Osteochondrosis does not cause pain, but at the same time pain is possible with osteochondrosis. A strange situation at first glance. But after reading this article, you will become a real expert not only on this issue, but also on the question: What is osteochondrosis? What are the reasons? What are the symptoms and signs? How to diagnose osteochondrosis? What effective treatment is there? What does the prevention of this disease include? And also on many other issues.
What is osteochondrosis?
To understand what osteochondrosis is, you need to dive a little into history. The term was coined in 1928 by Christian Georg Schmorl. But the curious thing is that Schmorl was a pathologist and, as you understand, there was no one to ask: "Where does it hurt? " (sorry for the dark humor). During his studies of the pathological material, Schmorl discovered previously unknown changes at the junction of bones and cartilage, in particular in the region of the spinal discs. Once these changes were described, all that remained was to come up with a name for them. To do this, he took the Latin word "bone" / os and the Greek word "cartilage" / chondros and combined them he got the term osteochondrosis.
What is osteochondrosis, how exactly did Schmorl call this word? It turns out that this is not pain at all and is not a feeling at all. With the word osteochondrosis, Schmorl designates the following three changes:
- reduced intervertebral disc height;
- subchondral sclerosis;
- marginal bony processes.
Translated into ordinary language, this means that the height of the disc has decreased, and the surface of the vertebra adjacent to the disc has become denser and grown in the form of a ridge. This is what osteochondrosis is in its original sense, which Christian Georg Schmorl puts into it.
Disease osteochondrosis
Let us again pay attention that Schmorl does not describe the disease osteochondrosis, but only tissue changes, and these are different things. The concept of "disease" is much broader, it includes complaints, symptoms, laboratory and X-ray changes, methods of treatment and prevention.
But Schmorl does not write about anything like that and generally does not consider osteochondrosis a disease. But why then is it customary to say that osteochondrosis is a disease, to be interested in the causes of its occurrence, signs, symptoms and treatment of osteochondrosis?
But the fact is that Schmorl had a following. Therefore, they decided to find out how osteochondrosis manifests itself and what symptoms bother a person? As a result, it was found that osteochondrosis itself does not directly cause pain, as well as other sensations. This is explained by the fact that there are no pain receptors in the vertebrae and discs. And since there are no receptors, there can be no pain. This is easy to understand with the example of hair and nails - there are also no receptors or pain when they are cut.
The second important discovery is that osteochondrosis is part of a general degenerative process that covers all our organs and tissues. Dystrophy is a disorder of tissue nutrition at the cellular level, lasts throughout life and gradually ages our body. That is, osteochondrosis is essentially part of the aging process. But, as you know, details matter. And the details are that not all degenerative processes are as painless as osteochondrosis. In particular, dystrophic pathology of the muscles around the spine is almost always associated with pain. After all, muscles, unlike vertebrae and discs, have pain receptors. A typical example is myofascial syndrome. It usually appears in parallel with osteochondrosis and is painful. Now, remember that at the beginning of the article we said that osteochondrosis itself does not cause pain, but pain is possible? So, precisely these cases, when a painful pathology is added to the painless osteochondrosis - the same myofascial syndrome - fully explain the meaning of what was said.
You may ask where is the answer to the question why is it accepted to say that osteochondrosis is a disease? Well, we've actually already gotten close to it. The fact is that although osteochondrosis itself is not actually a disease, but a starting point in the study of degenerative processes, the word "osteochondrosis" has taken root in our language so much that over time it has become a slang catch-all name for alldiseases of the spine.
Causes of osteochondrosis
The reasons can be divided into external and internal.
Internal (endogenous) causes primarily include the degenerative process we discussed above. This also includes genetic predisposition, as well as hormonal, mineral, vitamin, protein and other metabolic disorders, as a result of which bone and cartilage tissue do not receive the necessary nutrition. All these are the so-called biological factors, which, of course, can be influenced, but this is quite difficult and expensive. However, there are simple and inexpensive ways that allow you to achieve no less convincing results by eliminating only external causes.
External (exogenous) causes are considered a sedentary lifestyle, poor training of the muscles of the spinal corset, microtraumas of the back and spine, insufficient physical activity, the habit of slouching, "sedentary" work, constant stressful situations, lack of preventive visits tochiropractor and much more.
As you can see, external causes are largely due to either our incorrect actions, for example low physical activity, or our inaction and neglect of our health, for example, neglecting prevention.
Agree, external causes are much easier to eliminate than internal ones. Of course, there are patients who cannot do without drug treatment for internal reasons, but there are only a few of them. In most cases, it is enough to get rid of the external causes of osteochondrosis to get convincing results at lower costs. This will require a little self-discipline, basic physical activity and periodic visits to the chiropractor.
Symptoms and signs of osteochondrosis
Symptoms and signs are generally divided into those that develop within the spine itself and those that are extravertebral in nature.
What do you think are the symptoms of osteochondrosis that cause more problems? In fact, a lot here depends not only on the symptoms themselves, but also on other factors: age, weight, presence of concomitant diseases in the patient, etc.
But, let's return to the symptoms of vertebral osteochondrosis: as we said, they are vertebral, they are also called vertebral and extravertebral - extravertebral. Extravertebral symptoms, in turn, are also divided into two groups - reflex and radicular symptoms of osteochondrosis.
