In just 24-36 sessions, depending on the intensity of the treatment and the stages of the disease, you will get rid of the pain associated with osteochondrosis of the chest, you will be able to normalize your sleep and live life to the fullest.
It is important to understand
If chest osteochondrosis is detected, it is necessary to choose a set of individual therapeutic exercises, learn the technique of their implementation and exclude exercises with contraindications.
With this diagnosis, it is important to regularly attend treatment sessions, complete a full course of treatment at a specialized center, and keep your health in a preventive mode in the future.
Osteochondrosis is a very common and serious disease.
Its danger is that it may not manifest itself in the initial stages or may be masked as other pathologies.
This happens especially often with osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine.
In this place, the vertebrae are not so movably connected, so degenerative processes rarely develop here.
But if osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine appears, it causes obvious symptoms and severe pain.
Pathogenesis of osteochondrosis
Recently, osteochondrosis is not only in old people, as it used to be. This pathology is becoming more and more common among young people.
It is related to lifestyle and nutritional characteristics. After all, osteochondrosis occurs due to a violation of metabolic processes and blood circulation.
There can be many reasons for this, but one of the most common is lack of physical activity and sedentary work.
This is a degenerative-dystrophic pathology characterized by gradual destruction of the intervertebral discs. They lose water and nutrients, the cartilage tissue dries up and begins to crack.
Because of this, the disc stops performing its shock absorption functions, the vertebrae move closer together and also begin to collapse.
Such processes rarely develop in the thoracic region, because there is less load on the discs. But various injuries, metabolic disorders and blood circulation can lead to the development of thoracic osteochondrosis.
Moreover, the disease is especially severe in this place. After all, there are many nerve endings that go to the internal organs.
Possible complications
The danger of thoracic osteochondrosis is that it is neglected. Often, there are almost no painful sensations at the first stage, and those that appear can be confused with stomach or heart pain.
Therefore, many patients are unsuccessfully treated for gastritis or angina for a long time until they undergo a complete examination. X-ray of the spine will help determine the narrowing of the intervertebral space and suspect the development of osteochondrosis.
If this is not done and treatment is not started, the disease progresses rapidly. The destruction of cartilage tissue of discs can be stopped only by special methods. The disks themselves are not recoverable. In addition, this process goes faster in the thoracic region, because the blood supply to the tissues is worse here due to the low mobility of the spine.
Therefore, if not treated in time, osteochondrosis can cause serious complications. It can cause the following pathologies:
- protrusion or intervertebral hernia;
- spinal cord compression;
- intercostal neuralgia;
- biliary dyskinesia;
- disorders of the intestines, liver or pancreas;
- heart diseases.
Typical symptoms and signs of thoracic osteochondrosis
Every person who is sensitive to spinal diseases should know how osteochondrosis manifests itself. If you ignore the typical symptoms, you can start treatment in time and stop the development of the pathology.
The main symptom of spinal cord injury is pain associated with physical activity. At the initial stage, they are not strong and appear in the evening, and disappear after rest.
In addition, the pain intensifies with deep breathing, raising your arms, turning your torso, or lifting heavy objects. And it usually starts in one place, only then it spreads to the whole chest.
Due to painful sensations, muscle spasms occur in this place and the patient's movement becomes difficult. Often the pathology is accompanied by intercostal neuralgia.
What can be confused with thoracic osteochondrosis?
This disease can be treated only in the initial stage. But the problem is that it is difficult to diagnose osteochondrosis of the chest in time, its symptoms are often confused with other pathologies.
It is not always accompanied by typical symptoms. Some patients do not experience back pain or intercostal neuralgia.
Sometimes thoracic osteochondrosis manifests itself with atypical symptoms characteristic of other diseases. It is often confused with pathologies of internal organs.
- Basically, its manifestations are similar to angina pectoris. Heart pain, shortness of breath, and inability to raise the arm when breathing intensifies, forcing patients to take heart medications. But there is no relief, and the EKG does not reveal any abnormalities in the work of the heart.
- Sometimes pain similar to the symptoms of stomach ulcer, gastritis or pancreatitis occurs. However, as in these pathologies, they worsen not after eating, but after physical activity.
- Women may feel pain in the mammary glands.
- The localization of the pathology in the upper part of the thoracic region can cause a swelling in the throat and difficulty in swallowing.
Osteochondrosis of the chest can cause nausea, difficulty breathing and even suffocation.
Often there is numbness or tingling in the upper limbs, muscle weakness, inability to raise the arm or move it to the side.
Causes of thoracic osteochondrosis
Often, to accurately diagnose a disease, it is necessary to consider its possible causes. People with genetic predisposition, overweight and bad habits are susceptible to such pathologies.
It is also recommended to examine the spine of patients with various endocrine and metabolic disorders, diseases of the circulatory system, and diabetes.
Osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine occurs most often in people over 45 years old. It is at this time that the metabolic processes slow down, and there is a lack of nutrients in the tissues.
In addition, physical activity decreases, which leads to a weakening of the muscular corset of the spine.
However, there are other causes of osteochondrosis in the thoracic region:
- back injuries, bruises or sprains;
- regular lifting of weights, heavy physical activity;
- rachiocampis;
- sitting for a long time in the wrong position, for example, while working at the computer or driving a car.
