Cervical osteochondrosis is a disorder in which the delicate intervertebral pulp, which acts as a shock absorber between the vertebrae, turns into ossified tissue and roots and blood vessels are involved. This change is hidden under various manifestations, where the main feature of cervical spine disease is pain in the cervical region, in the upper back, which radiates to the head. Mandatory treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is required.
Cervical osteochondrosis symptoms
The disease is characterized by typical symptoms.
With cervical osteochondrosis, patients feel:
- attacks of dizziness, nausea, pressure drops, loss of consciousness;
- lack of air;
- numbness of the tongue;
- attacks of angina and other changes in the cardiovascular system.
All these symptoms encourage the patient to turn not only to a neurologist, but also to other specialty doctors such as a cardiologist, therapist, orthopedist, which greatly complicates the correct diagnosis in the early stages of the development of the disease. The dystrophic process of tissue deviations of the cervical vertebrae, as a rule, affects people of middle age. This happens due to the vertical position of the human skeleton and the separation of static and dynamic pressure.
Symptoms such as pain in the back of the head, shoulders, arms, sternum and retrosternal region indicate the exit of the roots of the nerve endings in the upper part of the spine and the lack of mobility of the joints in the neck, which support the weight, while maintaining the skull in an upright position.
Effective treatment
Medicine doesn't stop. The method of therapy is different, for this it is important to take into account the stage of the pathology (weakening or crisis), the form of the disease (acute or chronic), the manifestation of symptoms, for example, the presence or absence of pain.
You should know how to cure cervical osteochondrosis and how long it takes to be treated. The treatment includes:
- conservative therapy (drug or non-drug);
- Surgical intervention;
- complex method of two methods.
Characteristics of classical therapy
To make sure that osteochondrosis of the cervical spine can be cured, it is necessary to correctly use simple methods: recreational physical education, massage, self-massage. This can lead to an improvement in the well-being of a patient experiencing neck pain with this disorder.
But with a prolonged course of degenerative processes, it would be good to be examined in the hospital or outpatient clinic. This will help to choose a suitable method of treatment procedures.
If this is not possible, it is important to use light methods, for example, doing exercises aimed at hydration (filling the interarticular space with fluids due to a change in the blood supply to the neck and back of the head).
Improve physical education
By carefully performing therapeutic gymnastics exercises, you can achieve great results. For example, there are many methods for treating osteochondrosis of the neck, but not all of them are based on increasing the nutrition of cartilage and bone tissues.
The task of physical therapy is to restore blood circulation to the changed area. During a visit to physical therapy, you cannot strongly rotate or bend your head, you can only imitate such movements. It seemed that everything was that simple, but it works.
To properly perform physical therapy, it is necessary to use physical exercises, excluding:
- prolonged stress on the neck joints (do an exercise for no more than two minutes);
- turns, flexions, rotations of the neck (such actions relieve the development of pathology in the joints and intervertebral discs).
It is useful to slightly bend the head, which does not cause movement of all joints, but increases blood flow to them. Such actions are similar to light nods in the form of consent. After half an hour, you can perform a movement similar to an expression of disagreement.
It is also helpful to do an exercise similar to moving your head forward, holding the front, and back, trying to hold the back of the head as well. All of this can be done at home.
Massage
Massage the cervical region very carefully, without applying too much force. Any inept action can lead to negative consequences. The movements cover the neck, neck area and upper back. During the massage, the patient lies on his stomach or sits down.
Some features of the technique:
- Caress. At this stage, the upper layers of the skin are affected. Do this with the palm of your hand or fingertips in the direction from the head, going down to the upper third of the center of the back. Stroking from the base of the neck can be performed in a zigzag pattern.
- Squeezing. The massager tries to have a more penetrating effect on the tissues in the upper third of the back. In this case, the thumbs and index fingers are involved. They move across the neck, covering the skin, which is similar to squeezing. It is important to be very careful not to touch the tissues near the vertebrae.
- Shredding. At this stage, there is an effect on the deeper tissues. You have to try not to overdo it, so as not to get worse.
After taking a comfortable position, without looking up from watching your favorite movie, you can do the massage yourself. In this case, stroking, rubbing in a circle in the neck and shoulders are used. An excellent result will be if, during self-massage, you rub special ointments that can increase blood circulation, remove pain in the massaged part.
Applicator
The applicator is a plastic frame with tips to act on a specific area of the skin. Lying on it or simply applying it, the patient causes irritation of the skin receptors, which are responsible for the physiological processes of the body.
