Osteochondrosis of the cervix is a disease in which the delicate intervertebral pulp, which acts as a shock absorber between the vertebrae, turns into bone tissue and involves the roots and blood vessels. This change is hidden under various manifestations, where the main feature of cervical spine disease is pain in the cervical region, in the upper back, which radiates to the head. Mandatory treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is required.
Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis
The disease is characterized by typical symptoms.
With osteochondrosis of the cervix, patients feel:
- periods of dizziness, nausea, drop in pressure, loss of consciousness;
- lack of air;
- tongue numbness;
- angina attacks and other changes in the cardiovascular system.
All these symptoms prompt the patient to turn not only to the neurologist, but also to other doctors of specialties such as cardiologist, therapist, orthopedist, which makes it very difficult to make an accurate diagnosis in the early stages of the disease. The dystrophic process of cervical vertebral tissue deviations, as a rule, affects middle-aged people. This occurs 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 emergence of nerve ending roots in the upper part of the spine and the lack of mobility of the neck joints, which support the weight, holdingskull in an upright position.
Effective treatment
Medicine does not stand still. The method of therapy is different, for this it is important to consider the stage of 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 need to know how to cure cervical osteochondrosis and how long it takes to be treated. Treatment includes:
- conservative therapy (drugs or non-drugs);
- Surgical intervention;
- complex method of two methods.
Characteristics of classical therapy
To ensure that osteochondrosis of the cervical spine can be cured, you need to use simple methods correctly - recreational physical education, massage, self-massage. This can lead to improvement in the well-being of a patient who feels neck pain with this disease.
But with a prolonged course of degenerative processes, it would be good to be examined while in hospital or in an outpatient clinic. This will help in choosing an adequate method of treatment procedures.
If this is not possible, then it is important to use light methods - for example, do exercises aimed at hydration (filling the interstitial space with fluid due to a change in blood supply to the neck and back of the neck). scalp).
Improving physical education
By accurately performing therapeutic gymnastics exercises, you can achieve excellent results. For example, there are many methods for treating neck osteochondrosis, but not all are based on increasing the nutrition of cartilage and bone tissue.
The task of exercise therapy is to restore blood circulation to the altered area. During a visit to exercise therapy, you can not rotate or bend your head tightly, you can only imitate such movements. Everything seemed so simple, but it works.
To properly perform exercise therapy, you must use physical exercise, excluding:
- prolonged stress on the neck joints (do an exercise no more than two minutes);
- bends, bends, rotations of the neck (such actions facilitate the development of pathology in the joints and intervertebral discs).
It is useful to do a slight bend of the head, which does not cause movement of all the joints, but increases blood flow to them. Such actions are similar to the light joints 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 helpful to do an exercise similar to moving the head forward, holding the front and back, trying to hold the back of the head as well. All this can be done at home.
Massage
Massage the cervical area very carefully, without exerting too much force. Any improper action can lead to negative consequences. The movements cover the neck, the collar area and the upper back. During the massage, the patient lies on his stomach or sits down.
Some features of the technique:
- Ledhatimi. 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, falling to the upper third of the middle of the back. The kick from the base of the neck can be done in a zigzag pattern.
- Squeeze. The masseur tries to have a more penetrating effect on the tissues in the upper third of the back. In this case the thumb and forefinger are involved. They move around 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.
- Triturimi. At this stage, it has an effect on deeper tissues. You should try not to overdo it, so as not to get worse.
By taking a comfortable position, without raising your head from watching your favorite movie, you can do the massage yourself. In this case, caressing, rubbing in a circle on the neck and shoulders is 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 riveted plastic frame to act on a specific area of skin. Lying on it or simply applying it, the patient provokes irritation of the skin receptors, which are responsible for 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, work capacity increases, it has 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 applicant. These are diseases of an infectious, tumorous, skin and vascular nature.
Before you start using the device, you should consult a doctor or experiment yourself by applying the applicator for a short time. When you observe, you can see the result in well-being.
Use of orthopedic pillows
An excellent preventative way in the fight against osteochondrosis is sleeping on orthopedic pillows. As a rule, the condition of osteochondrosis worsens due to the compression of the cervical artery and nerve roots while resting on an uncomfortable pillow.
Special items allow you to evenly distribute a person's position during sleep, which significantly improves the process of blood flow to the head.
To choose the perfect pillow, you need to consider the characteristic anatomical features of a person, the volume and quality of the filler. If the pillow is chosen correctly, then it will bring great benefits to a patient with cervical osteochondrosis.
Drugs and medicines
These are not all ways to treat cervical osteochondrosis. Medical treatment will also help here.
In the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, the medications are as follows:
- Analgesics are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. As a rule, they are taken in tablets or capsules. It should not be forgotten that such drugs can irritate the mucosa in the digestive tract;
- anti-inflammatory (steroid). A hormonal medicine that relieves inflammation and thus relieves pain. The most common drugs are tablets and ointments containing Hydrocortisone, Prednidazole, Dexamethasone;
- chondroprotectors - drugs that have ingredients in their composition that have a substitution of the action of cartilage tissue elements. Taking a long period can bring a good result;
- Muscle relaxants are medicines that relieve muscle tension. Most often they are applicable in surgery and orthopedics as an adjunct to pain relief. They are taken parenterally under medical supervision. To treat osteochondrosis, it is necessary to use glycerin-based products, benzimidazole. They have a large list of contraindications;
- vitamins. As part of the treatment of the disease, vitamins have a positive effect on the peripheral nervous system and increase its conductivity. B1, B6, B12 are water soluble vitamins, A, C, D, E, B are fat soluble. There is a practice of using different medicines together, attributing vitamins and sedatives;
- ointments and gels for external use. One of the very easy methods of home treatment are gels, ointments. They have anti-inflammatory, warming, pain relieving properties. You can hear about them regularly on TV. Since they can be easily purchased at a pharmacy, medicines are used for self-medication, even in cases where there is no confirmation of the symptoms of the disease. It is especially worth noting that with cervical osteochondrosis they are ineffective.
It should never be forgotten that before starting any treatment one should consult the respective 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 the factors that appear during the course of the pathology is achieved. The basis of health is adhering to a correct lifestyle. This includes the use of moderate physical activity, body weight control, systematic warm-up with a sedentary lifestyle.
It all depends on the desire of the person and the habits that have been established since childhood. But different things can happen throughout a person's life. This could be microtrauma received in 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 worsen the load on the back. If you can not refuse increased physical activity, you need:
- hold the load in turn - now on one side of the body, then on the other side;
- use a corset to protect your back;
- after finishing work, try to unload the spine. To do this, you either need to 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. Rising humidity and falling temperature have a bad effect. Here are some tips to help reduce the risk of osteochondrosis getting worse:
- for sleep, it is recommended to use not only an orthopedic pillow, but also an orthopedic mattress, as they do not disturb the blood flow in the spine;
- not systematic;
- 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, lifting weights. You should not bathe during the worsening of osteochondrosis. By following such simple recommendations, using massage (in some cases) can ensure a comfortable life with a diagnosis of cervical spine osteochondrosis until retirement age.