What are the degrees of the disease?
Osteochondrosis of the chest is a chronic pathology. It develops very slowly, but it is constantly moving forward.
In order to choose the right treatment methods, doctors distinguish several stages of the disease. They have characteristic symptoms and require a special approach to therapy.
- The first degree of osteochondrosis causes almost no pain. If they occur, it occurs after physical activity.
- In the second stage, the pain is more severe. Indeed, due to the gradual destruction of the disc, the vertebrae come closer to each other, which can cause compression of the nerve roots. In this case, neurological symptoms and signs of dysfunction of internal organs appear.
- Intervertebral hernia often appears in the third stage of osteochondrosis. A ruptured disc puts pressure on blood vessels and nerves, causing severe pain and other health problems. In this place, the mobility of the spine is very limited.
- The last stage of the pathology is characterized by the complete destruction of the disc. Osteophytes appear in the vertebrae, sometimes they are completely fused. Every movement of the patient causes him pain, so the disease at this stage often causes disability.
Why should you see a doctor right away?
Some patients ignore the first signs of the disease. They mistake mild back pain and muscle weakness as overwork. After rest, they continue their normal lifestyle. Because of this, the disease progresses and causes serious complications.
The decrease in the shock absorbing functions of the intervertebral discs causes the curvature of the spine. Thoracic kyphosis usually develops. Because of this, the chest is compressed and breathing is disturbed.
If you do not consult a doctor in time, the intervertebral discs can completely collapse. This will cause the vertebra to come closer and compress the nerve endings. With each movement, the vertebra will begin to collapse due to friction, and the situation will worsen. This can cause damage to the spinal cord and paralysis of the body below the affected vertebrae.
Disease prevention
In order to prevent serious complications of the pathology, it is necessary to consult a doctor in time. The earlier the treatment starts, the greater the chance to completely stop the degenerative processes.
This is best done with the help of kinesiotherapy. At the initial stage of the pathology, as well as during its prevention, this method will help to strengthen the muscle corset of the spine and improve the blood supply to the disc tissue.
In a modern kinesiotherapy center, specialists will help prevent the development of degenerative processes in people prone to them. After all, moderate physical activity is necessary to maintain a healthy spine.
An individually designed daily regimen with special exercises and diet will help avoid disc destruction and complications of this process.
How is the treatment done?
Anamnesis collection - analysis of the disease, limitations and contraindications are determined, explanation of the principles of kinesitherapy, features of the recovery period.
Myofascial diagnosis is a manual diagnostic method in which the doctor evaluates the range of joint movements, determines painful tightness, swelling, hypo or hypertonicity of muscles and other changes.
Functional diagnostics (carried out in the rehabilitation room) - the doctor explains how to perform certain exercises on the equipment and observes: how the patient performs them, what range of motion he can work with, what movements cause pain, what weight the patient can work with, cardio-how the vascular system reacts. vascular system. Problem areas are identified. Data is entered into the card. Accents are set.
Based on the results of the doctor's initial examination and functional diagnosis, an initial individual treatment program is drawn up.
It is advisable to have with you:
- for pain in the spine - MRI or CT (magnetic resonance or computer tomography) of the problem area;
- for joint pain - X-ray;
- in case of accompanying diseases - extracts from the medical history or outpatient card;
- comfortable (sports) clothes and shoes
Lessons with an instructor
At the beginning of the treatment period, the doctor and the patient draw up a treatment plan, which includes the date and time of the treatment session, repeated visits to the doctor (usually 2-3 times a week).
Treatment sessions in the rehabilitation room using simulators and sessions in the gym are the basis of the treatment process.
Rehabilitation simulators, providing an adequate physical activity regime, allow individual muscle groups to be loaded in a precise dose. The treatment program is designed individually by the doctor for each patient, taking into account the characteristics of the body. Supervision is carried out by qualified teachers. At all stages of recovery, it is important to follow the correct movement and breathing technique, know your weight norms when working on sports machines, follow the prescribed treatment regimen and follow the recommendations of specialists.
Joint gymnastics sessions help to restore visual coordination, improve joint mobility and flexibility of the spine and are an excellent preventive system for self-use.
Each treatment cycle consists of 12 sessions. Each lesson is led by a teacher. The duration of one treatment session is from 40 minutes to 1. 5 hours. The instructor designs a program taking into account the accompanying diseases and the patient's condition during the school day. Teaches the technique of performing exercises and monitors their correct execution. A second doctor's consultation is held every 6th lesson, changes and additions are made to the program depending on the dynamics.
How many cycles will it take? - individually for everyone
Important to know:
- How long has this problem been present (stage of the disease)
- How your body prepares for physical activity (gymnastics or any kind of sport).
- what result do you want to achieve?
If the disease is in the initial stage and the body is prepared, one course of treatment is enough. (for example, 20-30-year-old young people engaged in sports. We focus their attention on performing exercises, breathing, stretching techniques, excluding "wrong" movements that are harmful to problem areas. Such patients undergo exercises and receive medical treatment. "care for your body"ability, receive recommendations in case of exacerbation and continue to study independently).