One of the most common diseases these days is osteochondrosis, which is expressed in degenerative-dystrophic damage to the tissues of the spine. Osteochondrosis affects the intervertebral discs, articular surfaces, ligamentous apparatus of the spine. As a rule, people over 30 years old are affected by this disease, but its first symptoms may appear as early as adolescence. First of all, in osteochondrosis, pathological processes affect the ligaments and bones, after which sensory disturbances and muscle atrophies appear.
Osteochondrosis disease develops in three stages:
1) Dehydration of the pulpous nucleus, resulting in a change in height (lowering) of the disc and the occurrence of a crack in the fibrous ring, which leads to intervertebral hernias.
2) As a result of displacement of the disks to the bottom, instability of the vertebral-motor segment is formed.
3) Due to the fact that the body is struggling with strong mobility of the vertebrae, bone growths appear. As a result of changes in the structure of intervertebral discs, a spinal curvature occurs.
Osteochondrosis - causes
Osteochondrosis is divided into three types:
- cervical;
- chest;
- lumbar.
Each of the types can develop as a result of a huge number of factors. Most experts in this field are inclined to believe that the main cause of osteochondrosis is a metabolic disorder, as well as the natural aging process.
Among the huge number of risk factors that lead to the development of this disease, the main ones are:
- The disease is obesity, as a result of which the mechanical load on the spine as a whole increases significantly.
- A metabolic disorder, the main reason for which is smoking, which also leads to a violation of the recovery processes in the human body.
- As a result of excessive physical exertion, a strong dynamic and static load on the spine occurs.
- In most cases, the formation of pathological curvatures of the spine, which lead to osteochondrosis, is the result of incorrect posture.
- A sedentary, sedentary lifestyle reduces the tone of the muscles that maintain the correct shape of the spine, and also significantly increases the static load on the spine.
Osteochondrosis - Symptoms
The main insidiousness of this disease is that osteochondrosis does not hurt and its main symptoms can go unnoticed, but its complications and very much worry people with this ailment, namely arthritis, radiculitis, protuzin, lumbalgin, intervertebral hernias, processes of change in long-term organs. Therefore, the signs of osteochondrosis can be divided into the main symptoms of the disease and related complications.
The main symptoms of purely osteochondrosis:
- change in posture
- poor mobility in the spine
- crunch in the spine.
The main complaint of people suffering from any type of osteochondrosis is back pain, fatigue, headaches.
Osteochondrosis - diagnosis
Since the disease of osteochondrosis is characterized by a very slow development, then for any suspicion of this disease, a wide range of diagnostic tests is carried out, which includes taking an anamnesis, neurological examination and x-ray studies, which are a rather informative method for diagnosing osteochondrosis.
X-ray diagnostics is divided into such types as
- Spinal radiography
- CT scan
- nuclear magnetic resonance
- Myelography.
Osteochondrosis - treatment and prevention.
Treatment of the disease osteochondrosis is a rather complex and lengthy process. Osteochondrosis is almost impossible to cure, but with well-planned treatment, it is possible to effectively slow down the development of the disease and prevent the occurrence of serious complications of the disease.
Treatment of osteochondrosis is a multi-stage process, which includes:
- Symptomatic treatment (relief of pain).
- Restoration of blood circulation with the help of medications.
- Restoration of cartilage.
- Vitamin and mineral therapy.
Quite often, in the treatment of osteochondrosis, the complex can be used effective drugs and alternative medicine methods.
In the case of the formation of a spinal hernia during the course of the disease, severe deformation of the spinal column, surgical treatment of osteochondrosis is usually used.
As shown by numerous studies, the disease osteochondrosis is a problem in 75% of the world's population. But if you take the preventive recommendations of specialists seriously, then osteochondrosis will bypass you.
For prevention, the most effective will be:
- Maintaining an active lifestyle.
- Maintaining the spine a large amount of time in its natural form.
- Support metabolic processes around the spine, doing gymnastics,
swimming, regular warm-ups of the back muscles.
Compliance with preventive recommendations and timely referral to specialists for prompt and effective treatment of osteochondrosis allows you to avoid or stop the process of osteochondrosis disease.
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