Osteochondrosis is almost an inevitability for a modern person with his static lifestyle. It overtakes every second and entails a bunch of concomitant diseases. In 80% of cases, pain in the back, neck and head are signs of osteochondrosis.
What is this punishment and how to live with it?
"Let's creak a little!" - people of the older generation often talk about themselves. You can’t argue with this: with age, all the bones, all the vertebrae begin to “creak” (crunch), sometimes you can’t even turn your head without a crunch. These are all signs of osteochondrosis, which over time deforms the intervertebral cartilage more and more, depriving them of mobility. But it would be a mistake to consider this ailment as a problem exclusively for the spine. It is quite obvious that it affects almost all organs and parts of the body.
Constant headaches, tinnitus are the consequences of osteochondrosis, which disrupts cerebral circulation, causing vasoconstriction of the brain. Persistent tinnitus, especially at night, blurred vision, sudden dizziness, and sometimes lossminds can talk about just this problem.
Absolutely everyone who suffers from this disease knows the expression "cervical migraine". These are drawing pains from the surface of the shoulders and neck to the occipital and parietal parts of the head. The reason for this is most often the defeat of the vertebral artery on the background of osteochondrosis.
As for the spine, it is the “tree of life” of a person, and all internal organs are connected with it: kidneys, liver, stomach, heart, as well as sensory organs: eyes, ears. Any failures in any of the listed systems may be signs of osteochondrosis. Not to mention how detrimental this disease affects the condition of the limbs: a person is haunted by numbness of the arms and legs, a gradual decrease in the mobility of the hands, a painful crunch in the shoulder and elbow joints.
Are there effective treatments for osteochondrosis?
Unfortunately, we have to admit that today most of the symptomatic treatment is advertised and presented as a panacea, that is, all kinds of painkillers and ointments that relieve pain. Methods of treatment largely depend on the source of the disease, on the characteristics of its course, on its localization. Osteochondrosis, as you know, can be of different types: lumbar, cervical, thoracic, etc. If a young person falls ill (today this is very common), the cause may be a sedentary lifestyle, infections, injuries, rheumatism, heredity. In most cases, timely treatment based on physical activity, special therapeutic exercises forosteochondrosis bring good results.
Another thing is the age-related deformation of the bone tissue of the vertebrae. Unfortunately, this is more difficult to deal with. Especially when it comes to such a diagnosis as a herniated disc. Of course, this does not mean that the treatment does not make sense. It is always possible to alleviate the condition, albeit at the cost of great efforts. But first you need to go through a comprehensive check, because the signs of osteochondrosis can indicate different manifestations of the disease and its different localization. MRI, computed tomography, encephalogram, x-rays - this is not a complete list of recommended diagnostic procedures. Based on a detailed examination, a neuropathologist can prescribe treatment: drug therapy, exercise therapy, etc.
Often the doctor recommends that the patient wear a special orthopedic corset, which greatly relieves pain in the lumbar or cervical region.
Precautions
This is the case when self-medication can be fraught with serious complications. Particularly when it comes to back pain. Many, not suspecting that they have a herniated disc, without examination, make an appointment with a familiar masseur or chiropractor, for whom the treatment process is a profitable business. Needless to say, what consequences the manipulations of a self-taught massage therapist or a homegrown chiropractor who is poorly versed in active points for acupuncture can entail. No need to make yourself worse - this is the main advice. And one moreadvice - do not wait until the pain in osteochondrosis goes away by itself. It won't pass. You need to take care of yourself seriously so that life does not become a continuous suffering.
