Osteochondrosis does not cause pain, but at the same time pain is possible with osteochondrosis. A strange, at first glance, situation. But, after reading this article, you will become a real expert not only on this question, but also on: What is osteochondrosis? what are the reasons? What are the symptoms and signs? How to diagnose osteochondrosis? What effective treatment is there? What is involved in the prevention of this disease? And on many other issues.
What is osteochondrosis?
To understand what osteochondrosis is, you need to dive a little into history. The term was introduced by Christian Georg Schmorl in 1928. But the interesting thing is that Schmorl was a pathologist and, as you understand, he had no one to ask: "Where does it hurt? ""(sorry for the black humor). During the study of pathological material, Schmorl discovered previously unknown changes at the junction of bone and cartilage, especially in the area of the spinal discs. After these changes were described, it remained only to come up with a name for them. did, he took the Latin word "bone" / os and the Greek word "cartilage" / chondros and, combining them, got the term osteochondrosis.
What is osteochondrosis, what exactly did Schmorl call this word? It turns out that it is not pain at all and, in general, it is not a sensation. With the word osteochondrosis, Schmorl designated the following three changes:
- reduced intervertebral disc height;
- subchondral sclerosis;
- marginal bone growths.
Translated into ordinary language, this means that the height of the disc has decreased, and the surface of the vertebrae next to the disc has become denser and has grown in the shape of a rim. This is what osteochondrosis is in its original meaning, which was introduced into it by Christian Georg Schmorl.
Osteochondrosis disease
Once again, let's pay attention to the fact that Schmorl did not describe the disease of osteochondrosis, but only tissue changes, which are different things. The term "disease" is much broader, including complaints, symptoms, laboratory and radiological changes, methods of treatment and prevention.
But Schmorl did not write about anything like that and generally did not consider osteochondrosis a disease. But then why is it common 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 established that osteochondrosis itself does not directly cause pain or 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.
Another important discovery is that osteochondrosis is part of a general degenerative process that covers all our organs and tissues. Dystrophy is a violation of tissue nutrition at the cellular level, it lasts a lifetime 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 surrounding 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 occurs in parallel with osteochondrosis and is painful. Now, remember, at the beginning of the article we said that osteochondrosis itself does not cause pain, but pain is possible? So, exactly these cases, when painful pathology is added to painless osteochondrosis - the same myofascial syndrome - perfectly explain the meaning of what was said.
You wonder, where is the answer to the question, why is it common to say that osteochondrosis is a disease? Well, actually, we've already approached it. The fact is that, although osteochondrosis itself is not actually a disease, but as a starting point in the study of degenerative processes, the word "osteochondrosis" has become so rooted in our language that over time it has become a jargon generalizing name for all spine diseases.
Causes of osteochondrosis
The reasons can be divided into external and internal.
Internal (endogenous) causes include, first of all, the degenerative process discussed above. This includes genetic predisposition, as well as hormonal, mineral, vitamin, protein and other metabolic disorders, due to which bone and cartilage tissue do not receive the necessary nutrition. These are all so-called biological factors that can, of course, be influenced, but it is quite difficult and expensive. Despite this, there are simple and inexpensive ways that allow you to achieve no less convincing results by removing only external causes.
External (exogenous) reasons 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 bending over, "sitting" work, constant stressful situations, lack of preventive visits to chiropractors and much more.
As you can see, external reasons are largely caused either by our wrong actions, for example, low physical activity, or by our inaction and neglect of health, for example, ignoring prevention.
You agree, external causes are much easier to eliminate than internal ones. Of course, there are patients who cannot do without drug treatment due to internal causes, but they are few. In most cases, it is enough to get rid of the external causes of osteochondrosis in order to get convincing results at lower costs. This will require some self-discipline, basic physical activity and periodic visits to the chiropractor.
Symptoms and signs of osteochondrosis
Symptoms and signs are usually 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 depends here 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 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/vertebral
- 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 reduced mobility.
Radicular symptoms are caused by affecting the nerves that exit 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 mark. So, we can talk about radicular symptoms only when all these symptoms and signs clearly indicate a certain "root", and not when any "bulldozer" pain is called radicular.
Very rare, but dangerous signs and symptoms of osteochondrosis are paresis, paralysis and disorder of the pelvic organs. They indicate the development of a spinal stroke. This is a serious complication of osteochondrosis, in which the radicular arteries are affected.
Reflex symptoms primarily depend 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 the neck, nape and collarbone. Vertebrae crunching, muscle tension and difficulty moving. Headache. Vertigo. Intracranial pressure. Morning stiffness. Numbness, pins and needles, goosebumps and weakness in the arms. Pain in the shoulders and under the shoulder blade. Burning between the shoulder blades and in the region of the heart (reminiscent of angina). Numbness in 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 surge. State before fainting. Lump in the throat with osteochondrosis, weakening of the voice, hoarseness, feeling of shortness of breath, problems with swallowing and sore throat with osteochondrosis - these are all quite common reflex symptoms. Sleep disorders, frequent insomnia and feeling tired in the morning can also occur. General weakness. Irritability. Fatigue quickly.
As you can see, the symptoms and signs of the disease with osteochondrosis are very diverse. This is especially true of 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 establishing a diagnosis remains the clinical diagnosis. Then an experienced doctor compares data from at least three sources: the patient's complaints, the results of the magnetic resonance imaging and the symptoms observed during the examination.
This approach to diagnostics allows you to make an accurate diagnosis and develop an individual program of effective treatment.
Effective treatment of osteochondrosis
Effective treatment of osteochondrosis is possible only with strict adherence to a scientific approach. This means that it is necessary to set priorities correctly, first of all, in choosing the main and auxiliary types of treatment for 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". Consequently, 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 drugs, physiotherapy, massage, exercise, etc. And it is important to know that among all types of manual treatment, gentle manual therapy is the safest. In terms of its effectiveness, gentleness and safety, it is superior to conventional manual therapy. To understand what is involved in treating osteochondrosis with a chiropractor, you need to know that the intervertebral discs are the only part of the body that does not have blood vessels and is nourished by the proper functioning of the spinal muscles. A failure in the functioning of these muscles immediately impairs the nutrition of the discs. And as we said at the beginning of the article, malnutrition is a very degenerative process, part of which is osteochondrosis.
Effective treatment with gentle manual therapy differs significantly from conventional manual therapy. This is not "displacing the vertebrae" at all, as some people think - it is something else entirely. Gentle manual therapy is a whole system of special influence methods that eliminate spasms and muscle tension. Return the muscles to their normal physiology and improve the nutrition of the discs.
Medical observation includes three phases:
- Consultations. The doctor finds out which symptoms are bothering the patient, clarifies the medical history, studies the patient's medical documentation, analyzes the images and determines the nature of the disease.
- Diagnostics. Performs a detailed examination and clinical examination of the patient: visual and myofascial diagnostics; palpation of tense muscles and painful vertebrae; neurological examination of reflexes and muscle testing.
- Treatment plan. Based on the anamnesis of the current illness, examination data, as well as the results of the patient's clinical examination, the doctor makes a diagnosis and chooses 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 overloading. Follow proper diet and weight. But the main thing is not to neglect your health.
Remember, prevention is primarily medical supervision 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 eliminate all violations in a timely manner. Advanced osteochondrosis leads to complications - protrusion and disc herniation. Don't forget this. Take care of yourself!