Vertebral osteochondrosis is the most common cause of back pain. According to statistics, more than half of all people over 40 suffer from a similar disease, and its first manifestations occur already in the second and third decades of life. At the same time, it is almost impossible to cure the disease - it is chronic. The disease itself affects the intervertebral discs and the cartilage, which compresses the nerve cells of the spinal cord. Osteochondrosis can be of several types - it all depends on which area of the back is affected. This article will discuss the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, which is not such a common disease, but causes great inconvenience.
Specificity of the disease
Osteochondrosis of the chest is a fairly rare disease, due to the structure of the spine. In addition, this disease is quite difficult to diagnose, since its symptoms are often confused with manifestations of diseases of internal organs.
An outstanding characteristic of the chest is the fact that it is the least subject to stress. A strong connection with the ribs and sternum creates a mobile, but at the same time durable structure, which is least prone to various diseases.
With an early stage of development of the disease, it practically does not make itself felt, which is another feature. The disease can cause a sharp increase in tension in the chest, which is often found in capricious athletes or young mothers when breastfeeding. Another common cause of osteochondrosis of the chest is scoliosis or poor posture.
The danger of the disease also lies in the fact that the main symptoms appear at a late stage of development, when the nerve cells of the spinal cord or the spine itself have already suffered severe compression or pathological disorders have arisendue to blood failure. traffic.
Manifestations of osteochondrosis of the chest
Most often, doctors encounter such a disease as radiculopathy - compression of nerve fibers in the spinal cord. In this case, the treatment of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine depends on the symptoms that appear. They often arise due to the formation of varying degrees of intervertebral hernia, while distinguishing two of its types:
- Median hernia. It is characterized by constant pain that does not go away for a long time, and drugs and injections rarely help to get rid of it.
- Lateral hernia. It is characterized by unilateral pain that occurs at the same level as the hernia, sometimes with loss of sensitivity to varying degrees. With such a manifestation of the disease, medications and injections can cope with pain.
Very rarely there is compression of the spinal cord itself. As a rule, such a manifestation of the disease is accompanied by severe pain in the waist, numbness, weakness in the legs and profuse sweating. Chest pain often spreads to the groin, abdomen and can disrupt the functioning of internal organs.
Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis
Competent specialists should think about how to treat thoracic osteochondrosis. Doing this at home is strongly discouraged. As a rule, such treatment consists of two stages - the elimination of the pain syndrome and the elimination of the cause of the pain.
Preference is most often given to conservative methods of treatment. In cases where this method does not cope with the disease, they resort to surgical intervention, but this is very rare.
The elimination of pain is achieved by two elements - rest and medication. The patient is prescribed bed rest and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs relieve swelling and inflammation, reducing compression of nerve fibers in the spinal cord.
Sometimes with severe pain a combination of drugs is used. Then, in addition to NSAIDs, painkillers are prescribed - injections, tablets. This is done with very strong and unbearable pain, and drugs such as muscle relaxants relieve muscle spasms in the affected area.
Once the drug treatment has started to work, a period of remission begins. At this time, physiotherapy exercises are used with wellness massages and complete rest. This set of measures is an effective treatment.
Home treatment
In order to significantly reduce the pain due to such a disease, it is necessary to carry out a long and complex treatment. Often for these purposes they go to the hospital, which is not always convenient and allowed. In such cases, you have to resort to home recovery.
It is important to remember that such events can be carried out only after initial treatment by a specialist.
Recovery procedures can be used at home and in order to prevent exacerbation, or as a preventive measure. Consider the most effective methods that allow you to get rid of the disease without the use of drugs - injections and pills. These methods include.
Therapeutic exercise and massage
At home, self-massage is allowed, which involves warming up the back muscles from the neck to the lower back. Often, a folded towel is used for these purposes - rolling it in a tourniquet, rubbing is performed.
Therapeutic exercises can be done in a seated or standing position. Arching your back helps a lot, like stretching after sleeping. Another exercise that eliminates aggravation is to alternately raise your hands and gently move them behind your back. Do not neglect such a method of treatment as physiotherapy exercises. Health and sport are always linked.
Folk remedies
Actively at home, herbal medicines are used. They exclude injections and tablets, and consist exclusively of ointments and infusions. The most effective drugs:
Rubbing the back with a 10-day infusion of 200 grams of lilac for 0. 5 liters of vodka very well helps to prevent exacerbation and treats osteochondrosis itself with varying degrees of manifestation.
Crushed hop cones, taken in the same amount with melted lard, will help relieve the aggravation.
Mix 1. 5 cups of radish juice with a glass of vodka and 200 grams of honey, add 10 gr. salt and rub into the affected area of the back - and you will not need injections.
The presented folk preparations are effective methods of treating osteochondrosis with varying degrees of manifestation. In addition, these products can be used while breastfeeding, as they are made from natural ingredients.
In the treatment of such a disease, in varying degrees of its manifestation, it can consist of different methods. Sometimes injections prescribed by a doctor give the greatest effect, sometimes folk remedies. To ignore the advice of specialists, and even more so to refuse to examine them altogether, is stupid and risky. With a very developed degree of the disease, even injections will not help. In addition, thoracic osteochondrosis is often associated with the cervical, and the treatment of cervicothoracic osteochondrosis involves the use of slightly different methods. Therefore, the first thing to do in case of similar pain is to contact a specialist.