A person has osteochondrosis, the first symptom of cartilage disease as early as a young man.
Usually, the first pain is the cervical area of the spine, which can lead to intervertebral hernia, severe sensory and movement disorders.
Therefore, not only need to understand the symptoms of cervical spine osteochondrosis, but also need to be able to diagnose them in time.
Stages of cervical chondropathy
25 years later, due to the deterioration of the metabolism in the cartilage caused by hormonal changes in the body, this disease began to develop. In this case, the blood supply to the intervertebral disc will naturally stop.
When there is no manifestation of cervical osteochondrosis, these changes in the spine correspond to the initial stage of the disease. However, a combination of other factors (genetics, stress, early trauma, etc. ) will stimulate the further development of the disease.
The next stage of disease development is the stretch-fiber covering of the intervertebral disc membrane. Due to the loss of water, the intervertebral disc will deform and "bulge", which is medically called herniation. At this stage, the first sign that appears is severe burning pain in the neck caused by the pressure of the intervertebral disc on the nerves.
The beginning of the third stage of the disease is evidenced by the rupture of the intervertebral disc membrane (circle of fibers) and the appearance of disc herniation, which compresses blood vessels and nerve fibers. At the same time, the sensory and movement disorders of the upper limbs and the collar area also added pain.
The transition of the disease to the fourth stage is the complete destruction of the intervertebral disc. At this time, not only the blood supply of a single nerve fiber is cut off, but the blood supply of the entire spinal cord is cut off. The changes at this stage are irreversible, so surgical treatment is required.
General symptoms of disease
Osteochondrosis can be diagnosed in one (or several) parts of the spine. At the same time, cervical osteochondrosis is considered to be particularly dangerous because in this part of the spine are huge blood vessels and nerve roots, which not only supply blood, but also innervate the nerves of the hands and brain.
Therefore, the symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis are divided into three categories:
- Arterial compression:Usually, we are talking about vertebral arteries, which are located in the cervical vertebrae and provide energy for the brain.
- Nerve root compression:manifested by impaired movement and sensation in the hands, the parietal area of the skull and the back of the head;
- Spinal cord compression:This stage IV variant of the disease is associated with severe neurological diseases (paralysis, lack of superficial sensation, etc. ).
is universal. However, there are many private symptoms that can allow you to detect the disease early.
Pain
The first manifestation of cervical osteochondrosis is local pain syndrome-cervical pain. This is usually severe neck pain, sometimes spreading to the back of the arm or head. Pain may occur after improper posture (long distance travel, sleep) or physical exercise. Usually they will pass by themselves.
After a sharp turn or tilt of the head, low back pain may occur in the collar area (otherwise the cervix). It is usually accompanied by muscle tension, so head movement is not possible (up to 10 days after cervical seizure).
Over time, there will be adaptations to pain. But in the second stage, the pain usually increases, which indicates further displacement and destruction of the intervertebral disc.
Other variants of pain syndrome are:
- Urgent headache, usually mimicking migraine, but the usual painkillers cannot be relieved. Usually, it "spreads" to the back of the head, parietal and temporal areas, and sometimes to the eyeballs. In this case, it can be single-sided or double-sided.
- "Heart" pain (or heartache) is extremely rare. It presents with chest pain, which may resemble an attack of angina.
Be careful!If the cause of chest pain is osteochondrosis, then in this case, the "heart" medicine will not help! If these drugs can relieve the disease in the short term, and at the same time have a clear fear of death, then you should suspect a myocardial infarction and go to the hospital urgently.
Cervical spine sensory disorders
Decreased, decreased or increased sensitivity are the main symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis. Therefore, sensory disturbances are often observed at the back of the head and around the shoulder joints or hands.
In the latter case, these manifestations are accompanied by edema or other nutritional diseases (ulcers, etc. ).
Dyskinesia
If the intervertebral hernia compresses the motor nerve fibers, the patient may feel muscle weakness and limited range of motion-paresis. The extreme degree of dyskinesia is paralysis-complete lack of exercise, as well as decreased muscle tone (until atrophy) and loss of reflexes. These early symptoms may be temporary.
Other symptoms
The above manifestations are typical symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis.
However, there are other (important! ) signs of illness.
- Head rotation. It is usually accompanied by osteochondrosis. Dizziness is related to a defect in blood flow to the inner ear, which is a pair of balance organs located in the temporal bone. The irregular posture or periodic attacks of osteochondrosis can cause dizziness, sometimes accompanied by nystagmus-rapid fluctuations in students. To balance the blood supply of human organs through an artery-the vertebral artery. It passes through the cervical spine, so it can be "compressed" in spinal diseases (osteochondrosis, fractures).
- Tinnitus. Tinnitus or ear congestion is another option to impair the "transportation" of blood to the inner ear. After staying in the wrong position for a long time, this symptom will appear and then disappear. This is the last symptom that distinguishes similar symptoms of osteochondrosis from similar symptoms of other diseases.
- Disgusting. It is an independent symptom, but sometimes accompanied by vomiting or vomiting. Tilt and rotation of the head can arouse the latter and sometimes even walk. The cause of this condition is the same as dizziness-the delivery of arterial blood to the balance organs is reduced. However, prolonged vomiting can bring serious complications-dehydration and loss of salt in the body, which can lead to alkalosis (alkalinization in the blood). This situation requires intravenous injection of an appropriate saline solution.
