigue, asymmetry of the stem.
Pain in the neck and in the lower back

Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis

Symptoms of cervical spinal osteochondrosis are significantly different depending on the degree of pathological development.In the early stages, it can occur almost without the presence of signs.Pain in the neck and back can appear only if you live in one pose, sharp tendency or switch.

In the later stages of development, the crisis in the spine is heard, back pain is given to other members, there is a numbness of the body.With the formation of osteophytes and extrusion, there are:

  • headache on the back of the head and parietal parts;
  • Impaired speech and numbness;
  • decrease in neck skin sensitivity;
  • respiratory disorders;
  • Swear blood pressure;
  • heart disease;
  • noise and stagnation in the ear;
  • Faint.

Symptoms of cervical spinal osteochondrosis in women are far more noticeable than men.This is due to the fact that women have a tendency for vascular disease and more fragile bone segment structure from the spine.The signs of the disease begin to appear when an intervertebral disc change occurs.This leads to a normal blood circulation and causes severe headaches, dizziness, and neurosis.Diseases in women often occur during menopause, when the body is subject to changes in the hormone background.

Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis in men are similar to women, erectile dysfunction can be observed separately.

Headache for cervical osteochondrosis is caused by disorders of blood circulation in the brain and spinal cord.When the vertebrae shifts, they squeeze the arteries, and the oxygen content in the blood decreases.Unfortunately, such pain may not pass even after taking a strong painkiller.Therefore, it is important to approach the problem solving.Dizziness for cervical osteochondrosis can be accompanied by darkness in the eyes, the appearance of sound in the ear.This is because spasmed muscles cause an oxygen access to the brain.

Lumps in the throat with cervical spinal osteochondrosis, as well as burning, difficulty breathing and muscle cramps - this is a common occurrence.The disease causes the cervical spinal cord nerve to the head and neck.Nervous impulse disorders cause sore throat.

Due to blood vessel cramps and nerve endings, jumping in blood pressure occurs.Lower pressure increases in osteochondrosis indicate that blood supply to the individual area of the brain is disrupted, as the vertebral artery is survived by the intervertebral disc.As a result, oxygen starvation occurs, and blood pressure increases.

The doctor controls the MRI tool

What is the diagnosis of osteochondrosis osteochondrosis of the cervical spinal cord?

Pathological diagnosis begins with a specialist consultation.At the first manifestation of osteochondrosis, contact a rheumatologist, neuropathologist, surgeon or traumatologist-orthodis.Doctors will ask about the symptoms and frequency of their manifestations, it is necessary to provide specialists with the full history of the disease and the results of the initial study (if any).The specialist will conduct a visual and palpation examination, directing it for testing.Doctors during the examination pay special attention to neck mobility, muscle tone, skin sensitivity and reveal the most painful areas.

To identify muscle conditions, ligaments, blood vessels, to detect inflammation or tumors, informative and safe diagnostic methods - cervical spine MRI.Patients during MRI osteochondrosis are located on a table that can be retracted with their backs.Roliks are placed on the head to the patient to remove the muscle voltage, and the limbs are prescribed with a belt.Any movement that is not important during the procedure can affect the quality of the result.Next, the table stopped into tomography.This procedure does not cause pain.Tomography makes a heavy sound during scanning, so you can use headphones to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

If MRI is contraindicated, there are other diagnostic methods such as tomography and radiography calculated.X -Ray is only suitable for the main diagnosis and does not provide the image of the layer -In -Layer the affected tissue.However, this study is the simplest and most economical, which allows you to explore the patient's body in some projections.Due to the strong radiation load on the body, radiography cannot be done regularly.

During computed tomography, scanning is performed using one or more ionizing rays.They go through the human body and are recorded by detectors.The detector moves along the patient's body in the opposite direction and fixes to 6 million signals.The density of tissue is different from the exact determination of the boundaries of the organ and the affected area in the form of the section displayed on the image.This procedure allows you to obtain a layered image.

doctor

Treatment of cervical spinal osteochondrosis

How to treat cervical osteochondrosis, only a doctor will determine after examination, study medical history and obtain hardware diagnostic results.If the disease is diagnosed in the early stages, then the treatment will undergo a conservative method.In the treatment of osteochondrosis, it is important to adhere to an integrated approach - taking medicines, engaging in physiotherapy, going to therapeutic massage and avoiding heavy physical work.

First of all, you need to stop the pain.For this, analgesics and local action painkillers are prescribed.With strong muscle cramps, they are set to wear orthopedic collar.After the pain syndrome is eliminated, it is necessary to stop the inflammation process and restore normal blood circulation.For this, antioxidant therapy, anti -inflammation is performed.As an additional step, therapeutic training, swimming is set.You can be involved in Physical Education at home and with coaches.

If osteochondrosis has become severe, the doctor may prescribe surgical intervention.This operation uses rare cases when pathology develops in the background of other diseases - scoliosis, intervertebral disc hernia, curvature or spinal displacement, injury.

Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis in women is not very different from male treatment.However, doctors often recommend women to make external compression to heat and strengthen their neck muscles.

Experts recommend from the beginning of children to prevent various back diseases.To do this, you need to form the right posture while walking and staying on the desktop.Full nutrition and proper back muscles will help avoid negative consequences in the future.