In the modern world, the resonance of the disease cervical osteochondrosis is difficult to overestimate.Osteochondrosis of the cervical region is much more common than in other vertebral regions.Almost all people over twenty-five years of age 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 labor to mental labor, which, albeit to a moderate extent, is accompanied by performing 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 osteochondrosis.Since this part of the spine is, by its nature, quite mobile, but also vulnerable due to a poorly developed muscle corset, therefore, any negative effect on the neck or back has a bad effect primarily on the cervical spine.Due to the fact that degenerative changes most often develop in the most mobile vertebral regions, in the cervical region it is the nerve endings at the C5...C7 level that most often suffer.
Since the symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis are highly contradictory, they are not always considered only as symptoms of this disease, which quite 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 in comparison with its other sections, even minor tension in the neck muscles or displacement of the cervical vertebrae can cause compression or pinching of the nerve roots, which can also affect the vessels located in this section.Well, osteophytes - bone growths, in folk treatment called “salt deposition” and formed during the development of the disease cervical osteochondrosis, lead, as a result, only to a significant worsening of the course of the disease.
The 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 noticeably intensifies with any movement.In view of this, patients often take some forced, most comfortable, head position.In addition, it is quite possible for a typical “crunching” to occur when turning or other head movements.
When suffering from cervical osteochondrosis, patients often experience headaches that are compressive in nature and radiate to the eyeballs or the temporal part of the head.In addition, sometimes the acuity of visual perception may decrease, as if “everything is floating before your eyes.”
Vertebral artery syndrome can also develop when its nerve plexus is irritated, which very often, due to dizziness in the patient, is mistakenly diagnosed as a cerebral circulatory disorder.This symptom of cervical osteochondrosis can manifest itself with sudden movements of the head and is complicated by nausea and possible vomiting.
In addition to the above, the reflex symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis also include cardiac syndrome, in which sensations similar to an attack of angina occur.But this manifestation of symptoms of osteochondrosis is usually combined with a complex of other signs of this disease, so it usually does not cause difficulties in making 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 affecting motor functions depend entirely on which specific nerve root is injured, namely:
- C1 – decreased sensitivity in the occipital area;
- C2 – the occurrence 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 was injured, with a possible impairment of speech function due to loss of sensitivity of the tongue and control over it;
- C4 – the appearance of pain and decreased sensitivity in the scapulohumeral dorsal 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 shoulder surface;
- 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 posterior humeral surface, and further from the forearm to the 2..4 fingers of the hand, with a decrease in sensitivity in the area of pain;
- C8 – decreased sensitivity and pain going 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.Therapeutic treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is primarily 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 popular 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 destruction of cartilage tissue and, according to many experts, also 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 gels or ointments for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is not effective, but it makes sense, since in the process of rubbing them into the skin, an additional massage of the cervical spine is performed.
Physiotherapy procedures are additionally combined with traditional drug treatment of cervical osteochondrosis, and in particular, the use of magnetic therapy through special therapeutic devices is particularly effective.Also used, in addition to the above, are therapeutic massage, physical therapy and manual therapy.But, in especially 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 morning exercises,
- competent organization of the workplace,
- compliance with the work and rest schedule,
- when working for a long time in a sitting position - during working hours, warm up several times and ensure correct head position and posture while performing work.
It is also important to select a comfortable pillow and mattress for sleeping.But for those who already suffer from this disease, the daily use of specialized orthopedic products for comfortable sleep is strongly recommended.