- Respiratory system diseases. When breathing becomes shallow, the symptom of cervical chondrosis may be difficulty breathing (you can't completely "breathe through your chest"). It causes a similar compression or hyperstimulation state of the nerve (it innervates the diaphragm, which is responsible for breathing movement). In this case, the patient will feel insufficient air or shortness of breath. However, prolonged playing often manifests as often nerve overstimulation.
- Night Attack. Holding your breath in an unsuccessful position during sleep may also be an inherent cause of osteochondrosis in the cervical region. However, due to the lack of oxygenated blood during night sleep, this disease is more manifested as morning and lethargy. This "hypoxia" can cause brain diseases-loss of attention and memory.
- Sore throat. It is considered to be one of the most common symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis. It manifests as a dry throat, a "foreign body" sensation, and the throat may be itchy or difficult. The reason is that the nerve and blood vessel bundles that extend from the spine to the neck organs are compressed. Similarly, we must not forget that similar symptoms may indicate other pathologies (tumor or respiratory disease). At the same time, the presence of osteochondrosis does not exclude tumors or inflammatory processes.
- Visual impairment. Both the vertebral artery and the carotid artery provide blood for the visual organs. Therefore, vision changes caused by this pathology are less common, but they are characteristic of patients with atherosclerotic vascular plaque or hypotension (hypotension). The manifestations may be: "fog" or "fly" flashing in front of the eyes, decreased vision or interference with its adaptation (focusing). At the same time, the symptoms of the disease are unstable and cannot be corrected by optics (glasses, contact lenses) or visual gymnastics.
- Unstable pressure. When the vertebral artery is compressed, it may disturb the blood supply to the vasomotor center. As a result, an increase and insufficient decrease in pressure will be observed. The latter may be accompanied by syncope-fainting conditions.
- Sinkope. Syncope is often observed in the elderly, and the elderly also have atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries. Usually, reflex vasospasm (due to excessive stimulation of nerve endings by herniated or bony processes) causes a sharp decrease in blood flow to the brain. As a result, the brain feels hypoxia-hypoxia-which is the cause of loss of consciousness. Be careful! In this case, the reason that helps fainting is that a person lies on a flat surface with their legs raised. The blood from the veins in the lower half of the body flows in large quantities to the heart and then to the brain, thereby renewing the necessary blood flow. In order to restore life, it is worth using substances with pungent smells, such as ammonia. Sometimes people have speech and/or movement problems after syncope, but due to the short duration of syncope, these symptoms are usually temporary. If the fainting state lasts for more than a few minutes, and you are worried after the headache, and these violations have not disappeared after a few hours, you should suspect a stroke and go to the hospital urgently.
- Temperature rise. This is a very rare symptom of cervical osteochondrosis. This happens when blood flow to the hypothalamus (the brain's temperature regulation center) is impaired. Then, not only can the body temperature be raised, but also the body temperature can be lowered. However, the most common is the local phenomenon-consular hyperemia (redness and warming). Remember, the presence of osteochondrosis does not rule out the increase in body temperature due to inflammation or swelling!
- Static Violation. These are postural curvature, the "alignment" of the cervical curvature of the spine, and the subluxation of the spinal joints. This change will lead to a redistribution of the load, therefore, certain parts of the spine (such as the waist) will become overloaded. This may lead to simultaneous occurrence of osteochondrosis in other parts of the spine.
- Spine stroke. As mentioned above, stage IV cervical osteochondrosis can cause spinal cord stroke (spinal cord injury). This pathology is extremely rare, but it is characterized by danger: usually quadriplegia (arms and legs are completely fixed), limbs are not painful and temperature sensitive, sometimes the eyes recede, the eyelids droop, the pupils become narrow, and the facial sensitivity decreases. In this case, immediate surgical intervention is required.
Prevent disease
To prevent the development and complications of the disease, you need:
- Treat spinal injuries (injuries and dislocations) promptly;
- Correct posture disorder (kyphosis, lordosis, scoliosis), spinal segmental instability, ligament equipment;
- Correct orthopedic problems (horsefoot varus, flat feet), and prefer orthopedic shoes with comfortable high heels or special insoles;
- Reduce overweight to normal levels;
- Balance nutrition by increasing levels of micronutrients, liquids and collagen-containing foods (jelly and bone broth);
- While restricting heavy physical exercise, don’t live for too long a lifestyle;
- Accept annual preventive inspections (especially those in industries where the vibration of machinery, equipment or mobile machinery is increased);
- Athletes, bodybuilders, etc. will not stop training suddenly.
The elderly need to control comorbidities (atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension). At the same time, it is important to eliminate bad habits (drinking and smoking) and avoid stressful situations that cause nervousness.
It is worth remembering that osteochondrosis is a progressive disease and will not go away on its own. The remission period (the period of attenuation of the disease) encouraged many patients, which allowed them to return to their original lifestyle and stop treatment. This in turn will seriously aggravate the consequences of the disease. Therefore, if you find symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis, please consult a neurologist immediately! After all, there is no better treatment than timely treatment!