Cervical osteochondrosis (cervical osteochondrosis) is a chronic degenerative disease of the spine, in which the structure of the vertebrae is deformed, the integrity of the intervertebral structures is disrupted, and the roots of the spinal cord are damaged.
Important to know!Osteochondrosis is not a death sentence.It is always possible to relieve the exacerbation of the process and control the progression of changes in the spine.In the most advanced cases, neurosurgical operations are possible.However, this does not prevent the disease from being “triggered”.It is very important to consult a doctor as soon as the first symptoms of osteochondrosis appear to diagnose the disease and prescribe early preventive measures!
Reasons for development
The anatomical structure of the spine suggests the greatest mobility in the cervical spine, and it is in the cervical spine that the vertebrae are smallest.These two factors make the neck one of the “weak points” of the spine.
The main reasons for the development of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are a combination of the following unfavorable factors:
- Incorrect posture and neck position (including when working at the computer).
- High physical loads on the cervical spine and shoulder girdle.
- Spinal injuries...
- Age-related changes in the tissues of intervertebral structures.
- Poor diet, poor in essential vitamins and minerals.
It must be said that almost everyone develops osteochondrosis with age;according to some researchers, it is “a kind of reward for walking upright.”However, in the modern world, with its fast-paced life, sedentary lifestyle and prolonged work at the computer, it is cervical osteochondrosis that comes first among spinal problems.
Symptoms
Symptoms can vary significantly depending on the level of spinal damage, the severity of degenerative changes, individual characteristics of the human body and many other factors.Neurologists prefer to distinguish three main symptom complexes that occur with cervical osteochondrosis, as well as their combination:
- Vertebrogenic neck pain.
- Vertebrogenic cervicocranialgia.
- Vertebrogenic cervicobrachialgia.
Based on the names, we can identify the main symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis.Thus, in cases of neck pain, the main complaint will be pain directly in the neck;with vertebrogenic cervicocranialgia, neck pain also spreads to the head;with cervicobrachialgia, neck pain extends to one or both arms, arm cramps also develop, numbness and a feeling of crawling on the arms may appear.In all cases of osteochondrosis, the following symptoms may appear: tension of the neck muscles, neck cracking, limitation of neck movements.
Radiculopathy
In the presence of severe osteochondrosis, complicated by the presence of protrusions or herniated discs, the so-called radiculopathy can form: a disruption in the functioning of a certain spinal root with the development of weakness of the innervated muscles, their weight loss and sensitivity disorders.
Diagnoses and radiological signs
Osteochondrosis is a radiological diagnosis, since a detailed clinical picture is available only at the time of exacerbation, while changes in the spine can occur with the complete subjective well-being of a person.Without X-ray examination, we can only talk about a suspicion of osteochondrosis, since similar symptoms can be provoked by other diseases (myositis, vertebral neoplasms and others).
To diagnose osteochondrosis, the following research methods are used: radiography (preferably with functional tests), MSCT and MRI.The latter study is the most preferable because it allows you to very clearly visualize the state of the intervertebral structures.
Radiological signs of osteochondrosis include the following changes in the spine:
- Reduced height of the intervertebral discs.
- Presence of marginal bony excrescences.
- Violation of the location of the vertebrae relative to each other.
- Deformities of vertebral bodies and vertebral arches, etc.
The presence of the changes described above, as well as changes in the structure of the intervertebral disc, detected by MSCT and MRI, are reliable signs confirming the presence of osteochondrosis.
Treatment
Treatment should be comprehensive and aimed at all aspects of the pathogenesis of clinical manifestations.Chronic dystrophic changes during exacerbations lead to inflammation of the roots of the spinal cord, which in turn reflexively causes pain.Pain is a signal for the muscles to develop a protective reaction: muscle spasms.Muscle spasms bring the vertebrae together and increase compression (squeezing) and inflammation of the roots.The circle is closed.This is why it is necessary to eliminate inflammation, pain and muscle spasms, and to protect the roots from inflammatory effects.
There are medicinal and non-drug treatment methods.They partly change in the presence of a predominance of certain symptoms, but they have a general pattern.
Medicine
Anti-inflammatory drugs (aceclofenac, ketoprofen, meloxicam, diclofenac, etc.), muscle relaxants (tolperisone hydrochloride, baclofen, tizanidine), neuroprotective drugs (complex preparations of B vitamins and thioctic acid) are used.
Non-medicated
Includes massage, physiotherapy and exercise therapy.Massage for cervical osteochondrosis very effectively relieves muscle spasms, improves blood flow to the tissues of the spine, which reduces the severity of the inflammatory process.Physiotherapy can aim to both relieve pain (electrophoresis with analgesics) and relieve muscle tension (diadynamic currents).Therapeutic exercise is a unique and extremely effective method of disease prevention.Here you can see a set of exercise therapy exercises for cervical osteochondrosis.
Folk remedies
Among the traditional methods of treatment, it is worth highlighting the use of various heating compresses based on water and alcohol, which can reduce the intensity of neck pain and reduce inflammation.The “dry heat” method has also proven itself well, the essence of which is to heat salt or sand placed in a rag bag and then apply it to the painful area.
Some of the traditional methods of treating osteochondrosis of the cervical spine include the use of applicators - special devices or simply tissue surfaces coated with needles.Applying moderate pressure to the neck area, as well as simply lying on such a surface for 10-15 minutes, causes reflexive relaxation of the cervical muscles and distracting pain relief.