Cervical chondropathy

Treating the disease promptly can increase the chances of a quick and successful recovery. But in any case, it is best not to let the disease develop, especially serious diseases such as cervical osteochondrosis.

The definition of cervical osteochondrosis

Cervical osteochondrosis is a fairly common disease that has recently affected young people more and more. The disease affects the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine. Usually, due to incorrect body posture (for example, due to long hours of work on the computer), it leads to the development of a pathological process of degenerative dystrophy.

Among other things, the problem may be caused by genetic susceptibility, poor posture, uncomfortable sleeping places, and a sedentary lifestyle. Although this type of osteochondrosis develops rather slowly, it tends to develop.

In elderly patients, this disease is mainly combined with other degenerative diseases, such as:

• Interspinous joint disease;
• Spondylopathy;
• Intervertebral disc herniation, etc.

Symptoms

For the most typical symptoms, first, you can notice the emergence of acute pain caused by pinching nerve endings. The pain is usually concentrated in the waist, neck and back. In addition, you can also find other syndromes:

• Heart syndrome-Composed of several symptoms, which are similar to angina pectoris. The syndrome develops during stimulation of the pectoralis major muscle or nerve root. Therefore, a person experiences an urgent painful sensation in the myocardial area, which may occur periodically and last for several hours. Sneezing or sudden head movements usually make the pain worse. In addition, during the onset of pain, ECG changes cannot be detected.
• Radiation nerve syndrome-Occurs when the nerve endings of the cervical spine are compressed. At this moment, the pain can be applied not only to the forearm, shoulder or shoulder blade, but also to the waist area. Depending on the number of osteochondrosis patients at the beginning, the patient may feel a slight tingling or a more pronounced sensation.
• Stimulating reflex syndrome-It is manifested by burning sensation in the occiput and neck. Such symptoms usually appear when you wake up from sleep, turn your head sharply, and cough and sneeze. In addition, pain can not only appear in the shoulder area, but also in the chest area.
• Vertebral artery syndromeis ​​one of the typical manifestations of the disease, which is characterized by burns or throbbing headaches, which are mostly located in the temporal or occipital region. Usually accompanied by this syndrome, there is constant pain, but sometimes it appears and lessens.

Attention!Experts pointed out that if symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis appear, the person’s fatigue will increase, which may lead to hearing and visual impairment.

As for the other main symptoms of the disease, including:

• Compression of blood vessels, causing blood pressure to rise;
• Severe headache caused by blood circulation disorder in the brain. This kind of pain can cause patients to use painkillers regularly.
• Vision and hearing problems;
• Pain, quite severe neck and shoulder pain, sometimes exacerbated by sharp and very uncomfortable "back pain";
• will sharpen and lie on your back when tilting your head or turning to the side;
• The arm muscle strength decreased due to chest pain;
• Dizziness.

Important!Once you notice the first symptoms of this disease, you must seek help from a neurologist as soon as possible.

Reason

The main causes of osteochondrosis are as follows:

1. Metabolic disorders can negatively affect the normal condition of intervertebral disc cartilage.
2. Insufficient mobility of the cervical spine will cause fluid loss, which will negatively affect the elasticity of cartilage.
3. Cervical spine minor trauma during head tilt, turning, etc.
4. The inheritance is not good, so the safety margin of the disc is very small.

Treatment

The treatment process directly depends on the stage of the disease and is based on a comprehensive approach. On average, treatment lasts 1 to 3 months, after which it is necessary to support the elimination of symptoms through preventive measures for about a year.

According to the patient's health status and the degree of neglect of the disease, there are two main treatment methods. As for conservative treatment, this includes taking medication and doing some exercise. Surgery is only performed if conservative treatment is not effective.

It’s importantto follow your diet and follow the recommendations for therapeutic exercise.

Conservative treatment aims to relieve pain, restore and restore spinal function, and prevent adverse changes. In this therapy, multiple therapies are used:

• Spinal traction (traction). By using special medical equipment, the spine can be stretched to increase the distance between the vertebrae;
• Drug treatment. The main purpose of using drugs during this disease is to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and generally normalize the metabolic process in the body;
• Physiotherapy. Due to such a procedure, not only the pain can be relieved, but the effect of the medication can be improved. This method is also used during rehabilitation. In this case, laser beams, ultrasonic waves, low-frequency currents, magnetic fields, etc. are often used.
• exercise therapyand exercise-based exercise therapy;
• Manual therapy. Choose this treatment method for each patient individually;
• Massage. Thanks to massage, you can speed up blood circulation in the tissues, remove clamps and muscle spasms, and generally improve the blood supply to the entire body tissues.

Although drugs alone cannot cure osteochondrosis, they can help restore blood supply to tissues. Treatment should be comprehensive, and only in this case can we talk about the effectiveness of treatment. In addition to medication, physical therapy, diet, and abandon bad habits must also be performed.

It is not appropriate to take medication without a doctor’s prescription when there is no pain or obvious malnutrition. The following types of drugs can be used to treat this disease and relieve pain:

• refers to substances used for regeneration and prevention of cartilage tissue degeneration: hyaluronic acid and similar;
• Reduce inflammation;
• Preparations for improving blood supply to tissues: B vitamins;
• Antispasmodic;
• Antioxidants: Vitamin N, E and C.