For simplicity, this classification of back symptoms is best represented as follows:
- Vertebrates/Vertebrates
- Extravertebral/extravertebral: radicular symptoms and reflex symptoms
Spinal symptoms of osteochondrosis include curvature of the spine (not to be confused with scoliosis), local pain, muscle tension and impaired mobility.
Radicular symptoms occur due to impact on the nerves exiting the spine. This is manifested by reduced reflexes, muscle weakness, impaired sensitivity and radicular pain.
And here it is necessary to explain that all our vertebrae, discs and "roots" have a certain designation. Therefore, we can speak of radicular symptoms only when all these symptoms and signs clearly indicate a specific "root", and not when every pain "from"bulldozer" is called radicular.
Very rare but dangerous signs and symptoms of osteochondrosis are paresis, paralysis and pelvic organ dysfunction. They indicate the development of a spinal stroke. This is a serious complication of osteochondrosis in which the radicular arteries are affected.
Reflex symptoms depend primarily on which part of the spine is affected. According to statistics, the cervical spine is most often affected.
The essence of cervical osteochondrosis is a large number of reflex symptoms. Pain in neck, back of head and collar area. Creaking of the vertebrae, muscle tension and difficulty moving. Headache. dizzinessIntracranial pressure. Morning stiffness. Numbness, tingling, goosebumps and weakness in the hands. Pain in the shoulders and under the shoulder blade. Burning between the shoulder blades and in the region of the heart (resembling angina). Numbness of the hands or fingers. A "lump" in the area of the seventh cervical vertebra. Temporary darkening or "floating" in the eyes. Noise or ringing in the ears. Nausea, even vomiting. Pressure jumps. State before fainting. Lump in the throat in osteochondrosis, weakening of the voice, hoarseness, feeling of lack of air, swallowing problemsand sore throat in osteochondrosis - all these are quite common reflex symptoms. There may also be sleep disturbances, frequent insomnia and feeling tired in the morning. General weakness. irritability. Rapid fatigue.
As you can see, the symptoms and signs of the disease with osteochondrosis are very diverse. This is especially true for reflex symptoms.
Diagnosis of osteochondrosis
Diagnosis is the key to proper treatment. Modern hardware diagnostic methods allow accurate confirmation of this diagnosis. As you know, MRI and CT are considered the most accurate examinations. But, as before, the main factor in making the diagnosis remains the clinical diagnosis. This is when an experienced doctor compares data from at least three sources: the patient's complaints, the results of the MRI and the symptoms identified during the examination.
This approach to diagnostics allows you to establish an accurate diagnosis and develop an individual program for effective treatment.
Effective treatment of osteochondrosis
Effective treatment of osteochondrosis is possible only with strict adherence to the scientific approach. This means that correct prioritization is necessary first of all when choosing the main and auxiliary types of treatment of vertebral osteochondrosis.
What do you think is the most important treatment? You don't have to be a doctor to answer this question. You can just follow the logic. Osteochondrosis is a pathology of the musculoskeletal system. This system is biomechanical in nature. The key word is "mechanical". Therefore, mechanical disorders require the same - mechanical - methods of treatment. Therefore, the main type of treatment for osteochondrosis is manual therapy. It is ideal for restoring the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system. And auxiliary methods include medications, physiotherapy, massage, therapeutic gymnastics, etc. And it is also important to know that among all types of manual therapy, the safest type is gentle manual therapy. It is superior to conventional manual therapy in terms of effectiveness, gentleness and safety. To understand whatincludes the treatment of osteochondrosis by a chiropractor, you should know that the intervertebral discs are the only part of the body that does not have blood vessels and is nourished thanks to the proper functioning of the spinal muscles. The failure of these muscles to function immediately disrupts the nutrition of the discs. And as we saidat the beginning of the article, malnutrition is the degenerative process itself, of which osteochondrosis is a part.
Effective treatment with gentle manual therapy is fundamentally different from conventional manual therapy. This is not at all "adjustment of the vertebrae", as some people think - it is something completely different. Gentle manual therapy is a whole system of special methods of influence that eliminate muscle spasms and tension. Return the muscles to their normal physiology and improve nutritionon the discs.
Observation by a doctor includes three stages:
- Consultation. The doctor finds out what symptoms the patient is worried about, clarifies the medical history, studies the patient's medical documentation, analyzes images and determines the nature of the disease.
- Diagnosis. Conducts a thorough examination and clinical examination of the patient: visual and myofascial diagnostics; palpation of tense muscles and painful vertebrae; neurological reflex test and muscle test.
- Treatment plan. Based on the history of the current illness, examination data, as well as the results of the patient's clinical examination, the doctor makes a diagnosis and selects treatment options. The doctor tells the patient in detail about the essence of the disease and the principles of treatment and answers all the patient's questions.
Prevention of osteochondrosis
Prevention is necessary to avoid relapses. To do this, you need to create comfortable conditions for work and rest. Maintain physical activity. Avoid overwork. Monitor proper nutrition and weight. But the most important thing is not to neglect your health.
Remember that prevention is primarily medical monitoring and timely correction of the musculoskeletal system. Try to see a chiropractor at least once every three to six months. This will reduce risk factors and promptly eliminate all violations. Advanced osteochondrosis leads to complications - protrusions and disc herniations. Don't forget this. Beware!