Osteochondral disease- This is a disease of the spine, or its ligaments.
In short, metabolism in vertebral cartilage is violated.
Osteochondrosis comes from the Greek osteon - "bone" and cartilage - "cartilage". The essence of osteocartilage degeneration is the malnutrition process of bones and cartilage, followed by aging. In a classical medical sense, osteocartilage of the spine is a degenerate lesion of intervertebral disc cartilage and a reactive change in adjacent bodies of the spine. It is widely believed that it all starts with a failure in disk, but pain syndrome has already occurred due to neurological complications of the process.
There is a view that osteochondrosis is a disease that is affected by many factors - both inherited and acquired. After 35 years, people most often begin to feel the manifestations of osteochondrosis. The development and aggravation of osteochondrosis in the spine is facilitated by its macroscopic and microscopic, static and dynamic overloads, and vibrations.
The optimal load on the vertebrae and discs is conceived for us when we keep our spine in its natural position. When this position changes, the load on the spine is improperly distributed, which can lead to excessive cartilage changes in position.
This may be caused by this:
- Work related to frequent changes in body position;
- Lift heavy cargo;
- Forced posture for a long time (e. g. , among school children and students)
- In the wrong posture when standing, sitting, lying and weight;
- sports and sports without considering the effects of a lot of physical strength;
- Injured, physical labor
In most cases, several factors can lead to the development of osteochondrosis. Some of the locations are subjected to pressure, low body temperature, unfavorable weather conditions (used in combination with high humidity), various chemicals enter the human body with food and breathing. People with overweight. The cause of osteochondrosis development may be congenital defects in connective tissues (weakness in ligament symptoms), a hormone exchange, autoimmune disease, nutritional diseases in joints, etc.
Osteocartilage - Degradation and destruction of intervertebral discs. In 80% of cases, it is the cause of osteocartilage degeneration.
The mechanism of pain appearance can be simplified: the disc cannot bear the load, and its herniation forms. Surrounding the intervertebral disc are neural processes, blood vessels and spinal cord. Hernia in the intervertebral disc affects any nervous process and causes its inflammation, which leads to pain.
Osteochondrosis in the cervical vertebra is distinguished by a variety of symptoms. There is an unpleasant feeling in your hands, spreading from the shoulders and forearms to the outer surface of your shoulders and to the forearms to your fingers, numbness, increased or decreased sensitivity, and sometimes you have to get up at night and knead the muscles of your hands. The pain can be acute, with a sensation of cutting and electric current. Usually, the pain can be exacerbated with minimal arm load. Some patients cannot wear their coats - it presses on the shoulders and seems to be heavy. The pain can increase with coughing, sneezing, and tension, especially when tilted to the healthy side. Movement disorders can occur, especially with the fingers. Usually, the lower spine of 2-3 spines is affected.
Numbness, burning, tingling, limiting mobility of the upper or lower limbs, and impaired sensitivity are sometimes found. The appearance of "cervical migraine" indicates lesions in the vertebral artery. The blood circulation in the stem and the occipital part of the brain are disturbed. The persistent symptoms are headaches. Usually, pain occurs at the back of the head and spreads to the parietal area. The pain is constant and increases with neck movement, more often in the morning. Older people usually lose consciousness with obvious head turns, which was previously dizzy, ear noise, vision loss and hearing, nausea and vomiting.
Sometimes, the heart has pain - prolonged, pressing. Due to osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, especially in the elderly and older age, changes in soft tissue are often found. These seals are in the muscles of the neck, during the process of the cervical vertebrae (usually the VII vertebrae), the wrist, elbow joint, elbow joint, in the upper and subclavian fossa. As the tendon structure changes, the sheet-like seal in the palm is increasingly revealed.
Osteochondrosis in the chest and spine is extremely diverse, but it is not strictly specific. Basically, the symptoms depend on the location (location) of the painful process and its severity. Thoracic pain is the main symptom. After physical fatigue or long stays, the pain can increase, which forces the patient to change posture even at night. The burning, soreness or dullness of the shoulder cap bone and space are very characteristic. The patient complains about the feeling of "iron tick". Drinking alcohol during the vertebrae is painful. The pain spreads to various internal organs.
Diagnosis of osteochondrosis
The diagnosis of osteochondrosis is performed by a neuropathologist, an orthopedic surgeon. To confirm the diagnosis of osteochondrosis, doctors discovered the symptoms of the disease, the development history of the disease, and examined the patient. Usually, when people with osteochondral disease who are usually detected with the spine (scoliosis), pain points and the presence of tension muscles on the side of the scoliosis are usually detected.
To elucidate the diagnosis of osteochondrosis, radiological examination of the spine, computed tomography or nuclear magnetic resonance were performed.
How to treat osteochondral disease
Currently, there are many ways to treat osteochondrosis, take medications and end with surgery. Naturally, there is a lot of controversy about these methods and their effects on the body. There are some key points you should be aware of when choosing a treatment.
For example, if you are taking medication, you should be aware of the adverse effects of most people on the stomach and liver, so it is important to contact experienced experts who will choose the most guaranteed medication.
When choosing a manual therapist, hopefully it is even closer, as many non-professionals can now take you to a wheelchair. When choosing treatment exercises, it is necessary to be careful to make sure that exercises do not cause a spinal burden, but will only develop the muscles in the back. Try to do all the exercises slowly without sudden movements.
To prevent osteochondrosis and its exclusion, it is recommended to observe several rules that can reduce spinal load:
- Always keep behind
- Try not to lift heavy objects. If necessary, then squat down without tilting
- Move more frequently and don't let your back muscles shrink
- Hang on the horizontal bar as often as possible and swim
But not everything is that terrifying. For those who have not yet had the disease, there are many preventive measures, and the rest have full funds for the treatment of the disease.
Prevent osteochondral disease
As you know, preventing disease is easier than treating disease. Osteochondrosis must be prevented for everyone, including children and adults. Furthermore, it does not have any complexity and prevents osteocartilage without any special effort. The first and perhaps most important point is to care for the health of the spine. To this end, the world recommends constant exercise or at least gymnastics, which will help develop spinal corsets and improve blood circulation. The next one is to constantly monitor posture and gait rather than bend over.
The ideal position is when the head and back are in the same vertical direction, with the shoulders straightened, the shoulder blade not stretched out, the chest is raised, and the stomach is pulled. My yoga teacher once said that the stomach is obvious, not because we eat a lot, but because we are leaving the wrong thing. OK? Imagine you were pulled over your head and you had barely touching the floor socks. Practice this practice for a few weeks and you won't notice yourself that they have become owners of great positions.
It is also recommended to hang as much as possible on the horizontal pole to stretch the spine and relax. Provide yourself with a dream and your spine will be in the right position. Research by scientists shows the ideal posture of the spine lying on the back. But at the same time, the mattress should be difficult enough to make the spine take a convenient natural posture. To do this, place the elastic roller under your feet. We recommend you purchase orthopedic mattresses and pillows and finally throw away the grandmother of the feather bed.
If you are sitting for a long time, you will always have a break every two hours (more, more). Relax and let your head and shoulders move and walk. If possible, enter the fresh air. By the way, such rest is legal, and in labor laws, they are allowed to work continuously on computers.
We include a balanced preventive vitamin nutrition. Try fish and seafood, nuts, beans and various dairy products. Take complex vitamins regularly. This way, you will not allow violations. Excessive weight is a damage load on the spine, so please do not recover.
Well, a few words about preventing children. It is necessary to monitor your child’s posture, perform gymnastics or morning exercises (which will be more effective if you do it together). However, school backpacks are preferred over bags, as they are backpacks that balance the back.