Cervical osteochondrosis is an ailment in which the delicate intervertebral pulp, which acts as a shock absorber between the vertebrae, turns into ossified tissue, and the roots and blood vessels are involved. This change is hidden under various manifestations, where the main feature of the disease of the cervical spine is pain in the cervical region, at the top of the back, radiating to the head. Mandatory treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is required.
Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis
The disease is characterized by typical symptoms.
With cervical osteochondrosis, patients feel:
- bouts of dizziness, nausea, pressure drops, loss of consciousness;
- lack of air;
- numbness of the tongue;
- angina attacks and other changes in the cardiovascular system.
All these symptoms encourage the patient to turn not only to a neurologist, but also to other doctors of such specialties 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 from 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 spine and the lack of mobility of the neck joints, which carry the weight, keeping the skull in an upright position.
Effective treatment
Medicine does not stand still. 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 you need to be treated. The treatment includes:
- conservative therapy (drug or non-drug);
- surgical intervention;
- complex method of two methods.
Features of classical therapy
To make sure that osteochondrosis of the cervical spine can be cured, you need to correctly use simple methods - recreational physical education, massage, self-massage. This can bring improvement in the well-being of a patient who feels pain in the neck with this ailment.
But with a long course of degenerative processes, it would be good to be examined while in a hospital or in an outpatient clinic. This will help to choose an adequate method of treatment procedures.
If this is not possible, then it is important to use lightweight methods - for example, to do exercises aimed at hydration (filling the interarticular space with fluids due to a change in blood supply to the neck and back of the head).
Improving physical education
By accurately performing the exercises of therapeutic gymnastics, you can achieve great results. For example, there are many methods for the treatment of osteochondrosis of the neck, but not all of them are based on increasing the nutrition of cartilage and bone tissues.
The task of exercise therapy is to restore blood circulation in the changed area. During a visit to exercise therapy, you can not strongly rotate or bow your head, you can only imitate such movements. It seemed that everything is so simple, but it works.
To properly perform exercise therapy, you need to use physical exercises, excluding:
- prolonged stress on the joints of the neck (do one exercise for no more than two minutes);
- turns, flexion, rotation of the neck (such actions relieve the development of pathology in the joints and intervertebral discs).
It is useful to do slight bending of the head, which does not cause movement of all joints, but increases blood flow to them. Such action is similar to light nodding of the head, in the form of consent. After half an hour, you can perform a movement similar to an expression of disagreement.
It is also useful to do an exercise similar to moving the head forward, while holding the frontal part, and back, trying to also hold the back of the head. All this can be done at home.
Massage
Massage the cervical region very carefully, without applying much force. Any inept action can lead to negative consequences. Movements cover the neck, collar area and upper back. The patient during the massage lies on his stomach or sits.
Some features of the technique:
- Stroking. At this stage, the upper layers of the skin are affected. Do this with the palm of your hand or with your fingertips in the direction from the head, dropping to the upper third of the middle of the back. Stroking from the base of the neck can be done in a zigzag pattern.
- Squeezing. The masseur tries to have a more penetrating effect on the tissues in the upper third of the back. In this case, thumbs and forefingers are involved. They move across the neck, covering the skin, which is similar to squeezing. It is important to be extremely careful not to touch the tissues near the vertebrae.
- Trituration. At this stage, the deeper tissues are affected. We must try not to overdo it, so as not to get worse.
Having taken 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 spikes to act on a specific area of the skin. Lying down on it or simply applying it, the patient provokes irritation of the skin receptors, which are responsible for the physiological processes in the body.
Many users have noticed that the applicator is effective and temporarily relieves pain.
It is also worth noting that when using the device, working capacity increases, there is a positive effect on skin elasticity, sleep and blood flow, regeneration of joint activity occurs. There are diseases in which it is worth abandoning the use of the applicator. These are ailments of an infectious, tumor, skin and vascular nature.
Before you start using the device, you need to consult a doctor or experiment yourself by applying the applicator for a short time. When observing, 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 pressing the cervical artery and nerve roots during rest 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, you need to take into account the characteristic anatomical properties of a person, the volume and quality of the filler. If the pillow is correctly chosen, then it will bring great benefits to a patient with cervical osteochondrosis.
Preparations and medicines
These are not all ways to treat cervical osteochondrosis. Medical treatment here will also come to the rescue.
In the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, the medicines are as follows:
- Analgesics are nonsteroidal medicines 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 in the digestive tract;
- anti-inflammatory (steroids). A hormonal drug that relieves inflammation and thereby relieves pain. The most common drug are tablets and ointments that contain Hydrocortisone, Prednidazole, Dexamethasone;
- chondroprotectors - drugs that have components in their composition that have a substitution of the action of cartilage tissue elements. Taking a long period 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 taken parenterally under medical supervision. To treat osteochondrosis, it is necessary to use products based on Glycerin, Benzimidazole. They have a huge list of contraindications;
- vitamins. As part of the treatment of the disease, vitamins have a positive effect on the peripheral nervous system and enhance 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 easy methods of treatment at home are gels, ointments. They have anti-inflammatory, warming, pain relief properties. You can hear about them regularly on TV. Since they can be easily purchased at a 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 must never be forgotten that before starting any treatment, one should consult the appropriate doctor, as self-medication often leads to bad 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 factors that manifest themselves during the course of pathology is achieved. The basis of health is the observance of a correct lifestyle. This includes the use of moderate physical activity, control of body weight, systematic warm-up with a sedentary lifestyle.
All this depends on the desire of the person himself and on the habits that are laid down from childhood. But throughout a person's life, different things can happen. This may be received microtrauma of the spine or a congenital disease of the musculoskeletal system. If the patient has a tendency to develop osteochondrosis, then it is important to be attentive to those jobs that have increased physical activity, and also try not to make sudden movements.
If there is excess weight of more than 10 kilograms, then it can aggravate the load on the back. If you can not refuse enhanced physical activity, you need:
- carry the load in turn - now on one side of the body, then on the other;
- use a corset to protect your back;
- after finishing work, try to unload the spine. To do this, you should either 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 bad effect. Some tips to help reduce the risk of exacerbation of osteochondrosis:
- for sleep, it is recommended to use not only an orthopedic pillow, but also an orthopedic mattress, since they do not disturb the blood flow in the spine;
- systematic swimming;
- proper nutrition.
If there is a diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the spine, then sports that increase pressure on the spine and have a traumatic effect are not recommended. You need to give up running, jumping, weightlifting. You should not bathe in the bath during exacerbation of osteochondrosis. Following such easy recommendations, using massage (in some cases), you can ensure a quiet life with a diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine up to retirement age.