Clinically, thoracic osteochondrosis (chondrosis) is manifested as acute, tingling or dull pain, crunching sound and stiffness when bending over.
For pathology, the characteristic and many specific symptoms are a feeling of lack of breath when inhaling, discomfort in the heart area and even a sore throat.
Pathological treatment is mainly conservative drug treatment. It also conducts physical therapy procedures, massage courses, and uses a chiropractor.
If this treatment does not work, the patient is shown surgical intervention.
Symptom details
The symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis do not appear all at once. At the initial stage of the pathological development of this degenerative dystrophy, only slight discomfort in the back was noticed. After a hard day's work, the patient sees them as mediocre fatigue and writes off the muscle "numbness" caused by staying in one position of the body for a long time.
But the intensity of discomfort is slowly and steadily increasing. Unpleasant feelings are replaced by severe soreness, accompanied by limited range of motion, dizziness, and headaches. In medicine, all symptoms of osteochondrosis at a given location are divided into groups. This helps diagnose it faster and determine treatment strategies.
Remember!There is no difference in the characteristics, severity, or location of the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in men and women. But in stronger sexes, they may appear later because of the stronger musculoskeletal system. In addition, some men have erectile dysfunction in the context of osteochondrosis.
Vertebral symptoms
Under the influence of unfavorable factors (hypothermia, increased physical activity), the long-term relief of thoracic osteochondrosis may be interrupted by the sudden onset of acute pain. More commonly, it is caused by staying in one position of the body (for example, sitting) for a long time. If a person stands up suddenly, the back pain will be so severe that he will lose mobility within a few minutes.
In medicine, this condition is called a spine. It is different from the accompanying symptoms of common pain:
- Feeling lack of air when inhaling;
- Severe stiffness.
The pathological process is usually complicated by back pain-pain in the thoracic spine, which gradually increases in intensity. It increases with bending, turning the body to the sides. In order not to experience pain, one adopts a forced posture. At the same time, he involuntarily strained the muscles of his back, and involuntarily caused their excessive tension. Now they are also beginning to hurt, especially when walking.
Extravertebral symptoms
With the development of thoracic osteochondrosis, the intervertebral disc becomes thinner and destroyed. These cartilage pads can no longer distribute the generated load, eliminating the mutual influence of the vertebrae. The body's compensatory response is triggered-the bone structure begins to deform as the growth is formed. They compress sensitive nerve endings and invade the spinal canal. Therefore, thoracic osteochondrosis in women and men has specific symptoms: loss of sensitivity in certain parts of the body, burning sensation, and peristaltic "goose bumps".
important! Osteochondrosis located in the chest usually manifests as dry cough, ineffective cough, sore throat, coma, and urinary system diseases.
But this is not all. The spinal root is not only responsible for the innervation of the spine (the transmission of nerve impulses), but also the internal organs. Therefore, when they are invaded, the liver, kidneys, digestive tract, and heart muscle will feel uncomfortable. What are the atypical signs of back lesions in thoracic osteochondrosis:
- Pain in the heart area, the same as recurrence of angina, shortness of breath, and a feeling of "pressure" in the heart;
- Panic attacks, mental and emotional instability, unreasonable fear, anxiety, sleep disorders;
- Discomfort in the upper abdomen, bursts of nausea, sometimes causing vomiting, belching, abdominal distension, boiling and rumbling;
- Peristalsis-constipation or diarrhea;
- Sobbing and lingering, breathing hard.
The pain is not directly located on the damaged disc and/or the formed disc herniation. They radiate along the route of the nerves. The signs of thoracic osteochondrosis can be disguised as symptoms of renal colic, gastritis, gastric ulcer, hepatitis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis and even gastroenteritis.
Compressive myelopathy
This is the name of extravertebral syndrome, which is rarely seen in clinical practice. It is observed in the 3-4 stages of the disease that due to the loss of stability of the vertebral segments, the nucleus pulposus protrudes beyond the annulus fibrosus. Intervertebral hernias form, constantly compressing the spinal cord. When dating a chiropractor or neurologist, the patient complained of waistband pain that often radiated to the groin area. At the same time, there is a feeling of weakness and numbness in the lower limbs.
In the context of the violation of the spinal cord, the innervation is severely disturbed. Without treatment, the functional activity of the organs located in the small pelvis will be reduced. Compressive myelopathy can cause bowel problems. As the diameter of the spinal canal is significantly narrowed, the sensitivity of the legs is reduced. In severe cases, the patient is diagnosed with paralysis (partial or complete paralysis) of one or both lower limbs.
Relieve symptoms
Except for recurrence, chest osteochondrosis hardly disturbs a person. Occasionally there will be pulling, soreness, and dull back pain, which usually disappear after a long period of rest. But it is worth at least slightly increasing the load on the spine, lifting heavy objects or bending over, and the next relapse. It can be triggered by the following factors:
- Stressful situation, depressive state;
- Hypothermia, sudden temperature changes;
- Staying in one position of the body for a long time;
- Abuse of alcohol;
- Unbalanced diet, lack of foods high in calcium, phosphorus, manganese, and molybdenum.
Sometimes the remission phase ends because a person tries to avoid recurrence. He visited a chiropractor or massage therapist with a dubious reputation or little practical experience. Trying to stretch the spine will cause another deterioration.
