Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis and methods of its treatment at home

Back pain and neck pain are one of the most common unpleasant symptoms that almost all modern people have encountered at least once.

While anterior osteochondrosis was considered an age-related disease, today it is increasingly diagnosed in young people. This is due to a sedentary lifestyle and a habit of bending over while doing sedentary work.

It is important to identify the disease in time, since it is much easier to treat cervical osteochondrosis at the initial stage of its development than in advanced cases.

Manifestations and causes of the disease

The manifestations of the disease develop gradually. Their intensity increases as the condition of the spine worsens. At first, they may only bother a person occasionally, but over time they become permanent.

The main symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis:

• pain that worsens when turning and tilting the head;
• neck crunch;
• headache;
• decreased visual acuity;
• Stiffness and muscle tension in the affected area.

With exacerbation of osteochondrosis, a person complains of:

• throbbing pain;
• dizziness;
• engraving;
• increased neck muscle tone.

Depending on the vertebra involved in the pathological process, pain and sensory disturbances can affect different areas of the body. They can pass to the shoulder girdle, be felt in the thoracic back, and appear on the muscles of the arms and even the fingers. Many patients want to know if cervical osteochondrosis can be cured forever. There can be no definitive answer here, as it all depends on the stage of the disease and the degree of degenerative changes. But it is possible to alleviate the condition during an exacerbation and prevent deterioration of health. And folk remedies will help here.

Reasons for the development of osteochondrosis:

• the habit of bending over while walking;
• incorrect body position when reading books, working on a computer;
• injuries and injuries of the spine;
• insufficiently active lifestyle;
• strenuous physical activity;
• using excessively soft mattresses and pillows during rest;
• long-term weight bearing;
• flat feet;
• metabolic disorders in the body;
• vitamin and mineral deficiency;
scoliosis
• ;
• obesity;
• genetic predisposition;
• pregnancy.

When choosing treatment options for cervical osteochondrosis, you should consider the severity of the symptoms. Before starting therapy, you should definitely contact a neurologist to make an accurate diagnosis and agree on a treatment plan. In some situations, only folk remedies can be removed, and sometimes they must be used in combination with conventional therapy.

Treatment with ointments and balms

When applied externally, traditional medicine should reduce pain and inflammation and help normalize muscle movements. Ointments and balms should be used in conjunction with other methods of treatment, since osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is quite difficult to cure only with their help. Rather, they are means of ambulance and express therapy.

Here are some easy to use recipes:

1. Garlic and ginger ointment.In equal amounts, combine the garlic porridge and the chopped fresh ginger root. For plasticity, add a little olive or sesame oil to this mass. Apply the composition to the neck before going to bed. It is recommended to repeat the procedure every day until the unpleasant symptoms disappear. Leave the ointment for exposure for 30 minutes, after which it should be washed off with lukewarm water.
2. Bay leaf ointment.In 60 ml of melted butter, add 5 g of crushed juniper leaves and 6 tbsp. dry pounded bay leaf. This ointment should be used to rub the painful neck area in the morning and evening.
3. Sage ointment.You have to melt 3 tablespoons in a double boiler. l. Vaseline and add 2 tbsp. l. chopped sage herb, 2 tbsp. l. plantain leaves, ¼ cup vegetable oil. It is recommended to rub the neck with an ointment three times a day, after which the treated area should be isolated with a woolen scarf for several hours.

Using compresses

For many back problems, outpatient treatments provide significant relief to the patient. They must act quickly, as it is desirable to cure osteochondrosis of the neck as quickly as possible in order to avoid complications. Homemade compresses relieve pain and restore normal mobility to stiff muscles. They can also have a warming effect, so that the active substances can enter the bloodstream more quickly.

