Osteochondrosis of the spine is the most common cause of back pain. According to statistics, more than half of people over the age of 40 suffer from similar diseases, and their early manifestations have appeared in the second and third decades of life. At the same time, it is nearly impossible to cure the disease - it is chronic. The disease itself affects the discs and cartilage, which can compress nerve cells in the spinal cord. Osteochondrosis can be of several types - it all depends on which area of the back it hits. This article will discuss the treatment of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine, which is not a common condition but can cause you a lot of inconvenience.
disease specificity
Thoracic osteochondrosis is a fairly rare disease that is caused by the structure of the spine. Furthermore, the disease is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are often confused with manifestations of visceral disease.
A special feature of the chest is that it is the least susceptible to pressure. The strong connection to the ribs and sternum creates a movable but at the same time durable structure that is least susceptible to various diseases.
As the disease progresses early, it doesn't actually make itself feel, which is another characteristic. The disorder causes a dramatic increase in chest tension, which is often seen in moody athletes or in young breastfeeding mothers. Another common cause of thoracic osteochondrosis is scoliosis or poor posture.
The disease is also dangerous because the main symptoms appear late in development, when the nerve cells of the spinal cord or the spine itself have been severely compressed or pathologically impaired by blood failure. cycle.
Manifestations of thoracic osteochondrosis
Most often, doctors encounter conditions such as radiculopathy - compression of nerve fibers in the spinal cord. In this case, treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis depends on the symptoms present. They usually arise as a result of varying degrees of intervertebral herniation, and two types are distinguished:
- Median hernia. It's characterized by persistent pain that doesn't go away for long, and medications and injections rarely get you out of it.
- Lateral hernia. It is characterized by unilateral pain at the same level as the hernia, sometimes with varying degrees of loss of sensitivity. With the manifestations of the disease, drugs and injections can deal with the pain.
Rarely is the spinal cord itself compressed. Often, the manifestations of the disease are accompanied by severe girdle pain, numbness, weakness in the legs, and profuse sweating. Pain from the chest usually spreads to the groin, abdomen, and disrupts the function of internal organs.
Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis
A competent specialist should consider how to treat osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine. Doing this at home is highly discouraged. Usually, this treatment consists of two phases - elimination of the pain syndrome and elimination of the cause of the pain.
Conservative treatment is usually preferred. In cases where this approach fails to deal with the disease, they turn to surgery, but this is very rare.
Pain relief is achieved in two parts - rest and medication. The patient was prescribed bed rest and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs reduce swelling and inflammation, which reduces compression of nerve fibers in the spinal cord.
Sometimes, in the case of severe pain, a combination of drugs is used. Then, in addition to NSAIDs, painkillers - injections, tablets - were prescribed. This is done with very intense and excruciating pain, and medications such as muscle relaxants can relieve muscle spasms in the affected area.
After the medication starts to work, a period of remission begins. At this time, physiotherapy exercises are used together with a healthy massage and complete rest. This set of measures is an effective treatment.
treatment at home
In order to significantly reduce the pain caused by this disease, long-term and complex treatment is necessary. They often go to the hospital for these purposes, which is not always convenient and permissible. In this case, you must rehab at home.
It is important to remember that such events can only occur after initial treatment by a specialist.
Recovery procedures can be used at home to prevent the condition from getting worse, or as a preventive measure. Consider the most effective ways to get rid of the disease without using medicines - injections and pills. These methods include.
Therapeutic exercise and massage
At home, self-massage is allowed, including heating the back muscles from the neck to the lower back. Often a folded towel is used for these purposes - rolling it into a tourniquet, rubbing it.
Therapeutic exercises can be performed in a sitting or standing position. Arching your back is helpful, as if you were stretching after sleeping. Another exacerbation-busting exercise is to alternate raising your hands and moving them smoothly behind your back. Don't ignore treatments like physical therapy exercises. Health and exercise are always linked.
folk remedies
Actively use herbal-based medicines at home. They do not include injections and tablets, only ointments and infusions. The most effective drugs:
Massaging the back with a 10-day infusion of 200 grams of cloves per 0. 5 liters of vodka helps to prevent exacerbations very well and treat osteochondrosis itself with varying degrees of manifestations.
Crushed hop cones, taken in the same amount as melted lard, can help relieve exacerbations.
Mix 1. 5 cups of radish juice with a cup of vodka and 200 grams of honey and add 10 grams. The salt is rubbed into the affected area of the back - you don't need any injections.
The proposed folk preparation is an effective method for treating different degrees of osteochondrosis. Also, these products can be used during breastfeeding because they are composed of natural ingredients.
In treating this disorder, it manifests to varying degrees, and it may involve different approaches. Sometimes a doctor-prescribed injection works best, sometimes a folk remedy. It would be foolish and risky to ignore the advice of experts, or even refuse to examine them outright. As the disease is highly advanced, even injections will not help. In addition, thoracic osteochondrosis is often combined with cervical spondylosis, and the treatment of cervicothoracic osteochondrosis is slightly different. Therefore, when similar pain occurs, the first thing to do is to contact a specialist.