Osteochondrosis is a degenerative bone condition that most often affects the spine and knees. This mainly causes excruciating pain and movement problems. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a complex treatment.
Osteochondrosis - what is it?
Based on a violation of endocondral ossification. However, this condition is a result of local ischemia of hyaline cartilage in growing bone metaphyses. This condition is often called juvenile osteochondrosis precisely because it develops in the development of the skeletal system.
In patients with osteochondrosis, cartilage tissue is ischemic, depleted, and as a result dies. Cartilage is not mineralized but ossified and then detached from the bone on which it is formed because it is not very strong. Separation of cartilage from bone may be due to mechanical factors.
Osteochondrosis can take many forms, but patients often have:
- Osteochondrosis of the spine, which in most cases involves the lumbar spine or cervix.
- Osteochondrosis of the knee with tibial tuberosity load, which forms the knee joint.
In this article, we will pay special attention to osteochondrosis of the cervical spine (SHO).
Osteochondrosis - causes
Osteochondrosis is a disease, the degenerative-dystrophic causes of which depend mainly on the form of the disease that appears in a particular patient. In the case of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, its development may be the result of a violation of the tension of the structures responsible for the stabilization of the spine. The cause of the disease may also be a gradual loss of cushioning properties of the intervertebral discs. As for knee osteochondrosis, it usually occurs as a result of an avulsion fracture of the tibial tuberosity. This is an overload that comes from an imbalance between the cross section of the muscle, the surface of its attachment, and the forces acting on a very small area, namely the tibial tuberosity.
Characteristics of osteochondrosis of the cervical segment
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine segment differs in manifestations from osteochondrosis of the lumbar and thoracic segments.
The neck region contains many blood vessels and nerves, including the vertebral artery, which enters the spinal canal. Therefore, with osteochondrosis of the cervical segment of the spine, when the vertebrae are displaced, nerve formations appear in the lateral sections (which can irritate the muscles and areas around the ligaments).
When the vertebral artery is constricted due to narrowing of the artery (stenosis), the blood supply to the brain and cerebellum is reduced.
Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis
Symptoms of cervical spine osteochondrosis are caused by the following factors: spinal cord compression (cervical radiculitis), spinal cord compression (myelopathy), spinal cord injury due to circulatory disordersstenosis (narrowing) of arteries and veins.
Radicular syndromes (cervical sciatica)
Symptoms of cervical spine osteochondrosis are accompanied by compression of the nerve roots. The pain can start from the neck to the shoulder and spread to the outer surface of the shoulder, forearm and fingers. May affect the sensitivity of the skin on the forearm, hand and fingers.
Spinal artery syndrome
Headache (paroxysmal, persistent, impulsive, which intensifies when you turn your head), dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus.
SHO treatment
In the acute phase, accompanied by severe pain, local administration of pain relievers and corticosteroids is indicated to relieve muscle tension in the vertebral motor segment and reduce pain.
Combinations of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antispasmodics, analgesics and vitamins are effective.