Many users have noted that the applicator is effective and temporarily relieves pain.
It is also worth noting that when using the device, the working capacity increases, there is a positive effect on the elasticity of the skin, sleep and blood flow, the regeneration of joint activity occurs. There are diseases in which it is worth abandoning the use of the applicator. These are disorders of an infectious, tumor, skin and vascular nature.
Before starting to use the device, you need to consult a doctor or personally experiment with applying the applicator for a short time. When you observe, you can see the result in well-being.
Use of orthopedic pillows
An excellent preventive way in the fight against osteochondrosis is to sleep on orthopedic pillows. As a rule, the state of osteochondrosis worsens due to the pressure of the cervical artery and nerve roots while resting on an uncomfortable pillow.
Special items allow you to evenly distribute the position of a person during sleep, which significantly improves the process of blood flow to the head.
To choose the perfect pillow, it is necessary to take into account the anatomical characteristics of a person, the volume and quality of the filler. If the pillow is chosen correctly, it will bring great benefits to a patient with cervical osteochondrosis.
Drugs and Medicines
These are not all ways to treat cervical osteochondrosis. Medical treatment will also come to the rescue here.
In the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, the drugs are as follows:
- Analgesics are non-steroidal drugs that relieve pain. As a rule, they are taken in tablets or capsules. It should not be forgotten that such drugs can irritate the mucous membrane of the digestive tract;
- anti-inflammatory (steroids). A hormonal drug that relieves inflammation and thus relieves pain. The most common drugs are tablets and ointments that contain hydrocortisone, prednidazole, dexamethasone;
- chondroprotectors - drugs that have components in their composition that replace the action of the elements of cartilage tissue. Taking a long time can get a good result;
- Muscle relaxants are drugs that relieve tension in the muscles. Most often they are applicable in surgery and orthopedics as an additional remedy for pain relief. They are injected under medical supervision. To treat osteochondrosis, it is necessary to use products based on glycerin, benzimidazole. They have a long list of contraindications;
- vitamins. As part of the treatment of the disease, vitamins have a positive effect on the peripheral nervous system and improve its conductivity. B1, B6, B12 are water-soluble vitamins, A, C, D, E, B are fat-soluble. There is a practice of using different drugs together, attributing vitamins and painkillers;
- ointments and gels for external use. One of the very simple methods of treatment at home are gels, ointments. They have anti-inflammatory, warming and pain relieving properties. You can hear about it regularly on TV. Since they can be easily purchased at the pharmacy, drugs are used for self-medication, even in cases where there is no confirmation of the symptoms of the disease. It is especially worth considering that with cervical osteochondrosis they are ineffective.
It should never be forgotten that before starting any treatment it is desirable to consult with the competent doctor, since self-medication often leads to negative consequences.
Preventive actions
It is easier to prevent a disease or delay it for as long as possible than to cure it. Thus, the minimization of the factors that arise during the course of the pathology is achieved. The basis of health is the observance of a correct lifestyle. This includes the use of moderate physical activity, weight control, systematic warming up with a sedentary lifestyle.
All this depends on the desire of the person himself and on the habits that are placed since childhood. But different things can happen over the course of a person's life. This can be received microtrauma of the spine or a congenital disease of the musculoskeletal system. If the patient has a tendency to develop osteochondrosis, it is important to pay attention to those works that have increased physical activity, and also to try not to make sudden movements.
If there is excess weight of more than 10 kilograms, it can aggravate the load on the back. If you can't refuse more physical activity, you need:
- carrying the load in turn, now on one side of the body, then on the other;
- use a corset to protect your back;
- after finishing the work, try to unload the spine. To do this, you should take a horizontal position or hang on the horizontal bar.
It is important to try not to expose yourself to sudden changes in temperature and humidity. An increase in humidity and a drop in temperature have a negative effect. Some tips to help reduce the risk of osteochondrosis exacerbation:
- for sleeping it is recommended to use not only an orthopedic pillow, but also an orthopedic mattress, as they do not disturb the blood flow in the spine;
- systematic swimming;
- appropriate nutrition.
If there is a diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the spine, sports that increase the pressure on the spine and have a traumatic effect are not recommended. You have to give up running, jumping, lifting weights. You should not bathe in the bathtub during the exacerbation of osteochondrosis. By following these simple tips, using massage (in some cases), you can ensure a peaceful life with a diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine until retirement age.