Most people suffer from cervical osteochondrosis-this is the result of a sedentary lifestyle and an inappropriate back burden.
Cervical chondropathy is a degenerative dystrophic disease of the cervical intervertebral disc. This disease gradually spreads to all the components of the intervertebral disc, and over time, the degenerative dystrophic disease reaches the adjacent vertebrae, intervertebral joints and ligament devices.
Almost half of the adults in the world suffer from cervical osteochondrosis. In daily life, usually neck and joint pain is often referred to as "salt deposition", but this is a fundamentally incorrect definition. That's what people say, and of course, people understand the phrase literally. But in fact, salt is not deposited in the joints (except for diseases such as gout-urate accumulates in the joints).
The treatment of cervical osteochondrosis has not achieved the purpose of "absorption of salt, deposits, etc. ". This erroneous view exists not only among patients, but also among certain doctors who prescribe strict eating habits and often perform X-ray examinations. For osteochondrosis, there is no "salt deposit", but reactive ossification, of course, there is no measure that can lead to "resorption of deposits".
The degree and stage of the disease
Cervical osteochondrosis is a chronic disease with aggravation and remission periods. Such periods have different durations. If it is the first stage of the disease and it is detected early, the disease can be treated quickly.
Degree of disease
| power | The patient’s health, symptoms | which performed |
|---|---|---|
| My degree | Mild cervical spine pain, which may be aggravated by head turning | Neck light muscle tension |
| Level 2 | The pain intensifies when the shoulder or arm returns, and intensifies as the head turns and bends. In terms of happiness, work ability, weakness, and headaches have been reduced. |
Decrease in the height of the intervertebral disc and wrap around the nerve root |
| Level 3 | Continuous pain in the cervical spine, returning to the shoulder or arm. A feeling of numbness or weakness in the arm muscles. Weakness and dizziness in the patient's health | Restricted mobility and pain when pressed on the joints of the neck. Development and formation of herniated disc |
| IV degree | Severe dizziness and tinnitus, impaired coordination due to compression of the vertebral artery supplying the cerebellum and occipital lobe | The intervertebral disc is completely destroyed and has been replaced by connective tissue |
Stages of cervical osteochondrosis
| X-ray inspection table | Stage description |
|---|---|
| The first stage | The cervical spine is curved smoothly, and the vertebral structure has slight changes |
| second stage | There is instability between the vertebrae, it may be that one vertebrae is displaced relative to the other vertebrae, and the height of the intervertebral disc is slightly decreased |
| The third phase | The height of the intervertebral disc is 1/4 lower than the height of the other intervertebral disc, which is higher. Intervertebral joint changes. The appearance of bone growth. Narrowing of the foramen and spinal canal. |
| The fourth stage | The height of the intervertebral disc is greatly reduced. Severe changes in the intervertebral joints. The bones grow very large. The intervertebral foramen and spinal canal are significantly narrowed. |
Causes of cervical osteochondrosis
Cervical osteochondrosis is caused by many factors. Let us list the main ones:
- The presence of scoliosis and improper posture.
- Overweight and obese.
- Leading a sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, sedentary work, low physical activity.
- History of spinal injury.
- Metabolism is interrupted.
- A lot of physical exercise.
- Nerve shock, tension and stress.
- Genetic.
- Continuous back strain during various activities (for drivers, programmers, etc. ).
The influence of these factors increases the load of the cervical spine. Therefore, the compensation of the excessive load of the neck muscles leads to its spasm and impaired blood circulation in this area. As a result, this leads to degenerative changes in the cervical spine.
These factors lead to changes in the cervical intervertebral disc, its structure changes, and its nutrition is destroyed. Changes can also affect the small joints between the vertebrae, which are covered by bone growth.
The main symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis
- Cervical spine pain. The pain may appear in the neck, back of the head, shoulders or arms.
- A feeling of weakness in the hands;
- Decreased hand sensitivity;
- Restricting neck movement, tightening when rotating and tilting the head, bone growth on the vertebral body, lower disc height, and damage to the small joints between the cervical vertebrae;
- When the blood flow in the vertebral artery deteriorates, dizziness, weakness, and lack of coordination will occur, which will cause the blood supply to the cerebellum to decrease;
- In very severe cases, impaired blood supply to the brain can cause tongue numbness, loss of vision and hearing loss.
Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis at home
Conservative treatment
Conservative treatment of cervical osteochondrosis includes treatment plan, drug use, blockade, plastic surgery, physical therapy and hydrotherapy methods.
Treatment should include the following components:
- Ensure that the spine rests and unloads;
- Fight against pain syndrome;
- Fight against muscle contractures and other reflex performance;
- Fights the responsive changes of neurons and other soft tissues around the spine.
Some of these treatments can be done at home.
- It is easy to follow this program at home to ensure complete rest and relief of the cervical spine. The patient should lie on a firm bed, with a small soft pillow under the head, and a small bag of warm sand or a sunken roller under the neck.
- The traction that doctors use for conservative treatment cannot be performed at home, but there is another option-the horizontal bar, which must be suspended several times a day if possible.
- Anesthetic blockers cannot be administered at home, but other analgesics-non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be used to quickly relieve pain. These include effective quick-acting ointments and good anti-inflammatory drugs for oral administration. Therefore, the pain of cervical osteochondrosis can be quickly relieved at home.
attention! All medicines should be taken after consulting a doctor!
- For home treatments, group B vitamins should be taken, and the vitamins do not have to be used in the form of injections or tablets.
Vitamins are found in the following foods (the foods that show the highest vitamin B content):
- Berries and fruits-pineapple, dates, dried apricots, raisins, cranberries;
- Vegetables and herbs-including potatoes, spinach, asparagus, leeks, coriander, peas, garlic, horseradish;
- In all meat products, vitamin B content is high, but the by-products of beef and chicken (kidney, liver, heart, tongue) are particularly useful.
- The content of vitamin B in seafood is also high. Among fish, they are tuna, pink salmon and mackerel. In fish caviar and cod roe are particularly rich. Squid also contains a high proportion of vitamin B;
- The yolk of eggs and quail eggs contains a lot of vitamin B.
- Nuts and seeds also contain a lot of this vitamin-especially pine nuts and sunflower seeds, as well as pistachios, sesame and peanuts.
- Massage and exercise therapy can be used at home. Massage therapists can come to your home for therapeutic massage, or relatives can learn the basic methods of cervical spine massage.
The traditional method of treating cervical osteochondrosis at home
Horseradish leaf hot compress
Horseradish leaves can be used to treat cervical osteochondrosis because they have an anti-inflammatory effect on the joints of the neck when the disease is treated at home.
This process takes place in the form of applied compression.
- It is necessary to put fresh horseradish leaves into boiling water for a few seconds.
- After that, the leaves must be applied to the cervical spine immediately.
- First, you need to put cellophane on, and then cover the compress with a warm scarf or handkerchief.
- It is necessary to keep the compress on the leaves as much as possible, and it is recommended to leave it at night.
Due to the healing properties of the leaf compress, the neck will start to move better, and unpleasant diseases will not affect people's health so strongly. Two large fresh sheets are enough to cover the neck and upper back.
Alcohol compress
Alcohol dressings are often used to treat cervical osteochondrosis at home.
- You need to take 300ml of medical alcohol, 10ml of iodine, 10 tablets of analgesics (powder) and 10ml of camphor alcohol.
- Mix all these ingredients thoroughly and apply on the sore neck area.
Potato and honey compress
- On a grater, grind 1 large raw potato, then add 2 tablespoons of honey to the syrup.
- Spread the produced medicine on the tissue and use it on the cervical spine for two hours.
Pine bud tin
Pine bud is used as a folk remedy to treat the disease.
They should be harvested in early spring. The pine buds should be no larger than 2 cm and no smaller than 1. 5 cm.
- The collected pine buds must be rinsed thoroughly.
- Grind the kidney with a meat grinder, and add sugar to it in a ratio of 2: 1, that is, for the two parts of the kidney, you need to consume a portion of sugar.
- Mix everything and refrigerate for two weeks.
- After two weeks, the product is ready. Three teaspoons a day should be taken for three consecutive weeks.
- You can store pine sprouts in the refrigerator for 1 year.
Herbal tea
For people with cervical osteochondrosis, it is recommended to drink a variety of herbal teas to strengthen the body:
- Chamomile
- With bilberry and birch leaves;
- color
- Calendula and St. John's Wort;
- Rose hips
- With motherwort and horsetail.
Therefore, in the case of using the folk remedies and drugs prescribed by the doctor at the same time, it can speed up the alleviation of cervical osteochondrosis symptoms, reduce the time of exacerbation, and make the relief time longer.