Protrusion is one of the most common diseases, which manifests itself in the form of dystrophic disorders in the intervertebral discs, which leads to their degradation. It typically affects 80 percent of the population over the age of 30.
Protrusions - what is it
This disease, first of all, signals serious changes in the musculoskeletal system. Basically, this ailment is a consequence of the development of one of the stages of osteochondrosis.
At the same time, protrusion is the initial form of intervertebral hernia. Its main and first symptom is acute pain in the affected area. At the same time, the displaced discs interact with the spinal roots, as well as the spinal cord itself.
If a person does not seek help from a medical institution in time, he risks getting a more serious disease - a herniated disc, which will eventually have much worse consequences. Also, protrusion of the spine, which develops into a hernia, is much more difficult to treat and is very dangerous for human he alth.
Formation of protrusion
The appearance of protrusiondystrophic changes in the fibrous ring of the intervertebral discs are accompanied, that is, in other words, their structure changes, elasticity is lost, as a result of which the disc flattens and protrudes beyond the vertebra. But at the same time, it is worth considering that the fibrous disc retains its shape and integrity, so that the nucleus pulposus remains inside.
Protrusion of the spine can be of several levels of complexity:
1. A protrusion of 0 to 3 millimeters does not cause any discomfort, and does not have any harmful effects;
2. A protrusion from 3 to 5 millimeters is a condition that is very often accompanied by uncomfortable and frequent pain. They are especially manifested during heavy physical exertion.3. A protrusion of 5 millimeters - this condition is already regarded as an intervertebral hernia.
Causes of protrusion
Today, there are several main causes that lead to the appearance of protrusion of the lumbar spine. These reasons include:
- incorrect posture;
- underdevelopment of the muscular structure of the body;
- hereditary predisposition;
- being overweight;
- failure of the body's metabolic processes;
- age-related changes;
- large irrational load on the back and spine;
- presence of severe infectious diseases of the body.
As already mentioned, protrusions are among the most common posture diseases. What is it, it is clear to everyone, but fewknows how to prevent the occurrence of this disease.
Protrusion formation stages
To date, doctors have identified several stages of the formation of protrusions:
- At the first stage, up to 70% of the structure of the intervertebral discs (disk) is destroyed. They lose their elasticity and cracks form in the fibrous membrane. This stage is manifested by acute local pain in the affected area.
- The second stage of the disease is characterized by a protrusion of the disc. In this case, the nucleus pulposus moves from the center to the edge, thus, the tissues of the fibrous disc are stretched. At this stage, the disc protrudes up to 2-3 millimeters, as a result, sharp pains and discomfort in the transverse section can be felt.
- The last stage is characterized by a strong protrusion of the spinal disc. In this case, disc fibrosis ruptures and the formation of a vertebral hernia occurs, pain may occur in the affected area and various neurological disorders appear, such as numbness of the limbs.
Classification of protrusions
It is known that one of the most common diseases of the spine are protrusions. What it is, and what are the reasons for their appearance - is already clear. Let's find out by what parameters this disease is classified.
So, the protrusion is classified by type, type of protrusion and location.
By types of protrusion are classified into circular and diffuse
- Diffuse protrusion is a chronic type of disease. With this type, the disc protrudes unevenly. If aif this disease is not treated in time, sooner or later it will lead to disability and disability.
- Circular protrusion - when the intervertebral disc protrudes evenly. With this type, nerve infringement occurs, which causes the development of neurological symptoms - the appearance of pain, numbness of the nerve limbs.
2. Protrusion of the lumbar spine is divided according to the type of protrusion:
- Central protrusion (median) - protrusion occurs in the direction of the center of the spinal canal. In most cases, this type of disease does not have any manifestations, but there is a great risk, since exposure to the spinal cord can lead to disruption of its work.
- Posterior protrusion - protrusion of the intervertebral discs occurs from the abdomen to the back. Very often, this type negatively affects the spinal cord, which leads to a violation of its functionality. It is felt by severe pain in the affected area, a violation of sensitivity, in some cases a violation of the functionality of the pelvic organs.
- Lateral protrusion (lateral) - the disc protrudes to the right or left side relative to the spine. It can cause the formation of spinal roots. As long as the nerves are not injured, the disease has no symptoms.
- Posterior-lateral intervertebral protrusion (posterolateral) - intervertebral discs protrude back to the back and to the right or left side. It has a harmful interaction on the roots and structure of the spinal cord. Until the moment of infringement of the nerves there is nono symptoms.
3. The disease is divided by location: cervical, thoracic and lumbar protrusion.
Cervical protrusion
Cervical protrusions very often lead to the development of a variety of complications that can provoke an overload of the spine. The consequence of this may be the formation of new protrusions, and as a result - the development of an intervertebral hernia. The following symptoms may signal the onset of this disease:
Local pain in the neck of a chronic or acute nature.
