Due to the relative inactivity and anatomical features, osteochondrosis rarely affects the thoracic region, but this disease cannot be called rare. Therefore, if you experience stiffness and pain in the shoulder blades, it is worth knowing what osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is, its symptoms and methods of treatment.
Indeed, the disease is rarely localized in this part of the spine, but brings unpleasant consequences and sensations no less than damage to the neck and lower back. Its peculiarity can be safely called "cloudiness" of symptoms, in which even an experienced doctor can be confused at the onset of the disease.
What is thoracic osteochondrosis?
Osteochondrosis - degenerative-dystrophic lesions of the discs between the vertebrae and the vertebrae themselves.
As already mentioned, the disease manifests itself much less often in the thoracic region than in the lumbar or cervical region due to such features:
- the thoracic region is inactive;
- it is well fixed by the ribs and the whole of the breast;
- due to kyphosis (i. e. physiological flexion of the spine) in the thoracic region, the vertebrae experience maximum stress in the anterior part, which is more durable.
But, unfortunately, anyone can develop a disease, especially if there are prerequisites for it.
What does an MRI of the thoracic spine show?
Diagnosis of a disease that has formed in the thoracic region should be made comprehensively, and MRI shows the true picture better than most studies.
How is an MRI performed?
Everything is simple and painless - you need to lie on a bench that enters a special spherical chamber and wait for the specified time until the equipment "lights up" the body. It is worth removing all metal objects in advance and warning staff if there are pacemakers, prostheses and other foreign objects in the body.
Usually, osteochondrosis was previously diagnosed exclusively with the help of palpation - they probed the vertebrae, there is pain, which means that osteochondrosis is present. Now doctors supplement their knowledge with special studies, among which the most informative is MRI, which allows to establish degenerative phenomena in the cartilage and vertebrae, to determine the presence of hernias, the peculiarities of their development.
If you're not afraid of confined spaces, you can even take a nap.
<1_img_centerxx>Symptoms of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine
Symptoms of insidious osteochondrosis in the thoracic region can successfully hide for a long time, without manifesting itself and without causing pain or even discomfort. And later, when the damage is already causing obvious manifestations, sometimes it is difficult to determine the source of painful sensations - they can give to the heart, internal organs, legs. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze this issue in detail.
Thus, doctors distinguish several types of symptoms.
Reflexes are directly related to the negative effects of the disease on various receptors.
As a result, the patient feels:
- pain in or just below the shoulder blades, often encircling and squeezing "like a hoop";
- the focus of pain can be localized in different parts of the body - in the breastbone, simulating a heart attack, in the right side, disguising itself as a liver, and even in the lower back, like renal colic, therefore, whenfrom the diagnosis, it is often necessary to undergo a comprehensive examination of the internal organs in order to conclude that there is a problem in the back.
Symptoms of compression appear due to squeezing or stretching of the nerve roots,
as a result, there may be:
- weakness in the legs, they seem to refuse;
- loss of feeling in the limbs;
- numbness in the pinched area, feeling of "goosebumps";
- feeling of coma in the chest;
- the tension of the surrounding muscles, which can be found during the massage;
- deterioration of the work of organs, fortunately, such neglected cases are rare.
Taking into account the peculiarities of the physiology of women, the symptoms of osteochondrosis in the thoracic region are sometimes confused with other diseases.
Often the pain radiates to the mammary glands, which automatically makes a woman think of breast problems.
Drawing, regular pain looks like fibrosis, tumors, and other gland problems, which makes you run to a mammologist for a consultation. And if the doctor, after the tests, examination and mammography, does not find any abnormalities in the structure and function of the mammary glands, then it can be safely assumed that osteochondrosis is present.
Causes of osteochondrosis of the thoracic region
The causes of osteochondrosis for the thoracic region and other regions are the same, but in order for the problem to be located exactly here, clear prerequisites are required:
- curvature of the spine, especially the thoracic region;
- the presence of bad habits;
- wear high-heeled shoes;
- being in an unnatural position for a long time, for example, in front of a computer, a sewing machine, weeding a garden;
- enormous physical activity;
- hereditary predisposition to back diseases;
- pregnancy causing a shift in the center of gravity;
- flat feet and refusal to wear special orthopedic insoles;
- Injury of the spine.
Signs of osteochondrosis of the thoracic region
Signs of osteochondrosis in the chest area are pain, stiffness, muscle tension in this area. As we have already established, a distinction is made between reflex and compression syndromes, the former should be discussed in more detail.
Back pain and back pain
The most obvious reflex syndromes of the disease are back pain and back pain. What is that?
Dorsago - cutting, severe, sharp pain in the spine, as if someone had stuck a knife in the back. Sometimes painful sensations spread to the heart or breastbone.
