In the modern world, the resonance of the disease of cervical osteochondrosis is difficult to overestimate.Osteochondrosis of the cervical region is much more common than in other vertebral regions.Almost all people over the age of twenty-five have this disease, to one degree or another.
Cervical osteochondrosis develops mainly due to a sedentary lifestyle, which is especially facilitated by the historical transition of a person from physical work to mental work, which, although to a moderate extent, is associated with the performance of work in a sitting position.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is a degenerative-dystrophic disease of the cervical spine, leading to damage to the intervertebral discs, which is common in general for the disease of osteochondrosis.Since this part of the spine is, by its nature, quite mobile, but also vulnerable due to a poorly developed muscle belt, therefore, any negative effect on the neck or back has a bad effect mainly on the cervical spine.Due to the fact that degenerative changes develop more often in the most mobile vertebral regions, in the cervical region it is the nerve endings at the C5...C7 level that suffer most often.
Since the symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis are very contradictory, they are not always considered only as symptoms of this disease, which often leads to seeking help from specialists in other fields of medicine.Let's look at them in a little more detail.
Cervical osteochondrosis and its symptoms
Due to the fact that the cervical spine is quite compact compared to its other sections, even a small tension in the neck muscles or displacement of the cervical vertebrae can cause compression or compression of the nerve roots, which can also affect the vessels located in this section.Well, osteophytes - bone growths, in popular treatment called "salt deposition" and formed during the development of the disease of cervical osteochondrosis, lead, as a result, only to a significant worsening of the course of the disease.
Clinical manifestations of cervical osteochondrosis, that is, its symptoms, can be divided into reflex symptoms and radicular symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis.
Reflex symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis
Reflex symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis include the so-called "lumbago", which is expressed in the appearance of sharp, acute pain in the neck and is significantly intensified with each movement.With this in mind, patients often adopt a forced, more comfortable, head position.In addition, it is quite possible that a typical "chewing" occurs during turning or other movements of the head.
When suffering from cervical osteochondrosis, patients often experience compressive headaches that radiate to the eyeballs or the temporal part of the head.In addition, sometimes the sharpness of visual perception can decrease, as if "everything floats before your eyes."
Vertebral artery syndrome can also develop when its nerve plexus is irritated, which is often misdiagnosed as a cerebral circulation disorder due to dizziness in the patient.This symptom of cervical osteochondrosis can appear with sudden head movements and is complicated by possible nausea and vomiting.
In addition to the above, reflex symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis also include cardiac syndrome, in which sensations similar to an angina attack appear.But this manifestation of the symptoms of osteochondrosis is usually combined with a complex of other signs of this disease, so it usually does not cause difficulties in establishing the correct diagnosis.
Radicular symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis
Radicular symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis, as a rule, appear due to compression of the spinal nerve ending - the root.In this case, sensory disorders that affect motor functions depend entirely on which specific nerve root is damaged, namely:
- C1 – reduced sensitivity in the occipital area;
- C2 - the appearance of pain in the parietal or occipital region of the head;
- C3 – impaired sensitivity and the appearance of pain in the neck area, where the spinal root is injured, with a possible impairment of the speech function due to the loss of language sensitivity and control over it;
- C4 - the appearance of pain and reduced sensitivity in the dorsal scapulohumeral region, as well as pain in the heart and liver, with a simultaneous decrease in muscle tone in the neck and possible respiratory disorders of the respiratory function;
- C5 – decreased sensitivity and pain on the outer surface of the shoulders;
- C6 – pain radiating from the cervical spine to the shoulder blade, outer humeral surface, forearm and further from the wrist to the thumb;
- C7 - the same pain as with C6, but radiating from the scapula to the back surface of the humerus, and further from the forearm to 2..4 fingers, with a decrease in sensitivity in the pain area;
- C8 – decreased sensitivity and pain that passes from the neck to the shoulder, and then from the forearm to the little finger.
Cervical osteochondrosis and its treatment
Cervical osteochondrosis is a rather complex and extremely unpleasant disease, the treatment of which requires systematicity, duration and stages.The therapeutic treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is mainly aimed at completely stopping the pain symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis and eliminating inflammation in the neck area affected by the disease.
Patients treated for cervical osteochondrosis are treated with classical analgesics.Although recently, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which effectively relieve pain and reduce the activity of inflammation, have also become widely known in the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
Among other things, in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis, chondroprotectors are also used, which slow down the process of cartilage tissue destruction and, according to many experts, contribute to the process of their regeneration.In addition, patients are prescribed the use of B vitamins, which improve metabolic processes in the patient's body.
But the use of external gel or oils for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is not effective, but it makes sense, since in the process of rubbing them on the skin, an additional massage of the cervical spine is performed.
Physiotherapy procedures are also combined with traditional drug treatment of cervical osteochondrosis, and in particular, the use of magnetic therapy through special therapeutic devices is particularly effective.Also, in addition to the above, therapeutic massage, physiotherapy and manual therapy are also used.But, in particularly severe cases of the disease, surgical intervention may be required.
Prevention of cervical osteochondrosis
Prevention of cervical osteochondrosis in itself is not difficult.Recommended:
- maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle,
- playing sports, or at least exercising in the morning,
- competent organization of the workplace,
- compliance with work and rest hours,
- when working for a long time in a sitting position - during working hours, warm up several times and ensure the correct position and posture of the head while performing work.
It is also important to choose a comfortable pillow and mattress to sleep on.But for those who already suffer from this disease, the daily use of specialized orthopedic products for comfortable sleep is strongly recommended.