Many people associate the term "osteochondrosis" with old age. There is a view that this is a disease of grandparents, among which "shooting in the back" and "pain in the back". However, this delusion has only one truth: indeed, osteochondrosis isdegenerative(that is, caused by local metabolic disorders)changes in the spine, this change is inevitableIt appears in all elderly people. However, today, among people over 45 years old, nine out of ten people have discovered osteochondrosis, and the first manifestations of the disease can be as early as 25 years old.
This disease is even called"disease of civilization", because the main cause of osteochondrosis is improper "exploitation" of the spine. The fact is that a modern person will bear too much burden, and the paradox is that he is not when running or lifting weights, but when he sits down for a few hours without sitting up a chair. This kind of load is calledstaticand is very tricky. Because a person thinks he is resting while sitting. But in reality, the sitting spine increases pressure.
How does the spine work
To understand what osteochondrosis is, you need to understand what the human spine is. As we all know, the spine consists of vertebrae connected in series by intervertebral discs. In general, a person usually has 33-34 vertebrae: 7 of them are located in the cervical area, 12 are located in the thoracic area, 5 (or 6 in a minority)-lumbar vertebrae, and the other 5 vertebrae grow together to form acThe bone, and finally, the coccyx area consists of another five (or four-depending on personal characteristics) vertebrae. In fact, vertebrae are bones, they are immobile, but they can move freely, thus providing fluidity for our whole body, and will not collapse due to collision and friction, there is a layer of glue between each vertebraThe shape material (the so-callednucleus pulposus) is surrounded by a strong multilayer plate (fibrous ring). In general, this is called theintervertebral disc.In addition, the structure of the spine contains many ligaments, blood vessels and nerves. This is a very complex organ that determines the work of almost all body systems to a large extent, because it can protect the spinal cord and affect its work.
Vertebrae and intervertebral discs are constantly renewed throughout a person's life. This is possible because they have a sufficient blood supply and always provide good nutrition. However, if for some reason a large amount of nutrients begin to flow into the spine, the nucleus pulposus loses its properties, the intervertebral discs become flat and elastic, the fibrous annulus cracks, and the vertebrae themselves begin to move in different directions and approach each other. All of this can lead to many dangerous deviations-mainlynot only inflames the spine itself and surrounding tissues, but also compresses the spinal cord and spinal nerves.
Interestingly, the concept of "spine osteochondrosis" mainly exists in the post-Soviet space. In foreign literature, the changes that occur in the spine are called"hernia", "myofascial pain", "intervertebral disc injury", and "dorsal lesions". Therefore, if you hear similar information about yourself, it means you have spinal osteochondrosis. As forintervertebral hernia, it is considered to be one of the stages of osteochondrosis.
The disease has no acute course and progresses gradually: first, the intervertebral disc narrows, degenerative changes, and thenprotrusions-the nucleus pulposus seems to be squeezed out and mixed with the annulus fibrosus, but it does not break. When the annulus ruptures, they will sayintervertebral hernia.In the last and most severe stage of osteochondrosis,the intervertebral discs are completely worn out, the vertebrae begin to rub against each other and collapse, pathological bone growth and osteophytes appear on them.In the final stage, the spine will become "petrified", that is, loss of mobility, resulting in disability.
Causes of spinal diseases
Why did all the aforementioneddegenerative changes occur?As already mentioned, the main reason isabnormal load on the spine:For example, when a person has to sit a lot in an uncomfortable position, "bending over", the cervical spineThe thoracic area will be pulled and cannot withstand the necessary pressure nutrition. In addition, due to poor posture, rickets may develop.However,exercise, especially strength exercise, violates the technique of exercise, and may also causedegenerative changes in the spine.
Another common cause is anyback injury. The development of osteochondrosis may also be affected by genetic susceptibility, hormonal imbalance, overweight, unhealthy diet, inadequate drinking water, dehydration, smoking, and alcoholism.