The sensations are so "rainbow" that the patient is afraid to make the slightest movement and even to breathe deeply. When palpating, you may notice muscle tension near the spine. Most often, an attack occurs after prolonged sitting in an uncomfortable position and a sharp change in it. Due to the severity of the pain and its localization in the chest, back pain is often mistaken for a heart attack, but the removed cardiogram clarifies the picture.
Back pain is a painful pain that manifests itself gradually, covers the thoracic back, chest, it intensifies with movement, especially tilting and rotating the body, even when sneezing or riding bumps.
It is unpleasant that sometimes it is difficult to determine the most painful area - these are the superficial or deep tissues, the back or the chest, which makes it difficult to establish the correct diagnosis.
What is intercostal neuralgia?
Sometimes pain is noticed in the intercostal spaces, then the symptom is called intercostal neuralgia, this symptom characterizes:
- severe pain, covering the intercostal space, sometimes radiating to the lower back, arm or scapula, and it lasts for hours or even days;
- pain when probing the ribs;
- redness or pallor of the skin in the focus of inflammation, a burning sensation, or vice versa, numbness;
- the inability to breathe evenly and deeply - each breath brings torment;
- some muscles in the chest or back contract spontaneously.
How to treat intercostal neuralgia at home
Before treating intercostal neuralgia, you need to correctly determine the diagnosis, since its symptoms are similar to heart disease, and if you start to fight the disease at home with a real myocardial problem, you can have huge problems.
If this is not the first attack and the doctor confirms the diagnosis, you can resort to home treatment methods, the most important of which are:
- bed rest for 2-3 days;
- take a sedative to relieve pain and relieve spasms;
- the use of local analgesics in gels and ointments;
- the use of heating agents - smeared with mustard and pepper;
- restoration of nervous tissue by taking B vitamins;
- fixation of the spine, for this purpose a corset is used which keeps the body in the correct position and reduces the compression of the vertebrae.
Back pain can really be eliminated in a few days, but to avoid relapses you will have to fight the cause itself for several months.
Atypical signs of breast osteochondrosis
In addition to the clinical manifestations, thoracic osteochondrosis can present with completely atypical signs, so easy to confuse with other conditions. Among them:
- imitation of pain in the heart or chest in women, discomfort can torment for weeks, but additional examinations do not reveal problems with the heart and chest;
- localization of pain in the iliac region, as in gastritis or colitis, or on the right side, as in the case of liver dysfunction, the diagnosis is complicated by deterioration of digestion due to a failure in conductionimpulses along the nerves, it is difficult to determine the primacy;
- disturbances in urination and erectile function, which also occur due to a failure in conduction of nerve endings.
But there is a small clue - the aggravation manifests itself closer to the night, increasing every hour after waking up due to pinching of the nerves in the back, and after rest it passes, while labor disturbancesheart or other internal organs are noticeable 24 hours a day.
How to treat osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine?
Treatment of osteochondrosis in the thoracic spine is a long business, moreover, it is impossible to restore the tissues, it will only be possible to slow down the process, prevent it from getting worse. But that does not mean that you can calm down, reconcile and do nothing, realizing the futility of the efforts, because the treatment will give you the opportunity to live and work fully, and although the neglected forms do not inevitably end, they do. will ruin your life considerably.
Medical treatment
At the first symptoms of osteochondrosis, drug therapy involves the use of drugs that eliminate pain, for these purposes it is better to take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
They are prescribed for 1-2 weeks, during which, as a rule, the pain subsides.
You can combine taking pills, capsules or suppositories with local pain relievers or compresses (although they can cause allergies, so before using you should drip on a small area of the skin and wait for ahalf an hour), similar ointments are also suitable.
Sometimes with pains of special strength, anti-inflammatory drugs are powerless, and then pain relievers in the form of a dropper are kept.
In some cases, you need to inject pain relievers down the spine, the procedure is called paravertebral blockage and is done by a doctor in a hospital.
Later, muscle relaxers are used to relax the muscles, diuretics are prescribed for edema around nerve endings, and blood circulation and tissue regeneration restore trophies. In the future, to avoid relapses, you will need to drink chondroprotectors for several months.
Home treatment
At home, you can resort to many non-drug methods of treating osteochondrosis, namely:
- massage;
- Exercise therapy;
- stretching exercises;
- compresses and infusions to normalize the metabolism in the vertebrae.
Regarding the last point, here you can advise such folk remedies:
- rub with calendula tincture, for this take 200 grams of vodka, triple alcohol and camphor alcohol per 100 grams of a flower, insist for 14 days and rub the affected area before going to bed, wrapping it with a warm scarf;
- mix the same amount of orange peels and lemon balm grass and pour a glass of boiling water, leave for an hour, strain, add 1 teaspoon each. tincture of valerian and honey, drink ½ glass twice a day for a month.
Exercises for the thoracic region
It is perhaps the exercises for osteochondrosis in the thoracic region that will be most effective in preventing further complications.
