Today in the article we will talk about the disease of the century - osteochondrosis (in common people it is called chondrosis). Previously, this disease was attributed to people over 50 years old, but now it is "younger" and affects everyone, starting from children as young as 15 years old.
As terrible as it may seem, more and more people are being diagnosed with osteochondrosis. According to statistics, almost 80% of the inhabitants of the planet Earth suffer from this spinal disease.
You can read more about civilization disease and living with it later in the article.
What is osteochondrosis?
It is a bone and cartilage disease that manifests itself in degenerative-dystrophic disorders of the cartilaginous structures of the spinal column, which causes severe pain.
These degenerative disorders, i. e. changes in the spine, occur as a result of normal life factors, i. e. simply by doing something, standing, walking, moving, carrying heavy things, etc. Our spine is constantly doing its most difficult work, performing three main functions: support, protection (protects the spinal cord) and a depreciating function during walking and other body movements due to the intervertebral discs.
Gradually, during life, the cartilage wears out, loses moisture, which causes microtears. The height of the intervertebral discs changes and the vertebrae begin to irritate the spinal nerve, causing pain attacks.
When the intervertebral disc loses its elasticity, the excessive load leads to what is known as protrusion and a hernia appears. It starts to affect the spinal nerve even more, in this case, if we are talking about cervical chondrosis, for example, the pain radiates to the hand, numbness of the fingers is felt.
If you experience pain in your neck, thoracic spine, or lower back, we recommend that you see a neurologist or vertebrologist who specializes in spine-related diseases. The sooner you seek help, the sooner you will get rid of the pain and reduce the risk of complications.
Causes of osteochondrosis
Osteochondrosis can develop for various reasons. Experts who study the disease believe that the main reason is the uneven, incorrect distribution of the load on the spine. For this reason, a change in the structure of the intervertebral discs can be observed at the site of overload.
However, there are other reasons that contribute to the development of the disease:
- heredity;
- age-related changes;
- injuries or congenital injuries of the spine;
- metabolic insufficiency, overweight;
- goose feet;
- rachiocampsis;
- concussion;
- various infectious diseases;
- overloading the spine during sports;
- exposure to chemicals.
There are also so-called risk factors, the presence of which can cause the development of the disease:
- daily driving or computer work;
- increased, serious training in the gym;
- excessive body weight;
- unhealthy diet;
- not very active lifestyle;
- smoking;
- hypothermia;
- nervous shocks;
- incorrect posture;
- uncomfortable shoes and high heels;
- pulling weights;
- weakness of the back muscles;
- dependence on the weather, living in unsuitable climatic conditions.
If you belong to one of these risk groups, be sure to take the prevention of osteochondrosis (about a little further down) to prevent the development of osteochondrosis.
Its types and symptoms
In total, there are four types of osteochondrosis. We will talk about them in this section.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical region
It is considered the most dangerous type of the disease, because the cervical vertebrae are very mobile, and even a small load can cause displacement. What is the danger? The fact is that the vertebral artery passes through here - this is a vessel that affects the pressure and condition of the brain. This artery supplies blood to the areas of the brain responsible for blood pressure, heart rate, and vestibular stability. When the vertebrae are displaced, the artery is pinched, as a result of which the blood flow is disturbed, and the brain no longer receives enough blood. This results in headaches, flashing black dots ("flies") in the eyes, dizziness, jumping pressure, memory impairment, and generally a decrease in mental abilities.
Pain in the back of the head, which radiates to the shoulder, under the shoulder blade, the arm, the fingers become numb.
Osteochondrosis of the thoracic region
This is a fairly rare disease, as the thoracic spine is the least mobile and is well protected by the ribs and muscles. The cause of osteochondrosis of the chest region is often scoliosis (curvature of the spine). This disease is rather difficult to recognize because its symptoms are very similar to those of other diseases, often chest osteochondrosis causes pain in the area of the heart, which mimics the symptoms of angina pectoris.
This disease manifests itself in the pain in the spine between the shoulder blades, numbness and weakness of the arm muscles, a stabbing, aching pain in the area of the chest ribs, which is aggravated by deep inhalation.
Lumbar osteochondrosis
It can be considered the most common type of the disease - lumbar osteochondrosis, since the greatest load falls on this part of the spine. The lower back suffers the most from a sedentary lifestyle. Due to the pinched nerves of this part of the spinal column, a person feels a long-lasting sharp or aching pain in the lower back, usually radiating to the back of the thigh, the buttocks, and the leg.
The pain attacks are accompanied by numbness, tingling, crawling in the back of the foot. The normal functioning of the urogenital system and intestines is disrupted.
Widespread osteochondrosis of the spine
It is characterized by the simultaneous defeat of two or all three sections of the spine.
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In this section, we will talk about the degree of development of the disease and how it manifests itself. In modern medicine, spinal disease has 4 stages:
- 1 section
In the first stage, it is quite difficult to diagnose this disease and, in principle, to suspect it on its own. Patients feel general discomfort in the back and often attribute it to overwork, hard work, stress, and do not even think of going to the doctor. The disease usually proceeds slowly, in a latent form, and is often discovered accidentally during a general examination of the patient (X-ray or MRI).
- 2-stage
The second stage is characterized by the appearance of pain attacks, as the process of cartilage destruction begins. In the absence of treatment, the size of the intervertebral discs rapidly decreases in the patient, they protrude a little, this stage prevents the development of a hernia. The compression of the nerve roots is actually why there is a pain syndrome.
- 3 stages
In the third stage, patients experience severe changes in the spinal column. The development of lordosis, scoliosis, curvature of the upper part of the spine (kyphosis), a hump begins, herniation of the intervertebral disc appears. Adequate therapy, of course, cannot completely restore the spine, however, it does fairly improve its condition and reduce defects such as a hump or curvature.
