Thoracic spine osteochondrosis is a severe degenerative-dystrophic pathology that is not yet suitable for a definitive cure. It continues against the background of destruction of intervertebral discs, displacement and elongation of the vertebrae. When diagnosing the disease, doctors take into account that the signs of thoracic osteochondrosis in women and men are different. This is due to hormonal fluctuations in the female body. Women often adhere to diets, wear tight shoes with high heels and find it difficult to experience conflicts in the family. This affects the development, course and progression of pathology of the musculoskeletal system.
Differences between female and male clinical manifestations
The diagnosis of thoracic osteochondrosis in women causes more difficulty due to the peculiarities of the hormonal background. In young patients, it undergoes frequent monthly fluctuations. In women during natural menopause, the production of hormones in the body decreases. This can cause the development of pathologies, they must be differentiated. Men are characterized by a typical course of the disease, which allows it to be detected in a timely manner and treatment to begin immediately.
The clinical picture of thoracic osteochondrosis in women includes numerous signs that are so specific that it is sometimes difficult to classify them as symptoms of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. Doctors distinguish such characteristic differences between male and female clinical appearance, the further progression of thoracic osteochondrosis:
- clinical manifestations in women occur slightly earlier. This is due to the spine, which is more fragile and sensitive to the action of negative factors, increased sensitivity to painful sensations;
- intensity of pain in the chest region, stiffness varies depending on the menstrual cycle. This is due to the production of estrogen in the body - steroid sex hormones. They reduce the severity of the pain that occurs against the background of thinning of the intervertebral discs and spasm of the neck muscles. Therefore, during the initial diagnosis, based on patients' complaints, women are not always able to informatively describe the feelings that bother them;
- in men, thoracic osteochondrosis rarely causes the development of a concomitant disease. And in women, some pathologies can occur immediately. At the same time, osteochondrosis can provoke the development of a disease that is not related to the musculoskeletal system. In contrast, an endocrine or metabolic disorder leads to the destruction of cartilage tissue;
- for the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, women are prescribed medications used in the treatment of men in rare cases. These are antipsychotics, sedatives, tranquilizers. The psycho-emotional state of women is more labile, so among the symptoms are anxiety, increased anxiety and insomnia. Sometimes, with the news of the incurability of the disease, depression appears, which is eliminated only with an antidepressant course.
Women are more likely to experience headaches. But unlike men, they do not suffer from increased intensity of clinical manifestations during the day due to the action of estrogens.
An interesting fact is that with the progression of the pathology in women, libido may increase. This is how steroid hormones work, which are produced intensively in the body to suppress pain. And male sexual desire is significantly reduced as a result of a prostate innervation disorder.
Typical signs of the disease
Patients usually complain to doctors about pain in the shoulder area, aggravated by tilting or turning the body. Radiates to the sides, lower back and even the forearms. The pain is felt along the nerve between the ribs, their intensity increases with coughing, laughing, sneezing. Reflected pain complicates the diagnosis, requires additional studies, consultation with an endocrinologist, cardiologist, mammologist, gynecologist.
Characteristic signs are stiffness, feeling of stiffness.When you move, change body position, specific clicks are heard, usually accompanied by the displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other. Typical symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women also include the following clinical manifestations:
- sensation of "crawling groups", decreased vulnerability in the chest or abdomen, numbness of certain areas of the skin;
- the appearance of signs of intercostal neuralgia. During weight lifting, increased physical activity, hypothermia, appears an acute, piercing pain in the region of the ribs, which spreads to the chest and sides;
- development of persistent dorsalgia - a combination of pain sensations of varying degrees of intensity in the spine. They can also occur when you inhale, intensify when climbing stairs, do some housework;
- muscle spasm that limits the range of motion. Muscle spasm occurs in response to compression by an osteophyte (bone growth) or inflammatory edema of sensitive nerve endings in soft tissue.
Thoracic osteochondrosis is characterized by constant muscle tension located near the spine. This is detected by palpation during the initial examination, as well as pain in the area of nerve endings. There is a change in a woman's behavior, gait. She tries to keep her back straight to prevent pain. But with grade 3 pathology, a curvature of the spine is already observed against the background of the development of scoliosis and a decrease in the distance between the vertebrae.