Women often experience the first manifestations of osteochondrosis during pregnancy. Then, when young mothers have to feed their babies in an uncomfortable position and often hold them in their arms, the condition of the spine deteriorates significantly.
Symptoms of osteochondrosis
The symptoms of osteochondrosis are varied and depend on the exact department where the disease occurred. Pain is the main manifestation of this pathology, but until the annulus ruptures, it is weak, may be tedious, urgent, and the patient may not even notice it.Usually, the pain intensifies in the morning or after physical activity and radiates to the arms, legs, neck, ribs and chest (in this case, osteochondrosis is easily confused with coronary heart disease).
In addition, there may benumbness and tingling in the limbs.
Cervical osteochondrosisHeadaches may occur, sometimes very severe, dizziness, nausea, and tinnitus. The development of a hernia can cause compression of nerve endings, which can interrupt the work of internal organs related to the affected nerve. For example, if there is a hernia in the lumbar spine, urination problems may occur, valence disappears, in the chest-indigestion, in the cervix-brain blood supply problems.
Diagnosis of osteochondrosis
Only a doctor can distinguish osteochondrosis from other internal organ diseases and determine the source of pain. Today, the most reliable method of diagnosing spinal diseases is magnetic resonance imaging.
X-rays are also very reliable, but less informative. On the X-ray image, you can see changes in the intervertebral discs, but, for example, you cannot see hernias, nor can you assess the condition of the spinal cord and the degree of compression of the displaced vertebrae. In addition, MRI allows you to distinguish osteochondrosis from other dangerous diseases, including malignant tumors and Bechterew disease.
Can osteochondrosis be cured?
Unfortunately, it is impossible to cure osteochondrosis, but it is possible to alleviate the patient’s condition and stop further destruction of the intervertebral disc. However, for this, it is necessary to completely change’s lifestyle-physical therapy, Swimming, regular class massage or manual therapy, eating right and giving up bad habits. Exercise, massage, proper nutrition and weight loss can produce greater long-term healing effects than drugs.
Doctors are still arguing about the effectiveness of chondroprotective agents-drugs that can restore cartilage tissue and allegedly strengthen the fibrous annulus. Their effectiveness has not been fully proven, but because they are absolutely harmless, they can be usedTreat osteochondrosis.
For severe pain, your doctor may prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), muscle relaxants (drugs that relax muscles), and pain relievers.
is used to treat osteochondrosis andvitaminsbecause their deficiency will further damage the intervertebral disc: for example,B vitaminshelp to improve protein metabolism between tissues, And protein is the main building material of the human body, and the normalization of protein metabolism contributes to the recovery of nerve and cartilage tissue. Vitamin A improves blood circulation. However, as with any other medicine, take vitamins with care, because they can cause serious side effects and should only be taken under the supervision of a doctor.
Surgical treatment of osteochondrosis is also possible, but usually, when there isobvious narrowing of the spinal canal and the resulting hernia excessively compresses the nerves and spinal cord, it can be used. In this case, the situation is so difficult that, for example, the patient cannot walk, his internal organs begin to fail or there is a risk of stroke. Usually, this serious consequence is caused by cervical and lumbar osteochondrosis, degenerative changes of the thoracic spine (even if there is a hernia), and almost no surgical treatment is required.
Nowadays, when doctors try to use theendoscopeto remove a part of the nucleus pulposus to preserve the overall structure of the vertebrae, they actively introduce theso-called economical surgery methodinto medicinepractice. The device is inserted into the lesions of the spine through a small incision in the skin to avoid massive blood loss. Since the entire intervertebral disc is not removed during surgery, the spine biomechanics is usually not disturbed, which shortens the recovery time. Usually, the patient stands up within a day after the operation. However, any spinal surgery is still full of complications and subsequent disease recurrence, so experienced experts will try to postpone the surgical treatment to the end. Everything here depends on the patient: if they follow all the doctor’s advice and take care of their health, they can skip any surgery even if there is a hernia.