Osteochondrosis is a degenerative disorder of articular cartilage tissues that can be localized in any joints, as well as intervertebral discs.
The name of the disease comes from the Greek words meaning "bone" and "cartilage".Osteochondrosis develops due to a physiological (this is natural, that is, provided by nature) weakening of nutrition of the intervertebral discs.This causes cartilage tissue to regenerate poorly even after minor injuries.In addition, those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, especially those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, after a long time at work with their back muscles pressing on their ears for a long time, carry their bags on one shoulder and use very soft mattresses and pillows.
Causes of osteochondrosis
Almost all middle-aged and elderly people are at risk of developing spinal osteochondrosis, because the processes that lead to the degeneration of cartilage tissue are completely natural.Risk factors and causes of osteochondrosis in more pronounced forms:
- straight legs;
- Overweight;
- heavy physical activity;
- physical inactivity;
- hereditary;
- spinal cord injury.
Before that, spinal osteochondrosis mainly manifests itself after the age of 35, but recently, patients aged 18-20 years have complained of back pain caused by osteochondrosis.Probable reasons for the spread of osteochondrosis among young people are not only a sedentary lifestyle, but also frequent stress and poor posture.
Manifestations of osteochondrosis - pain and limited movement
There is osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, there is a twisting spine of the lumbar spine and osteochondrosis of the spine.However, regardless of the type of disease, a person always complains of pain.In which part of the back does it manifest itself and radiates light to the limbs, that is, in which part of the spine degenerative processes have occurred.Pain can be caused by a variety of reasons, such as pinched (compressed) nerve roots or ruptured intervertebral discs.A disc herniation is a rupture of the cartilage tissue itself, that is, of the stigma and protrusions of the disc nucleus.Torn intervertebral discs occur precisely against the background of osteochondrosis in many cases.
Men and overweight people experience herniated discs more often than others
With osteochondrosis, pain can change not only in intensity, but also in location.With osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, the pain radiates to the arm, not only in the neck, not in the shoulder.
Sometimes patients experience headache and dizziness.
Osteochondrosis in the thoracic spine sometimes "imitates" pain in the heart.It can be intensified, sharp or pulled by various movements.With osteochondrosis of the lumbar region, the pain can radiate to the leg.With the presence of torn intervertebral discs, sometimes numbness of the limb occurs, as if "taken".Low pain, significantly limits the range of motion and can affect the functioning of internal organs.
Torn intervertebral discs occur mainly in the thoracic spine and often in the cervical and lumbar spine.
Complications of osteochondrosis and its treatment
This disease of the spine is associated with pain, so it is necessary to treat osteochondrosis, get rid of it or significantly reduce it, and thereby improve the quality of life.The question of how to treat osteochondrosis causes a lot of controversy.The process of treating osteochondrosis is very long;This is associated with the restoration of the spinal structures and the strengthening of the back muscles, and the surgical treatment of disc herniation is associated with the surgical treatment.All this time, it is necessary to fight with pain, because the cause of the disease - degenerative phenomena in the tissues of the articular cartilage is persistent and it is possible to affect mainly the surrounding tissues.Improvement of blood circulation and strengthening of the muscle corset occurs through physiotherapy, massage and swimming.But the pain does not disappear immediately even with effort and regular exercises and procedures.
Complex treatment of osteochondrosis: Additional options
To reduce pain in osteochondrosis, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used for external and internal use (unfortunately, long-term use in tablet forms has significant side effects) and B vitamins.B vitamins are called neurotropic because they help to restore the functions of nerve fibers.The most important are vitamins B1 (Benfotiamine) and Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine).pills.Benfotiamine normalizes metabolic processes in damaged nerve roots, and pyridoxine improves the transmission of nerve impulses, both vitamins help reduce pain.B vitamins for osteochondrosis are one of the elements of an integrated approach to therapy.