At home you can use the following recipes:

1. Burdock compress.2 tbsp. soup. l. crushed dried leaves of a plant, you need to pour 400 ml of boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. After the effort, a bandage soaked in a warm solution should be applied to the painful area, covered with cellophane, cotton and woolen fabric. The procedure takes 15 minutes. After that, the bandage should be removed and a warm scarf wrapped around the neck to keep warm.
2. Compress with eucalyptus and honey.30 g of eucalyptus leaves should be finely chopped and filled with 400 ml of boiling water. Cook them over low heat for 5 minutes. After cooling, add honey (5: 1) to the filtered solution. This solution should be used for compresses every day before bedtime. Leave it on for therapeutic effects for 30 minutes.
3. Horseradish compress.The fresh leaves of the plant should be soaked in boiling water for a few minutes to soften them. When hot, they should be applied to the neck and covered with plastic wrap and a warm cloth on top. The procedure is best performed before bedtime, leaving the leaves on the skin overnight. In the morning, they should be removed, washed off with warm water and lubricated with baby cream to protect them from drying out.
4. Compress with mustard and aloe.In equal proportions you need to take and thoroughly mix aloe juice, dry mustard and vodka. In the resulting solution, you need to moisten the gauze, fix it on the neck and insulate this place with plastic film and a woolen scarf. Allow the compress to warm up overnight.

For maximum effect, compresses for cervical osteochondrosis should be combined with other methods of treatment - decoctions, ointments and baths. With an integrated approach, the unpleasant symptoms will go away very quickly and will not remember themselves for a long time.

Internal products

In case of exacerbation of this disease, decoctions, alcohol tinctures and water infusions should be used to relieve swelling and have an anti-inflammatory effect. Since the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis with folk remedies should be complex, they should be used in conjunction with external rubbing and compresses. It is also important during an exacerbation to minimize stress on the cervical region, to sleep on your back or on your side on an orthopedic pillow and hard mattress.

For internal use, you can prepare the following traditional medicine:

1. Cedar Tincture.A half-liter jar should be filled with crushed, unpeeled pine nuts. From above they should be poured with vodka so that it covers the nuts with a layer of 5 cm. The product should be infused for 7 days in a cool, dark place. After that, the tincture should be filtered and taken 15 ml three times a day.
2. Decoction of St. John's Wort and fragrant steel.These components should be mixed in the same amount, 2 tbsp. l. the resulting collection pour 400 ml of boiling water. The mixture should be cooked over low heat for 15 minutes, after which it should be infused for 1 hour in a warm place. It is recommended to take the broth three times a day, 200 ml before meals.
3. Collection of herbs.It is necessary to mix the bark of goat willow, buckthorn grass and birch leaves in a ratio of 5: 1: 4. Pour 30 g of this mixture into 500 ml of boiling waterand keep it on low heat for 10 minutes. After complete cooling, the broth should be filtered and drunk in a glass in the morning and evening before meals.

Alternative help

Osteochondrosis is a chronic disease with prolonged progression. It is important to understand this, because the treatment of the cervical spine sometimes takes a long time. The main task during an exacerbation is to relieve the patient's condition. In many cases, this can be done without medication, using traditional methods.

Conifer baths help reduce pain. Put 1 kg of needles and coniferous branches (pine, spruce, juniper) in an enamel saucepan, fill them with water to the top and boil over low heat until the volume of waterbe reduced by half. After that, the broth should be infused for 12 hours in a warm place. 1, 5 liters of the resulting filtered coniferous infusion should be added to the general bath. Its temperature should not be hot (about 37 ° C), since osteochondrosis of the cervical spine can be treated only with moderately warm solutions. Water that is too hot can make the pain worse.

After consulting a neurologist, in the absence of contraindications, you can perform light gymnastics to eliminate discomfort in the neck. The head should be tilted slightly down and forward, then left and right. You can put your hands on the back of your head and try to move your head in that direction with resistance. The same should be done on the side of the forehead. Such a simple treatment of cervical osteochondrosis at home normalizes muscle tone and relieves spasms. Over time, this gymnastics should take about 15 minutes per day. The movements should be gentle, they should not be performed with force or if they cause severe pain.