We are sure you have read and heard that osteochondrosis of the back often affects bank employees and office workers, programmers and representatives of hard physical work. This is true, but the whole truth is that today it is hardly possible to find at least one type of activity that is not associated with the risk of developing this disease.
Why is she? Lumbar osteochondrosis is a kind of "walking tax", a tribute that each of us must pay to nature. The reason for the degenerative changes in the cartilaginous tissue of the intervertebral disc lies not so much in the increased loads on its pulposus nucleus, but in the features of the blood supply of these structures.
Around the twentieth year of life, the arteries that feed the fibrocartilaginous tissues of IVD in adolescence are gone, and for all the remaining years the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus receive nutrients exclusively through diffusion, and that is not enough! Trace elements, polysaccharides, amino acids and other structural components enter the chondrocytes (cells that synthesize the interstitial substance of the disc) in extremely limited quantities, which creates a fertile ground for the development of dystrophic processes.
During our professional activities, we regularly sow seeds in this fertile soil. We sit in the wrong position, lift weights incorrectly, move a little, and spend a lot of time behind the wheel or behind a computer monitor. All other things being equal, such a form of physical activity "would save us, " but in the conditions of a limited supply of cartilaginous structures in the IVD, degenerative processes inevitably take place.
How is lumbar osteochondrosis manifested?
The first manifestation of osteochondrosis in the lumbar region is pain syndrome. As a rule, for the first time a "lucky man" is struck by a strong pain in the back, which pierces his body with a dagger. The pain occurs after an unintentional twist of the trunk, tilting or after hypothermia. There is no way to endure such pain - it literally knits a person out of the hands of his feet and brings him to bed.
What changes occur in the spine against the background of pain syndrome? To reduce pain, the nervous system sends stimulating signals to the deep back muscles. Strengthening muscle tone helps reduce mobility in the affected segment of the spine, which for some time reduces the severity of the pain. In the future, myofixation ceases to perform a compensatory function and such a tonic muscle imbalance only intensifies the pain.
When examining such a patient, the neuropathologist will detect signs of fixation syndrome, or objective symptoms of the disease - changes in statics and dynamics. By changes in statics in lumbar osteochondrosis, we mean the flattening or intensification of physiological curvature (lordosis) and the appearance of pathological curvature towards pain (scoliosis). Dynamic symptoms of the disease are a sharp restriction of mobility (up to complete immobilization) in the affected segment.
All of these changes can be confirmed using spondylography (X-ray of the spine) and more modern research methods such as computed tomography and MRI. The images also show a decrease in disc height in the clinically significant PDS area, hernia exit, osteophytes.
Lumbar osteochondrosis, treatment
Fixation and pain syndrome in combination with morphological signs in diagnostic images form a complete picture of vertebral syndrome, which is caused by lumbar osteochondrosis. The next question we ask the doctor after the end of the diagnostic phase is how to treat the disease?
Of course, it is not always the disease that needs to be cured, but the patient, but we will not stray from philosophical discussions. And we will solve more pressing problems - we will first have to overcome the pain syndrome. To do this, we need drugs of systemic and local action, such as NSAIDs, corticosteroid hormones, muscle relaxants, and possibly even antidepressants. After the relief of pain syndrome comes the turn of conservative methods of treatment.
If you have been diagnosed with lumbar osteochondrosis, treatment will take time and you should be prepared for it both morally and financially. De facto and de jure, it is impossible to completely overcome the disease, so with a certain frequency you will have to visit doctors by the end of your days.
The treatment algorithm is always individual and developed by the attending physician in the history of the disease, we will list only the possible directions of therapy. Reflexology has a positive effect, among the methods of which acupuncture is in the first place. Some specialists support traction therapy, although other schools of vertebrology deny this technique. It is worth trying massage therapy, you should definitely include back exercises (LFK) in your rehabilitation program, you can also use the help of qualified chiropractors.
In 90 cases out of 100 methods of conservative therapy are enough to control the disease, the remaining ten patients are indicated for surgical treatment. In the absence of absolute indications for surgery (severe spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis), treatment with minimally invasive surgery is possible. If the degree of morphological changes in the spine has reached a critical level, modern methods of disc reconstruction using implants are used.