Osteochondrosis: treatment, symptoms, signs, causes

This is another condition that is considered age-related, but often occurs without any association with age.

Take this fact, for example: more than half of the patients with osteonecrosis around the world notice the first signs of its development at the age of 25. Yes, no one thought that old age could come. so early. . . Some see these years as adulthood, some are used to calling them almost adolescence, and for some, 60 doesn't seem like a reason to feel unwell. But uncompromisingly everyone would agree that aging is, to put it mildly, not yet age.

What is the problem? In fact, it has many facets and may seem complicated to a layman. But in reality there is nothing complicated about it. In the treatment of lumbar disc herniation, we said that inside it is water that dissolves protein, right? So all bone resorption, along with its rate, severity, and treatment predictions, is, in fact, built on these proteins. What do we mean? Now everything will become clear.

The proteins in the "filler" for the disc are called glycosaminoglycans. Maybe we don't need to remember the name.

But we certainly need to remember that the main purpose of dicans glycosamation is to retain water. Furthermore, with its gradual release under pressure. In other words, the proteins that give the dish's jelly-like texture the "filler" are made so that the heated water inside it is at rest, and under load it is gradually forced out. .

Of course, the water itself is too liquid to do something like this. This is why the body synthesizes special proteins - unique! Analogue of food foaming agents such as carrageenan, gum, starch.

In order for the contents of the intervertebral disc (and we recall it to be the basis of its cushioning properties) to maintain order, we need throughout life:

• monitor what we eat, avoid deficiency of important substances, especially protein;
• avoid muscle spasticity in the back;
• maintain the active circulation of cerebrospinal fluid and blood in it to normalize metabolic processes in the tissues of the spine;
• avoid injury and infection of the tissues of the spine;
• maintain the rate of water-salt metabolism in the body.

Symptoms of osteonecrosis

So, from the very beginning, our back will start to "dance" to the beat of our every movement. However, for a long time only this crack could be heard. In the future, there will be a period of sensation - constant pulling, soreness and discomfort in the areas affected by osteonecrosis. They make you feel rested, and when you exercise, they gradually increase. Subjectively, patients note that joints affected by this process seem to tire more quickly than other joints. Accordingly, as the feeling of fatigue increases, the aches and pains are also increasing.

But this, of course, is far from the end of the process, although it is no longer the beginning. After all, the condition of the disc does not improve, and the condition of the cartilage deteriorates when it is prolonged and very quickly. Over time, the fissures themselves become painful.

Each such sound is now accompanied by a dull ache both at the site of occurrence and in any type of adjacent tissue. It seems to propagate like a wide pain wave from a point in the joint - exactly according to the law of resonance.

Symptoms of cervical osteonecrosis

If we have problems with the cervical spine, we may feel:

• headache that is resistant to standard treatment - dull, aching, throbbing, constant, spread over entire head. It coincides with an increase in neck pain and is similar to the headaches that occur when blood pressure rises. As a rule, with osteonecrosis, excessive pressure leads to a headache;
• Episodes of vertigo without motivation throughout the day: sudden changes in position, head movements, shaking. Often, vertigo coincides with breathing - a dangerous "mind" in the head that appears with each inhalation and disappears during exhalation. Such symptoms mean that at the moment the intracranial pressure is reduced, and not excessive, as in the previous example. As a rule, these two symptoms are observed alternately in all patients with cervical osteonecrosis, occurring cyclically and lasting for several days. Sometimes one replaces the other, sometimes they are separated by periods of relative pressure;
• pain in the neck, especially at the base of the skull. In the early stages, it is manifested by vague discomfort during the day and a crunching sound when turning the head. But touching the spine in this area or trying to massage the muscles will hurt and stiffen the muscle fibers. After that, frequent pain, which increases when turning the head to the side, bending over the chest, after sleeping on a high or too soft pillow;
• pain in the chest (as if under the ribs), below the collarbone, with the back of the shoulder and upper pectoral muscles. They are like angina or coronary artery disease like herniated disc pain, but longer lasting. For example, in diseases of the cardiovascular system, the pain rarely lasts more than a few hours and is less dependent on the respiratory rate. With osteonecrosis, it is continuous, worsening with each breath, lasting up to several days or more;
• "Lumbago" along the entire line of the shoulder, usually down to the fingertips. As a rule, depending on the degree of progression of osteonecrosis, patients experience concomitant short-term "low back pain" reaching the shoulder joint, or episodic numbness and acute "low back pain" extending along theentire inner surface of the arm. As for the encroachment of the small neurons of the shoulder, it does not make itself feel at rest, but is aggravated with the first movements of the head after a long period of immobility. The patient describes it as "electric discharge along the spine, in the muscles of the shoulder. And the irradiation to the hand is often accompanied by spasms of the muscles of the wrist and a violation of the sensitivity of the ring finger, alsolike little finger;
• quite often, although in less than half of cases of cervical osteonecrosis, the sensitivity and mobility of the tongue are reduced. The patient may not be able to distinguish between some tastes (bitter, sour, and sweet cannot be distinguished, but can easily name some mixed flavors). Some people report changes in speech, especially when it is necessary to speak quickly and/or clearly.