Main treatment
There is currently no cure for pathology, so all doctors’ efforts are aimed at improving the health of patients. It is recommended that patients wear orthopedic products (corsets, bandages) to fix the vertebral structure and prevent its displacement. Prescribe various clinical and pharmacological drugs, perform physical therapy measures and physical therapy exercises.
The chiropractor's hand movement aims to increase the gap between the vertebrae, thereby reducing thoracic osteochondrosis.
important!For severe chest osteochondrosis, conservative treatment is useless. The patient immediately received surgical intervention-intervertebral herniectomy, arthrodesis, implants to replace damaged discs, bone grafts.
medical treatement
The treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis aims to eliminate all symptoms and inhibit destructive and degenerative processes. During the exacerbation, a parenteral solution is used, which shows an effect after 5-10 minutes. Then consolidate the results by taking a series of tablet preparations, applying ointments and gels. In the remission phase, external medication is mainly used, which has a milder effect on the body.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
This is the most commonly used group of drugs in the comprehensive treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis. Their active ingredients can prevent the biosynthesis of arachidonic acid to mediators of pain, inflammation and fever. Even with only one use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, a person’s sense of well-being will be significantly improved:
- Reduced severity of pain syndrome;
- The unpleasant creaking sound that occurred when the body turned and tilted disappeared;
- The inflammatory process in the soft tissue is weakened, and the edema subsides;
- The range of motion in the chest area is increased.
To prevent recurrence, intramuscular solution is used. Capsule or tablet formulations can relieve moderate pain. Ointments and gels can quickly eliminate minor discomfort.
B vitamin preparations
Preparations containing B vitamins can cope well with innervation disorders. They improve the transmission of nerve impulses to the central and peripheral nervous system and stimulate the recovery of damaged spinal cord roots. The composition of the fund is represented by thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and cyanocobalamin.
In the first week of treatment, intramuscular injections of drugs, in addition to vitamins, also contain lidocaine, which can immediately relieve the pain. Then, within a month, the patient will take the pill.
Glucocorticoid
When safer methods are ineffective, these synthetic hormone analogs produced by the adrenal glands are used. Glucocorticoids are used for patients with acute, tingling back pain and radiation to internal organs. These drugs can be taken orally, but more commonly they are given parenterally, including where the intervertebral disc is damaged.
Glucocorticoids have a wide range of contraindications and potential side effects. Long-term treatment of thoracic chondrosis with hormones can cause damage to liver, kidney and stomach tissues. Therefore, patients with liver cirrhosis, peptic ulcer disease, renal failure and osteoporosis are contraindicated.
Muscle relaxants
Back pain is usually attributed to increased skeletal muscle tone. To relax it, muscle relaxants are used-first in the form of a solution for parenteral administration, then tablets. These drugs relieve muscle spasms that cause compression of the roots of the spinal cord. Which muscle relaxant is most effective:
- Block polysynaptic reflex;
- Relax spastic muscles;
- Reduce the release of prostaglandins.
Medications are rarely used as monotherapy. Muscle relaxants combined with glucocorticoids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used to treat chest osteochondrosis. Their significant disadvantage is that the addiction is quite fast, so they are forbidden to use for more than a week.
Chondroprotective agent
Unlike drugs that eliminate the symptoms of chest osteochondrosis, this type of drug is also used to treat the pathogen. This is the only group of drugs that can increase the production of chondrocytes, which are necessary for partial repair of cartilage intervertebral discs. All the therapeutic effects of chondroprotective agents are due to the high content of glucosamine and/or chondroitin.
But not only because it can restore intervertebral discs, but also cartilage protectors are also valuable. Their components glow in the area of the damaged vertebral body segment. After 2-3 weeks, the maximum therapeutic concentration of glucosamine and chondroitin is produced. Now these drugs are beginning to show obvious analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-edema activities.
recommend!It is recommended to use chondroprotective agents in the form of injections or tablets to treat osteochondrosis. Although manufacturers have made all guarantees about the effectiveness of ointments and creams, they cannot provide an evidence basis for their therapeutic efficacy.
Non-drug treatment
The treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis with drugs must be combined with regular physical exercise. Exercise therapy is the most effective therapy to avoid disability. Due to daily training, the back muscle frame and thoracic spine ligament tendon devices are strengthened, and the production of synovial fluid that provides nutrition to the spine structure is improved. This set of exercises was determined by the sports therapist after studying the X-ray diagnosis. He appeared in the first class, monitoring the dose of the load.
Manual treatment of osteochondrosis is also performed, aimed at increasing the gap between the intervertebral disc and the vertebrae. Perform dry or underwater traction (traction) of the spine and at home-hang on the bar. The effectiveness of manual therapy increases with simultaneous physical therapy:
- Electrophoresis
- Laser Treatment;
- Magnetic therapy;
- Ultraviolet radiation;
- Counter-dynamic flow.
Show patients 10-15 classic, vacuum, Scandinavian, acupressure massages. Also useful are spa treatments such as hydrotherapy, acupuncture, radon and hydrogen sulfide baths.
Only by means of comprehensive treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, it is possible to rule out further damage to the intervertebral disc and vertebral deformity. Following the doctor’s advice helps to get rid of all the symptoms of chronic pathology as soon as possible.