Gymnastics relieves stiffness, relaxes muscles, strengthens them and increases physical activity of a person. Constant and regular training accelerates blood circulation, eliminates inflammation of nerve roots, reduces stress on the spine and this exercise therapy is suitable not only for damage in the chest region, but also for any partof the spine.
But doctors do not recommend using such a set of exercises during times of severe exacerbations, with poor general health, problems with coordination, high blood pressure and arrhythmias.
Before training, it is better to take a shower, stretch your muscles with a massage and warm up.
So, the best exercises:
- take turns raising your shoulders 10 times;
- turn your head to the sides, freezing at extreme points for a few seconds;
- place your hands on your back under the shoulder blades, bend down and freeze for 10 seconds;
- in a standing position, lean to the side, touch the knee with your shoulder, repeat in the other direction;
- lying on the floor, we put a roller under the thoracic region, put our hands behind our head and lift our shoulders, then move the roller a little higher, this movement is intended to stretch this section of the spine;
- lying on the stomach, we raise the chest above the ground, first with our arms extended forward, then with our arms extended to the sides, and finally with those linked at the back in a lock.
Such a load allows you to forget about back problems for many months.
Massage
Massage for osteochondrosis of the thoracic region helps relieve pain, improve blood circulation and lymphatic flow, relieve muscle spasms, improve their tone, and strengthen the trophism of the intervertebral cartilage.
As a rule, the course does not begin immediately on the first day, but after 3-4 days, when the main unpleasant sensations have already disappeared, in rare cases the masseur can help during the period of exacerbation.
The first sessions should be done gently, without excessive pressure on the tissues; skilled hands and special massage machines are suitable as tools. It is not worth performing a massage without the proper experience and education - you can only make the problem worse, so do not skimp on a course from a professional.
Manual therapy
At first glance, manual therapy is similar to massage - the same caresses with the hands, but in reality a chiropractor, unlike a massage therapist, does not work on the muscles and skin, but on the vertebrae themselves, which requires more strength and skill.
It uses percussion techniques, alternating tension and relaxation of muscles, flexion of the spine to eliminate disorders of the structure of the spine, and instrumental methods in the treatment of elderly patients.
A manual therapy professional is able to improve the tone of the back muscles, restore the mobility of the spine, correct its curvature and prolapse of the vertebrae, and improve blood circulation.
Prevention is the best treatment
In order to prevent the occurrence of this unpleasant disease, you will have to make an effort, but it will be worth it. Recommended:
- watch the weight, because the extra pounds put an additional burden on the spine;
- eat well and varied;
- avoid hypothermia of the spine;
- playing sports, especially when sedentary work, swimming is perfect;
- take breaks and warm up at work (some exercises in the above complex will do);
- change your pose when you are in front of the computer or a table for a long time;
- avoid excessive stress on the spine.
Nutritional adjustment
The condition of the joints, blood vessels and bones directly depends on nutrition, and if symptoms of osteochondrosis appear, it is worth correcting them. So, it is worth excluding:
- smoked meats that clog the body;
- fried, causing the appearance of extra pounds;
- soft;
- soda, especially sweet.
Instead, go to:
- boiled meat and broths from pork, chicken and rabbit;
- vegetables;
- green vegetables;
- dairy products, in particular kefir, cheese and cottage cheese;
- boiled fish at least once a week;
- fruit, apples are better.
Correct postures in a dream
Osteochondrosis of the chest dictates its own rules even in a dream, forcing you to choose the most correct postures. You will have to give up your preferred stomach rest - in this position the head is thrown back and the blood vessels are compressed, which impairs blood flow to the brain.
The best poses for the disease are:
- on the side, when all organs and limbs are at rest and not compressed;
- on the back;
- in the fetal position with the legs bent drawn up to the chest, the back muscles relax well.
I note that no less attention should be paid to the bed, it should be with a solid base, a hard orthopedic mattress and a small pillow on which only the head without shoulders is laid, resting at the level of the body. We'll have to say goodbye to our favorite soft mattress and a huge down pillow.
Sitting
Even sitting with chronic osteochondrosis should be okay! Advice to be followed scrupulously:
- avoid upholstered furniture;
- select a chair so that the legs reach the floor, and the depth is 2/3 of the thigh;
- there should be plenty of space under the table when you are seated so that you do not have to bend your legs;
- with prolonged sitting every 10-15 minutes, change positions, warm up, walk;
- make sure the back is resting on the back;
- do not lean forward to avoid muscle tension;
- while driving, place a roller under the lower back to preserve the physiological curvature;
- even while relaxing on a sofa or bed, change your position every hour, relax your back muscles and stretch.
Osteochondrosis is not a fatal disease, but a very unpleasant disease that must be brought under control from the first signs. Now you know what to look for, how to recognize by multiple symptoms, what exercises to do with osteochondrosis and how to overcome it. Dare and be healthy!