Symptoms of thoracic osteonecrosis

Signs of thoracic osteonecrosis:

• aching, followed by pain in the chest, "somewhere below the ribs. " Unlike coronary heart disease, it is more difficult for patients to pinpoint its center. Such pain is significantly dependent on breathing - it increases with inspiration and with coughing. And for all the uncertainty about its location in the ribcage, each such strike echoes clearly in the causal vertebrae/vertebrae. Out of 99 cases out of 100, it was the displaced vertebra that caused the most pain;
• disturbances in the sensitivity and mobility of the pulmonary diaphragm - the appearance of a feeling of incomplete inhalation, the inability to perform a lower exhalation;
• pain and discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract - especially often the stomach, upper intestine, liver, and pancreas. The pain can range from mild, inaudible discomfort to obvious cramping. Therefore, thoracic osteosarcoma is often confused with sluggish gastritis, enteritis, colitis, and chronic pancreatitis.

Symptoms of lumbar osteonecrosis

Lumbar osteosarcoma, also known as lumbago (so we know it is one and the same), is the most common form of the disease.

With him we will have:

• Soreness in the lower back, aggravated by bending over, sitting for long periods of time, or standing - in general, almost any movement of the body. As a rule, it disturbs the patient at night, with the habit of lying on his back when sleeping, straightening his legs. It only lessens with prolonged stay or the habit of sleeping in the fetal position. That is, with the knees hugging the chest. Patients with lumbar osteonecrosis rapidly and voluntarily switch from soft to hard beds, because it is easier to maintain the position of the embryo on the hard floor throughout the night;
• lumbar stiffness syndrome. It implies: inability to quickly bend over after a long period of standing or sitting, not so much related to pain as decreased muscle extensibility and bone stiffness in the affected area; Rapid numbness in the lumbar region when sitting or standing, combined with acute encroachment of nerve endings in this position of the vertebrae;
• sciatic nerve (the main nerve stem for the legs, which enters the spine in the coccyx region). With osteonecrosis of the auricle, it belongs in the number of cases of sciatica, although not the only one. Despite the existence of several other variants, sciatica is often a painful complication of osteonecrosis.

Treatment of osteonecrosis

We'll have treatment for a long time, so we'll first improve our own quality of life.

1. Remove feather beds and feather pillows from the bed. Leave a main mattress, take an orthopedic pillow - thick, low, with a fixed depression in the middle. Usually, these pillows are made of padded polyester. Therefore, you need to make sure that it is not too soft - this will be harmful to us. And the possibility of it being "blown away", turning into banh tet in a week is very high. The thickness of the roller along the edges should be equal to the length of our neck from the base of the skull to the 7th vertebra that protrudes when tilting the head. If it is lower than 1. 5-2 cm, the better.
2. We will buy another pillow that is not too thick or use our old feathers in a new quality. From now on, we will always need to place this pillow under our thighs or buttocks in the supine position, as well as under our upper knees when sleeping in the fetal position. Experiment with the optimal height, width, and position of the pillow - the right one, in the right place, will make the pain go away instantly at the most noticeable focus in this particular position.
3. It is strictly forbidden to lift and carry anything heavier than 10 kg in case of osteonecrosis. Therefore, any training session should take place with us with your own weight or minimum. With any kind of osteonecrosis, it's better not to do it on our own, but to go to the gym. That's in the gym, because cardio (treadmill, bike, skiing) and fitness aren't the same thing. Now we, by all means, need to organize additional support behind our backs and work with the exact same body position. The best for such purposes is a simulator - a steel frame in which both we and the weight being lifted can move only within an amplitude limited by the structure.
4. After any physical exertion (including daily vertical walking), we should conduct a gentle back massage, gentle stretching. Heat can be applied to areas where back pain is particularly intense - provided, of course, that the pain focus does not move with the change in position. And since during osteochondrosis, moving pain is such a frequent phenomenon, sometimes a simple "five minutes" on a mat like the Lyapko compress turns out to be five times more effective than any other. any heating pad. After all, we can't really buy a warming mattress instead! Furthermore, in the warm season, heating such a large area runs the risk of ending up heatstroke. . .