- 4 stages
If the disease has reached the fourth stage, there are already irreversible changes in the spinal column. It will be difficult to move because every movement causes excruciating pain. Cartilage compacts, vertebrae move, bone tissue grows. Often, at this stage, patients become disabled.
Medical treatment
After a specialist (orthopedist, neuropathologist, vertebrologist) makes a complete diagnosis and diagnoses osteochondrosis, he prescribes a complex therapy that includes various treatment methods. With the right combination of these, you can achieve very good results in the treatment:
- Preparations
Treatment is primarily aimed at alleviating pain, for which pain relievers and local pain relievers are prescribed. Then anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and antioxidant therapy is performed. After normal blood circulation should be restored.
- exercise therapy
Once the drug treatment is over and the inflammation has subsided, you can and should go to exercise therapy classes, in principle you can do the exercises at home alone, but it is better to train with a specialist first and then apply. knowledge acquired at home.
- Manual therapy
Manual therapy is also very useful, it helps to increase the distance between the vertebrae, release pinched nerves and blood vessels, promotes and accelerates tissue healing. Dislocated vertebrae are removed. When choosing a chiropractor, you should primarily pay attention to whether he has a medical certificate, a neurology certificate, or a chiropractor certificate. If at least something is missing, then do not treat this specialist.
- Acupuncture
Reflexology (acupuncture) is no less effective. It can be said that it has a wonderful effect, you will feel the pain-relieving effect almost from the first time, the swelling in the place of the pinched nerve goes down, the muscle spasm caused by the pain attack eases. It relieves inflammation, removes the numbness of the fingers, which is characteristic of this disease, and restores the passage of nerve signals.
- Stone therapy
Stone therapy or stone therapy warms the muscles very well, improves blood flow and nutrition of the discs.
- Magnetotherapy
With the help of magnetotherapy, the patient also feels much better. It helps reduce blood viscosity, improves nutrition of damaged tissues, reduces swelling, restores mobility and much more.
- Swimming pool
Often, patients are recommended special exercises in the pool, as well as floating - this procedure allows the spine to completely relax due to being in the salt solution, thanks to which the patient "floats" and all the load is removed from the spine.
In principle, as a prevention of osteochondrosis, you can float in any SPA salon, this service is offered almost everywhere.
- Operation
In extremely severe cases, surgery is prescribed, during which the hernia and the affected discs are removed and the structure of the spine is stabilized. The operation poses a high risk to the patient, so it is performed in emergency cases.
In the early stages of osteochondrosis, you can quickly get rid of it, and you only need to do a few exercises to prevent its recurrence. The complex of therapies is selected by the attending physician, taking into account all the characteristics of the body.
Treatment at home
As mentioned above, it is important to perform the first exercises of gymnastics therapy under the supervision of a specialist, so as not to overload the spine. But after a few sessions you can do the exercises at home.
After exercising at home, it is recommended for those diagnosed with spinal disease to self-massage, you can ask someone close to them to help.
You should start with gentle movements along the entire spine. Next, the muscles of the neck, chest and lower back are kneaded with circular movements or pinching, there is no need to press hard with the fingertips. You can also rub the gaps between the ribs without applying strong pressure.
It is very important that if you have a disease that is discussed in the article, proper nutrition. What diet should be followed and what foods should be excluded from the diet in the next section.
Diet for osteochondrosis
Proper nutrition for chondrosis includes the use of products that promote the formation of cartilage in the spinal column - mucopolysaccharides. Most of them are in various jellies, jellies, jelly fish. As a dessert, jelly is perfect, in which the main ingredient is gelatin, but it is saturated with mucopolysaccharide.
In addition, it is necessary to drink a lot of water, its lack leads to damage to the intervertebral discs, and this leads to the first manifestations of the disease.
Vegetables and fruits are one of the most important foods for chondrosis, their use is necessary for the healthy functioning of the spine. They contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which the body needs.
What can and should be eaten?
The body needs many trace elements:
- One of them is calcium, found in milk, almonds, hard cheeses, cottage cheese, and legumes.
- Vitamin D is necessary for the absorption of calcium: eggs, sea fish, butter. In addition, frequent exposure to the sun is recommended.
- Calcium in the bone tissue is only stored in the body with an adequate amount of magnesium; found in cucumbers, nuts and avocados.
- It is also important to eat foods containing phosphorus: fish, soybeans, peas, white cabbage.
- B vitamins are also very important from the point of view of our disease, for this we need to eat: beef, pork, mushrooms, seafood, cereals. Vitamin A is also useful and can be found in carrots, cantaloupe, pumpkin and liver.
In general, it can be said that the diet, as you can see, is not dangerous, you don't need to starve, you just need to exclude something from the menu, but there are things to replace these products.
Which is not recommended to use
- The first thing to say is to reduce the amount of salt you eat. Especially if you have cervical osteochondrosis, a salt-free diet will be helpful.
- Marinades, semi-finished products, spicy foods and pickles are also prohibited.
- Sweets, like salt, slow down blood circulation, and if the blood supply to the brain is already disturbed, sweets only make the situation worse.
- Coffee and all kinds of soft drinks are excluded from the menu, as they very well drain calcium, potassium, magnesium and other important minerals from the body.
And, of course, it is very important to monitor your weight, especially with lumbar chondrosis, because the lumbar region already takes all the main loads, and if you have a large body weight, imagine how difficult it is for you to cope!
The diet can also be observed as a preventive measure, even if there is no diagnosis of osteochondrosis, all the vitamins and minerals included in the chondrosis diet will definitely be very useful for the body.
Listen carefully to your body and don't be afraid to seek medical help if necessary.
We wish you good health!