Medications can be prescribed not only as oral tablets and capsules, but also as injections or topical ointments/creams. If there are acute complications, drugs can be used to block nerve endings.

Together with medication, it is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition. Drink at least 1. 5 liters of water every day.

For the health of joints and the whole body, it is recommended to drink half a liter of water every day.

Of course, you can also use herbal tea, fruit drinks, dried fruit preserves or mineral water. Coffee, strong tea, alcohol and carbonated beverages should be eliminated in the daily diet.

Prevention

The main cause of osteochondrosis is ignoring the needs of the body, heavy load and malnutrition. Therefore, prevention should be based on completely eliminating the negative effects on the spine and preventing the occurrence of pathological changes. To do this, just follow the usual rules of a healthy lifestyle (healthy lifestyle):

• Only moderate physical activity during exercise: morning exercise, gymnastics, track and field, if it is wrestling, then non-contact, swimming is a great choice;
• In the case of staying in one position for a long time (for example, when working for a long time), it is very important to take a break at least every 45-60 minutes. During this period, you need to give your body 5 to 15 minutes to warm up, which will restore normal blood circulation. Similarly, it is very important to pay attention to the correct choice of office chairs or armchairs. Priority is given to those that will support the spine and control the correct position of the hands on the table and feet on the floor. Try to monitor your posture independently (your shoulders should be in a relaxed position and your back should be straight);
• It is important to try to control your emotions when you have a spastic reaction under pressure. For this, you need to learn relaxation methods and systematically perform massages to fully strengthen your body;
• When sleeping, it is best to choose a flat orthopedic mattress. Of course it will not be as soft as a feather bed, but its elasticity will ensure the correct position of the body.
• Drinking plenty of fluids and proper nutrition will not only help maintain metabolism, but also strengthen the entire body:

Mental state also has a negative impact on the condition of joints.

• When you need to move or lift heavy objects, it is important to operate as smoothly as possible to avoid sudden stabbings and convulsions in a semi-squat position. The use of special support belts is not superfluous.
• The important point is to choose high-quality orthopedic shoes without heels and wide enough feet. The burden on the spine can also be reduced by replacing worn-out shoes in time, which is especially important for women. In summer, if possible, in the sea by the sea, you need to walk barefoot on different ground to strengthen the muscles of the feet.

It is important to remember thatprevention is better and easier than follow-up treatment of the disease.

Practice

Under no circumstances should you start physical exercise or exercise without a doctor’s prescription or until the pain syndrome is relieved. The specialist must first relieve any acute symptoms. Gymnastics can be painful when there are pain symptoms.

There are some very effective and simple exercises. They can be done not only at home, but also anywhere, including work or even on the road.

Begin to perform the exercise. In all cases, the initial posture is sitting on a chair with hands on your knees:

It’s worth starting with a warm-up:

1. In the starting position, you need to slowly turn your head to one side until it stops, and then turn to the other side. At this point, you need to feel the way the neck muscles stretch. Once you turn your neck to one side until it stops, you need to rotate it a few more degrees as carefully as possible to avoid sudden movements and hold it in this state for 5 seconds. Experts recommend that you start exercising after any warm-up exercises to strengthen your neck muscles. Five rotations in each direction are sufficient to increase the strength and flexibility of the neck.
2. Next, you need to tilt your head so that your ears are close to your shoulders. It is worth noting that the shoulders must remain still at this time. In the biggest way, you need to fix the position. Be careful not to cause discomfort or pain during the operation. It is sufficient to make 5 such tilts on each side.

Next, continue with the main exercise:

1. Now, after the warm-up is over, you can continue with some specific exercises that can bring great results. In the starting position, you need to place your hands on the correct temples. Now, you need to try to tilt your head to the right. At this point, your hands should prevent this from happening. The strength should make it heavy, but the head is still gradually tilted in that direction. For each side, 10 slopes are sufficient. Naturally, it needs to change hands.
2. Next, you need to grab the occipital area of ​​your head and generate resistance, and then try to tilt your head back 5 times.
3. When placing your palm on your forehead, you must do exactly the same exercise. Through resistance, you need to bring the lower bara to the chest. Five forward bends are enough.
4. The conclusion of the exercise can be a warm-up for the trap, which can be done by lowering and raising the shoulders. At the highest point, you need to lock them for a few seconds, then lower them and relax completely. Enough for 10 repetitions.
5. Perform exercise by stretching the neck in different directions. This set of exercises must be performed every day. This is an excellent choice for warming the neck through osteochondrosis.

In addition to strength training, it can also include neck flexibility exercises. They not only help strengthen neck muscles, but also strengthen tendons. Warming up will make your neck move more.

Experts recommend this exercise not only for cervical osteochondrosis, but also for all people over 30 years old. The problem is that at this age, muscle fibers lose their flexibility, so maintaining them and the overall health of the body is very important.

1. The chin must be brought to the chest, while holding the head with your hands.
2. Be very careful, you need to tilt your head to one side with your hands to touch your shoulders with your ears.

Only by properly treating the initial symptoms of osteochondrosis can you solve this problem as soon as possible and return to normal life without pain and discomfort.

Next, you need to perform several circular movements of the head in one direction, and then several times in the other direction. 8 turns per side is sufficient. Practice must be very careful. For safety reasons, you can hold your head with your hands.