If we understand all this, take note and be sure that we will not forget, we will organize the activation of metabolic processes for our spine. As mentioned, you should not exercise at home with osteonecrosis. More precisely, we shouldn't worry too much about this - it's better to work with a professional chiropractor or instructor where there is equipment that can compensate for the developed lack of strength. born in our spine. But since not everyone has the same opportunity, we still dare to recommend some warm-up exercises with the potential to minimize complications.

There's only one rule here that shouldn't be broken. Namely: if we decide to take everything on our own, before we start training, we must definitely order or purchase a special bandage or corset. Bandages for reliable and precise fixation of the back where the pathological process is present. You should work only in it, providing support to the problematic part of the spine, which it is currently lacking.

So:

1. We would sit close to the table, the lid resting on our stomachs, in a chair with a high, narrow back. We must have strong support for both the back and the back of the head. Let's rest our whole back on the back of the chair, straighten our arms, slide along the seat cover, to the max. It is even necessary to relax the body a little, pushing the shoulder blades forward, but for this it is not allowed to tear the back of the head or the back from the support. On the rope where our palm remains in this position, it is necessary to place an object weighing more than 10 kg. Its shape and surface should be comfortable, because then we will have to hold the object with the palm of our hand a little from below and pull it towards us without lifting it off the surface. You don't have to move it as much with your hands as you would with the squamous muscles, which are trying to bring the extended forearm forward back to its normal position. As you can see, we are talking about a rowing machine that is "domesticated" and slightly adjusted for our needs. More precisely, its modification, implies a simple pull on self. In any case, this exercise well develops the muscles in the middle of the back - between the shoulder blades, as well as the muscles. After we pull the weight towards us, it should move backwards and repeat the pull 15 more times.
2. Stand near the table we are familiar with and rest your pelvis on the edge of the lid. Let's put our hands behind the head, drop the head so that the forehead rests on the table. Also, the back side is not rounded - we will round it later. Currently, our task is to perform 15 bends down on the table with the back straight and the hands behind the head. The exact position of the body means that in the future, if we fall on the table, we will be our entire face, not our forehead. Therefore, above the lid of the box, we should linger, avoid relying.
3. We use one of the exercises detailed in the back prevention section. Specifically: we lie face down on the floor, arms stretched over the head, legs extended straight folded together. Lift one (any) arm off the floor and simultaneously extend forward, simultaneously with the opposite leg. Of course, you shouldn't try to throw your leg over your head, but pull your leg back with a kick. Then lower the limbs, mentally count to three and repeat with another pair of "arms against legs". In total, you need to do 20 reps for both pairs of limbs.
4. We sit on the floor, back against the wall, legs stretched out in front of us. Do not lean your back too tightly against the wall and place your palms firmly on the floor. Now we need to raise the body with one hand above the floor as high as possible. It is better to keep the legs straight while maintaining the sitting position. If it doesn't work with straight lines, you can try to squeeze them against your chest. In this case, you will have to take into account that changing the position of your legs will shift your center of gravity and require you to lean your head against the wall. Repeat 5-7 times.
5. We will receive a special belt for weightlifting - wide, thick leather that perfectly stabilizes the lower back. In milder forms of osteonecrosis, it is likely that only the affected area should be covered with a bandage. Bring into the bathroom a 15-liter basin or bucket that we use on the farm. We fill it with water so that it does not splash to the edges, we give it to any empty space. The dish with water should be placed on the floor, legs slightly apart and folded inward. Knees for stability, slightly move the body forward. We should have a very vague posture - slightly forward, with the buttocks noticeably set back, but a straight line of the spine in the upper body. This is completely normal and true from the point of view of human anatomy. Once we have reached the desired position, we should still sit down until we can grasp the handles of the pelvis without getting round. The pelvis should then be raised, with a synchronized motion that straightens the knees and lower back.

As mentioned above, self-massage is easier to understand for most people intuitively, relying on sensations in the process. And we recommend only regularly (daily) do an independent session with the massager, learning the structural features of the back - with all its pathologies and proportions. All the same, no two wheels are the same in the world. So no masseur or doctor will study this organ better than we do. Meanwhile, the individual details of the structure of our back can be extremely important here. Especially if only part of the spine is affected or its damage includes "aggravation" of mental curvature, hernia, malformation.

However, here are some recommendations regarding massage nuances of different parts. Indeed, in the original they are known only to professionals and are often overlooked in the popular presentation of massage techniques. So:

With cervical osteonecrosis, the process affects both muscle types equally frequently and vigorously. Therefore, regular, albeit intensive, massage does not always give patients the relief they expect. After all, the shoulder blades are the bulkiest part of the body, and the skeletal muscles are nowhere as "hidden" as deep as here.

