The osteochondrosis of the column is a disease caused by the destruction of bone tissues and cartilage of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar column.
First, with the progression of the disease, the central part of the spinal disc is modified, the jet nucleus called So. Because of this, the vertebra loses some of its properties that absorb the crash, and refinement and cracks are formed in the fibrous ring along the periphery of the disc.
The additional progression of the spine osteochondrosis leads to the complications of the disease: protrusion of discs or ruptures of a fibrous ring and intervertebral hernia, as a consequence. The instability of the spine in the affected area leads to the pain and limited mobility of the head in the osteochondrosis of the cervical column, as well as to the limited mobility of the body with osteochondrosis of the thoracic and lumbar spine.
In 75% of cases, the cause of back pain is precisely the osteochondrosis of the spine. With age, the risk of spinal tissue dystrophy increases significantly, therefore, on average, the symptoms of the column osteochondrosis are observed in every second inhabitant of the planet over 30 years.
The causes of the osteochondrosis of the column
The provocative factors in the development of the spine osteochondrosis are considered back injuries or a systematic load on the back with a hard physical work or professional employment in vibration conditions. If you have to do a lot of charge and download work, buy a hydraulic collection for your car.
The early manifestation of the symptoms of the spine osteochondrosis is caused by weak physical development, flat feet or excess weight. There is also a genetic predisposition to the loose structure of the intervertebral discs and abnormalities of the spine structure. Intensive gym training in violation of the rules for the distribution of the load on the back, a sedentary lifestyle and inappropriate nutrition are also unfavorable in terms of health of the spine.
Column osteochondrosis symptoms
The disease manifests as a series of typical symptoms. The osteochondrosis of the column is characteristic: back pain, a sense of numbness in the spine, a decrease in the amplitude of the movements, the increase in pain in the lifting of gravity, the acute movement, the tension during the cough or the sneezing.
Chronic pain, as one of the symptoms of the spine osteochondrosis, causes greater fatigue. When compressing the nerve roots of the column with the spine, the pain can be more intense and acute. Its location in this case is not limited to the area of the back, but that a person in the area of the limbs feels.
Stages of column osteochondrosis
The stage of the disease depends on the severity of the symptoms of the spine osteochondrosis. In the first stage of the spine osteochondrosis, pain practically does not feel, if only light discomfort and weak stability of the column due to the lesions. The destruction of the fibrous ring, a decrease in the size of the vertebral cracks and the pain of various intensity is a symptom of osteochondrosis of the backbone of the second stage.
The third stage of the disease is characterized by significant deformations of bone and vertebral tissue until the appearance of intervertebral hernias. The symptom of osteochondrosis of the spine of the fourth most severe stage is mass bone growth, limited mobility, intense pain, as well as a complete or partial paralysis of the limbs caused by the compression of nerve roots.
Symptoms of osteochondrosis of the cervical column
The osteochondrosis of the cervical column often leads to blood circulation disorders due to the compression of the arteries. This leads to intense headache, dizziness and fainting. With the osteochondrosis of the cervical column, the vertebral artery syndrome is sometimes observed. It is characterized by a sensation of noise in the head, the image of "flies" or colored spots in front of the eyes. With the osteochondrosis of the cervical column, peripheral pains on the shoulders or hands are also possible.
Symptoms of Osteochondrosis of the thoracic column
Osteochondrosis of the thoracic column can aggravate the course of several pathologies of the heart. The disease causes the progression of intercosure neuralgia (the nerves of intercession squeezing). With the osteochondrosis of the thoracic column, chest pain and the sensation of the "stake" are observed in the center of the chest.
Symptoms of the lumbar column osteochondrosis
Lumbar column osteochondrosis leads to the development of the following diseases: Lumbago and hernia.
Ishias, as one of the complications of the osteochondrosis of the lumbar column, is characterized by the damage to the sciatic nerve, the pain in the gluteal region, the hypotension (reduced tone) of the calf and the gluteal muscles.
With an osteochondrosis lumbago symptom of the lumbar column, there is acute pain in the lower back, caused by a displacement of the vertebrae or the loss of the spinal disc.
Lumbar radiculite, another complication of the lumbar spine osteochondrosis, is caused by hernias of the lowest discs in the spine. It is accompanied by pain in the buttocks with irradiation on the back of the thigh, a hole under the knee, a leg and one foot.
Diagnosis of spine osteochondrosis
The neurologist establishes the preliminary diagnosis of "spine osteochondrosis" after the initial examination in relation to the patient's complaints about back pain and limited mobility. The column osteochondrosis stage is determined depending on the degree of column deformation, patient posture and the number of affected discs.
All the previous symptoms of the osteochondrosis of the column are diagnosed feeling the patient's back. The doctor also pays attention to the state of muscle tone. Since in most cases the disease is accompanied by hypertonicity of the back muscles.
Using tests to bend the spine, the amplitude of the patient's movements is determined. Thanks to the use of radiography, TC and MRI, the diagnosis specifies and determines the future tactics of the treatment of spine osteochondrosis.
Treatment of spine osteochondrosis
In the treatment of the vertebral column osteochondrosis, conservative and surgical methods are used. The objective of both is to eliminate pain syndrome and avoid greater progression of spinal deformation.
At the same time, the surgical treatment of spinal osteochondrosis is used only if the conservative therapy of the disease is ineffective.
The active stage of the application of conservative methods lasts an average of 2 months. At the beginning, a short -term increase in pain syndrome caused by the reaction of the body to medications, physiotherapy exercises (exercise therapy) and physiotherapy. In the conservative treatment of the spine osteochondrosis, massage, manual therapy, extract and reflexology are also used. The effectiveness of the treatment of column osteochondrosis depends on the systematic nature of the patient's own procedures and perseverance in the execution of exercise therapy complexes.
The surgical treatment of spinal osteochondrosis is carried out with an intervertebral discs hernia, whose 6 months ago exceed. The indication of the operation is also a reduction in the gap between the vertebrae to 1/3 of the initial size and the compression of the spinal cord roots.
The main method in the surgical treatment of column osteochondrosis is discoctomy, that is, eliminating a deformed disc. The operation can be minimally invasive using endoscopic tools using the microdisectomy method, the B-TWIN system, as well as the laser vaporization of the nucleus of a deformed disc.
After the surgical treatment of the spine osteochondrosis, a rehabilitation period is expected for 6 months. During it, the patient is addressed to the resort treatment of the sanatorium to undergo a physiotherapy course, manual therapy, acupuncture, etc.