Specific symptoms of pathology
Thoracic osteochondrosis is rarely diagnosed. This section of the spine is equipped with a strong muscular corset and its strong attachment to the ribs allows it to withstand intense static and dynamic loads. Doctors often call thoracic osteochondrosis a "chameleon disease. "To detect it, differential diagnosis is required not only for pathologies of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, spondyloarthritis), but also for diseases of internal organs.
Patients often refer complaints not to a vertebrologist or neuropathologist, but to a cardiologist, nephrologist, gastroenterologist, gynecologist. The fact is that the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis are disguised as clinical manifestations of angina pectoris, cholecystitis and kidney pain. And an attack of intercostal neuralgia is very similar to myocardial infarction or appendicitis. What atypical signs of thoracic osteochondrosis in women may appear in the remission or remission phase:
- pain in the heart region. They are confused about an angina attack or myocardial infarction. Cardiologists rule out cardiac pathologies after studying the results of an ECG and other instrumental tests;
- pain in the mammary glands. The discomfort does not go away for a long time and their intensity does not decrease. After the patient contacts a gynecologist or mammologist, an ultrasound of the mammary glands is performed to rule out benign and malignant neoplasms;
- pain in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). A woman is referred to a gastroenterologist after the appearance of persistent pain in the right hypochondrium or epigastrium or recurrent. During the diagnosis of gastritis, cholecystitis, ulcerative lesions, various laboratory and instrumental studies are performed;
- pain in the lower abdomen. They often occur due to compression of the nerve endings of the spinal cord. Painful sensations and urinary disorders are similar to the signs of diseases of the genitourinary system. Urologists or gynecologists distinguish osteochondrosis from pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis, uterine fibroids.
Despite the increase in sexual desire caused by estrogen production, patients exhibit dysfunction of the reproductive system. Anorgasmia (lack of orgasm) develops against the background of compression of the nerves that innervate the lower part of the thoracic spine.
The narrow localization of pathologies in the internal organs and the innervation joint causes very specific clinical manifestations. Sometimes they are disguised as cerebrovascular accidents, kidney failure, hepatic colic and even dental disease. The medical literature describes cases of extracted treated teeth due to persistent severe pain at their base. Subsequently, the cause of pain syndrome - the neurological symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis - was created.
Vertebrological signs are more characteristic of cervical pathology, but sometimes they are also detected in severe thoracic pathology. Destructive-degenerative processes in the vertebrae and discs provoke sharp jumps in blood pressure, dizziness, impaired coordination of movements, headaches and tinnitus. There have been cases of decreased visual acuity.
Psycho-emotional disorders (tears, anxiety, mood swings) are diagnosed in many patients. Health problems, news of an upcoming surgery, decreased physical activity sometimes cause a depressive state.
How To Eliminate Symptoms Of Chest Osteochondrosis
Methods of treating degenerative-dystrophic pathology in women and men are the same. Destroyed cartilage tissue can not be restored, so the main objectives of therapy are to reduce the severity of symptoms and prevent further spread of the pathology.
When choosing a method, the doctor takes into account the degree of destructive changes, the presence of an inflammatory process in the soft tissues, the stage of the course of thoracic osteochondrosis. Women are much more likely than men to be prescribed antidepressants, sedatives and tranquilizers. During the period of natural menopause, hormone replacement therapy may be prescribed, which is also necessary to prevent osteoporosis (reduction of bone mass).
To eliminate the pain in thoracic osteochondrosis in women, drugs of different clinical and pharmacological groups are used:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)in tablets. After a week of taking and improving well-being, women are prescribed external forms of NSAIDs;
- hormonal preparations. Glucocorticosteroids are commonly used for drug blockades;
- muscle relaxants. Relax skeletal muscles, relieve painful muscle spasms;
- chondroprotectors. Partially regenerate damaged hyaline cartilage, after a couple of weeks of course administration, they have an analgesic effect.
In the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, physiotherapeutic procedures are actively used: UHF therapy, laser therapy, magnetotherapy, ozocerite applications, paraffin, bischofite. Patients are shown massage, physiotherapy exercises, swimming, yoga.
If a woman does not seek medical help, then diseases of the internal organs may soon develop. They are provoked by the elongation of the intervertebral disc in the narrowing of the spinal canal and the formation of hernias. Spinal deterioration leads to compression of the spinal cord and subsequently to the appearance of renal, hepatic, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular pathologies.