- Restricted neck mobility.
- Manifestations of headaches, dizziness.
- Pain radiating along the arm.
- Numbness and tingling in hands.
- Weakness in the muscles of the shoulders and arms.
Thoracic disc protrusion
Due to the structure of the human skeleton, protrusion in the thoracic region develops very rarely. The following symptoms may indicate the appearance of this disease in the thoracic region:
- Chronic or acute pain in the thoracic spine, discomfort.
- Chronic pain in the intercostal space or between the shoulder blades.
- Tingling in the abdomen and chest, numbness of the limbs and loss of sensation.
- Failure in the functioning of organs that are located in the affected area (heart, liver).
- Weakness in abdominal muscles.
Lower protrusion
It is known that this disease is most common inlumbar spine. This is due to the fact that it is this area of the back that is constantly subjected to large dynamic and static loads. Protrusion of the lumbar spine is most often accompanied by:
Chronic and acute pain in the lumbar region.
- The presence of painful and constrained sensations in the lumbosacral area.
- The formation of sciatica.
- Showing weakness in the legs.
- Violation of the sensitivity of individual parts of the body - numbness, goosebumps, tingling.
- The appearance of radiating pain in one or both legs.
- In certain cases, the activity of the urinary and genital organs may also be impaired.
Protrusion symptoms
The symptoms of this disease directly depend on which particular disk is damaged. But until such time as there is a pinching of various spinal nerves by the disk, protrusion can occur absolutely without any symptoms.
In general, the symptoms of protrusion can always manifest themselves with different strengths, it all depends on how much the spinal cord is irritated and the nervous system is infringed by the intervertebral disc. The most common symptom of a protrusion is severe pain in the affected area, which can eventually lead to loss of sensation.
In addition, you can also determine a number of other indicators that may indicate the presence of protrusion:
- Chronic or acute pain in the affected area (neck,lower back, thoracic spine).
- Presence of migrating and radiating pains.
- Manifestation of sciatica.
- Loss of muscle elasticity and weakening of the muscle corset in the affected area.
- Loss of sensation in individual upper and lower limbs.
- Presence of a feeling of stiffness and burning in the affected area.
- Decreased sensitivity of the organs of hearing, vision, manifestation of headaches, dizziness.
Most frequently degraded intervertebral discs
The most common disc protrusion is l5, L4/S1, since these discs are subjected to the greatest load when performing any actions. l5, L4 are dorsal intervertebral discs, which are located in the lumbar region. When lifting weights or sitting, there is a lot of pressure on these discs, which causes their degradation. S1 is the first disc from the pelvic bone and is also often stressed. For these reasons, these discs are the most frequently degraded.
As practice shows, there are practically no tangible symptoms of protrusion before the age of 30, basically they all occur after this age, since it is during this period that the human body undergoes a large number of interactions that negatively affect its he alth.
Diagnosis of disease
Diagnosis when symptoms of protrusion appear, as a rule, begins with a physical examination of the patient by the attending physician. To do this, experts usea series of manual tests that allow you to determine the affected area. If intervertebral protrusion is suspected, the patient is assigned an additional examination - ultrasound, MRI, CG, EMG, X-ray, and so on. X-ray allows you to determine the complexity of the disease, MRI - to establish the compression of the nerve bundles, and the magnitude of the damage to the nerve fibers helps to find out the EMG.
Treatment
From the foregoing, we can conclude that protrusion is a very common and dangerous disease for he alth. Therefore, her treatment should be carried out under the supervision of experienced doctors.
Treatment of protrusion is a complex of different procedures. They should be aimed at relieving pain, tissue swelling, restoring motor functions and normalizing sensitivity.
In order to forget what protrusion is, treatment also needs to be carried out with the help of various medications. Various analgesics, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory drugs are used today for a complete cure and recovery.
Also, special massages, which can only be done by highly qualified specialists, are of great help in the treatment of this disease.
Ways to prevent protrusion
As mentioned above, one of the most terrible diseases are protrusions. What it is, and how they appear, is already clear. But there are ways that can significantly reduce the possibility of this disease.
It's not hard to guess thatLumbar protrusion in most cases appears due to deformation of the intervertebral discs, so you need to constantly strengthen your back while doing sports, namely athletics. This sport helps to strengthen the muscle mass and ligaments, which, in fact, hold the entire back structure.
Conclusion: one of the common back diseases that every second person lives with today is protrusion. Treatment of this disease is simply necessary in order to avoid excruciating back pain, numbness of the limbs, headaches and allow yourself to work, rest and lead an active lifestyle normally.
