Osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is far less common than cervical or lumbar spine. This is because the vertebrae in the thoracic spine area are more firmly connected to each other, and the joint movement is small. In addition, this part of the spine has muscle protection and is more firmly fixed by the ribs.
However, osteochondrosis in the sternal area is a disease, and its treatment should not be postponed until later, as this can lead to quite unfavorable consequences.
Causes of thoracic osteochondrosis
The main reason is malnutrition-degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc. This may be due to scoliosis or the following factors:
- Genetic
- Eating and metabolic disorders
- overweight
- Increase physical activity
- Being inactive, keeping a posture for a long time
- Spinal injury
- Nervousness
- Old age
- smokes
- Low temperature
All these factors will affect the nutrition of the intervertebral disc, leading to metabolic disorders and degenerative changes.
Symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis
Similar pathologies make one feel painful.
They are of two types:
- Back pain or chest and back pain. This is a sudden, severe, and severe pain. When trying to stand up after being in the same position for a long time, a sudden, severe and severe pain will occur in the spine. It is usually a long time working on a tilted table. . You feel pain even when you breathe, your muscles are under tension, and movement of the thoracic spine and adjacent spine is restricted.
- Backache (backache). In this case, the pain is not so obvious and only causes slight discomfort when resting. But when you try to bend over or take a deep breath, it becomes stronger. In this state, the mobility of the spine is reduced and the back muscles are tense.
- With the failure of the first root, sensitivity decreases, and pain in the upper thoracic spine spreads to the suprascapular area and reaches the elbow joint.
- If there are 2-6 compressions, the pain will be concentrated in the ribs and spread from the spine to the shoulder blades and armpit area.
- Compression on the 7th and 8th places of the tooth root will cause muscle tension in this area, and there will be a band of pain from the rib joint to the upper abdomen area.
- The failure of the 9th and 10th roots will cause pain in the lower thoracic spine and spread to the belly button, 11th and 12th-below the belly button.
The signs of thoracic osteochondrosis can be manifested by pain between the ribs. This is due to the compression of the nerve roots, resulting in reduced sensitivity and limited mobility.
Visceral manifestations of thoracic osteochondrosis
Apical syndrome is often accompanied by complaints about internal organs:
- Failure of the upper thoracic root may be accompanied by pain in the esophagus and pharynx, and the appearance of foreign bodies. These symptoms may occur periodically or continuously, and when you press on the area of the spine affected by osteochondrosis, it will become more intense.
- If the middle thoracic root is affected, there will be discomfort and pain in the stomach, and lying face up on a hard surface for a long time and moving in the corresponding part of the spine will increase.
- If the following lesions occur, the duodenum will become uncomfortable, which will be worsened by coughing or sneezing, turning the torso, or sitting for a long time.
Osteochondrosis in the sternum area can cause the stomach to rupture. In this case, there are:
- Nausea
- Heartburn
- diarrhea
- constipate
- Left hypochondriac pain
- Flatulence
- May vomit
In connection with the interruption of the normal function of the duodenum, the following situations may occur:
- Pain in the upper abdomen and back
- Hiccup
- Nausea
- Heavy right side
- Sometimes bloating and vomiting
In many cases, thoracic osteochondrosis can lead to the appearance of the characteristic symptoms of heart disease:
- Burning chest on the left
- The pain of cutting, burning, pressing the heart
- Throat contraction
Osteochondrosis can cause laryngospasm (laryngospasm), breathing becomes difficult and wheezing during the attack, and a cough may occur. In this case, it is very important to determine whether such symptoms are not lung disease.
Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis
Since this disease can cover many pathologies, you need to be examined by a neurologist who will provide guidance for the following studies after the examination:
- X-ray
- CT (Computed Tomography)
- NMR
Usually, this is enough to identify the pathology and make a diagnosis.
In the treatment of osteochondrosis, the main goals are:
- relief the pain
- Restore the function of the spine
- Slow down the dystrophic changes of the intervertebral disc
To this end, the following procedures are very effective:
- Vacuum and laser treatment
- acupuncture
- Whirlpool bath
- Electrophoresis
- Inductance measurement method
- massage
- Traction (traction)
- Magnetic and drug puncture
- Exercise therapy
Drug treatment of osteochondrosis:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- Chondroprotective agent
- ointment
- Muscle relaxants, which work to relieve muscle spasms
If the listed methods do not produce a positive result, surgical treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis is performed.
The operation consists of two stages:
- Eliminate the cause of pain (decompression).
- Discectomy-Removal of an intervertebral disc or part of it.
- Foraminal incision-Enlarging the root canal to prevent intervertebral discs or bone spurs from compressing nerves.
- Facet joint resection-removal of the small joints located between the vertebral protrusions of the joints to eliminate the jamming of nerve fibers.
- Laminectomy-The back of the vertebrae is removed, compressing the spinal cord during deformation.
- Laminectomy-The difference from the previous surgery is that a part of the back of the vertebrae is removed.
- Vertebrectomy-removal of vertebrae and adjacent intervertebral discs by inserting bone implants.
- The spine is stable. When the vertebrae or intervertebral discs are removed, the support structure of the human body will be disturbed, resulting in serious neurological diseases. In order to avoid negative consequences, the vertebrae must be fixed. In most cases, vertebral fusion (spinal fusion) is used to create conditions for the fusion of the spine bones. The resulting void is filled with grafts from the bones of the patient or donor, as well as special biological substances that stimulate the repair of bone tissue.
Use alternative methods to treat osteochondrosis
In this case, it should be pain relief and can only be combined with comprehensive treatment. To this end, various herbs with anti-inflammatory, local anesthetic and sedative properties are used.
In order to consolidate the positive results of treatment, it is necessary to eat correctly, try to avoid stress and reasonable physical activity. In this case, osteochondrosis will trouble you a lot less.