And in order to be completely satisfied with the result, we will take into account a number of terms in which it will be easier to achieve them:

• When massaging aching deltoids, their outer edge is easiest to "reach" by pressing a finger from above into the depression between the collarbone and the "convex" of the shoulder joint. You should not press your fingers too hard - that. In addition to muscles, the ligaments of the shoulder are also located. However, when we squeeze the stiff end of the muscle, we begin to more accurately distinguish between its soft fiber and the springy ligamentous apparatus. It is necessary to work completely with a soft tip, kneading it with twisting movements. Then you can go up and 2-3 cm along the shoulder line, continuing to do it from the top;
• The medial margin of the deltoid (the shoulder muscle that is most problematic in everyday life) is attached to the 7th vertebra. He acts stronger than the others when we, as they say, bow our heads in front of their chests. I. But under the head of the deltoid there are some skeletal muscles, and it completely covers them from top-down manipulation. Meanwhile, the waste from the lion's osteoclasts passes through their fibers. Therefore, we need to lie on our backs on a soft surface.

The mid-back will help us have less problems with the number of muscle fibers on its own. However, their design is very complex - in the sense that most of the fascia here is not attached to the edges of the bones, but lies below them. This is especially true for the shoulder blade, where all the muscles in the middle are attached to one side, but none of these muscles are located directly on the edge of the bone or on top of it:

• if we are tormented by burning or stabbing pains "somewhere below the scapula", it does not matter whether they are observed at the top of the scapula, below or even in the middle. The fact is that in the normal lying position we will not be able to access these places. We need to lie down so that the hand being massaged hangs freely from the bed and rests on the floor. The hand works always in reverse, and it should be wrapped tightly from above, behind the head. Inconvenient, but effective. It is better to massage the middle part below the shoulder blades with a hard massager - it will be difficult for us to reach with our fingers and therefore will not be able to press. To increase the accessible area, a pillow can be placed under the elbow of the working hand;
• how to stretch the upper corners of latissimus dorsi, put your hands on top, even acrobatic genius will not be able to. The muscles are the muscles that help bodybuilders and well-developed individuals in general demonstrate the classic V-shaped extension of the back from torso to shoulders. It is from them that the rowing machine is well developed - the force of pulling heavy loads to the chest. They are located in the upper back and strictly on the sides. It is impossible to overestimate the value of developed fats on the strength of the arms and lower back, therefore they need not only to be developed, but also to monitor their condition. Moreover, the vast majority of people do not follow them at all, in normal life they are used directly very rarely. For fat massage, it is better to use the side position. In this case, for stability, the legs should be pulled close to the abdomen, the working hand pulled forward along the bed and down under the armpit of the arm being massaged. For convenience, the hand being massaged does not need to be lowered along the side - it is also more appropriate to lower the hand to the bed at chest level. Then the lower edge of the blade will extend behind it, and layers of grease are immediately attached to it.

The lumbar region has its own structural features. First, the same row of small skeletal muscles runs down the spine here, moving the vertebrae as you rotate. Secondly, in this place, many muscles come from above to the sacrum. That is, connecting the lower back to the upper - in fact, allows you to maintain and maintain throughout your life the S-shaped arch of the back. By the way, for this reason, the weakness in the middle of the back (scoliosis) is often accompanied by curvature of the lower back - curvature and kyphosis. The main muscles of the lumbar spine are the muscles. Without her health, we wouldn't see our ears bend to the normal S shape. And the sacrum and coccyx will cause us constant injury, even without osteonecrosis.

So let's get started:

• It should be remembered that the latissimus dorsi muscle moves in a very strong oblique line: its upper edge attaches to the lower part of the shoulder blades, and the lower edge - all the way to the sacrum, that is, to the coccyx. Therefore, if we go straight from the armpits with our fingers or a massager along the side, we will knead a muscle that is equally involved in both the back and the abdomen - the oblique abs. This is not a barbell, connecting the lower back to the shoulders - the oblique muscle is responsible for tilting the body to the side. Mainly to successfully straighten from this inclination. She suffered from scoliosis and damaged her pelvis a lot. Its main part for us is the lower part, near the femur itself. There are two ends to which it is attached to the tibia joint. One is located closer to the buttocks (fused to its top lobe) and the second is slightly forward, to the groin area. So, if we get in the habit of massaging the entire area around the protrusion of the pelvis, it certainly won't become superfluous;
• If for some reason (usually because of pain) we decide to warm up our buttocks, it is better to do this while lying on your side, with your knees drawn to your chest. This pose makes all the gluteal muscles available for massage. For the first time, the buttocks appear to be very painful and as if composed entirely of tendon tissue - they will be dense to the touch. In fact, they shouldn't be - it's a contraction. It is especially noticeable in the upper and middle lobes. Usually, the finger in the middle of the butt should be pressed freely to the depth of a phalanx - the gluteal plate is no less than the shoulder plate. This is what we need to achieve without looking at any burning pain.