What is lumbar spine osteochondrosis? How is lumbar osteochondrosis treated? And is it true that osteochondrosis is not treated at all?
Based on incident statistics, the number of cases does not decrease every year. Intervertebral osteochondrosis affects young and old organisms. How to treat lumbar spine osteochondrosis, and the main symptoms of lumbar osteochondrosis, will be explained in detail by a neuropathologist or osteopath.
Osteochondrosis is a fairly common disease. Malaise refers to deformity of the vertebrae and decreased elasticity of the intervertebral disc due to lack of cellular nutrients.
The lumbar spine suffers for a reason. Located at the bottom of the spinal chamber, the spine takes on maximum load. During weight lifting, all the forces acting on the body are filled with the thinning of the intervertebral space and this causes compression of the nerve roots. From here, signs of lumbar osteochondrosis begin to appear.
Reason
Every disease has a predisposing factor that acts negatively on the body. Osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine also has its own causes. Doctors do not exclude the cause, the transmission of the disease at the genetic level. It is believed that if parents have a problem with malnutrition on the intervertebral disc, then there is a high probability that this problem will not overtake children. One of the most popular reasons is hard physical labor. During weight lifting, most of the load leads to the lumbosacral spine.
Obesity is the cause of the same disease. Excess weight accumulated in the body puts pressure on the spinal space and causes pain. It seems that poor posture will not cause anything serious, but this is also one of the reasons for the use of intervertebral discs, which turn into osteochondrosis. Back injuries are important. Congestion, or the lifting of heavy objects by poorly trained athletes, or inappropriate loads are also affected.
The cause of poor nutrition in disc cells is an inactive lifestyle.
To maintain good health, one needs a moderate load. Limited or completely absent physical activity causes a decrease in blood circulation. As a result, the back muscles, without receiving the necessary nutrients, weaken, and the load on the lumbar spine increases. Also, over the years, the spine becomes immobile as in adolescence, the elasticity of the intervertebral disc decreases, which causes the disease.
Infectious diseases, or inflammation that affects bones or joints, cause changes in the structure of the vertebrae. Congenital malformations in the skeleton, or deviations in the development of the musculoskeletal system. Flat legs, leading to destruction of spinal segments, due to lack of shock absorption in the limbs. A large number of loads fall not on the legs, but on the lower back, causing segment deformation. A common cause of various diseases is stress. Thus, lumbar osteochondrosis and its symptoms are no exception. Strong nerve shock, can serve as an impetus to pinch the nerve endings, and cause pain attacks. More often, stress is the cause of osteochondrosis in women, they are more emotionally prone than men.
Symptoms
In the early stages of the disease, doctors rarely make a diagnosis. Therefore, it is difficult to identify the main symptoms of lumbar spine osteochondrosis. Manifestations of this disease occur gradually.
Since the main manifestation is back pain, there is a division of pain into 3 groups, which in turn characterizes the symptoms and signs of back pain.
- Lumbago- paroxysmal pain that occurs in response to sudden movements, or weight gain. While trying to take a different position, the pain becomes stronger, all the way to the lumbago.
- Lumbodynia- pain increases and becomes normal. Muscle fibers and intervertebral cartilage are affected. Lumbodynia is a consequence of lumbago.
- Lumboishalgia- a painful, cold or hot sensation in the lumbar region and lower limbs. They arise in response to pinching of the spinal cord roots.
The second most important symptom in diagnosing a disease is the limitation of physical activity due to the painful sensation. While trying to do a job or do a habit for yourself, a person experiences increased pain, which can affect the entire leg. Even in a sitting position, the patient experiences a tingling sensation from the lower back to the feet.
Equally important is the decrease in temperature and discoloration of the skin, it becomes dry and pale. Numbness, weakness of the muscles of the lower legs, indicates the development of the disease. The most severe phenomenon, shown in the last stage of lumbar spine osteochondrosis, is pelvic organ dysfunction. Persistent debilitating pain is accompanied by stool and urinary incontinence, or, conversely, excretory delay.
During the diagnosis of the disease, there are four stages of osteochondrosis of the lumbosacral spine. For each stage, the symptoms of lumbar spine osteochondrosis are characteristic, to which pain in the sacrum is added.
In the process of disease progression, osteochondrosis can go down to the last spine, the tailbone. This disease is called sacral spine osteochondrosis. There is severe paroxysmal pain in the coccyx area. Women suffer the most in this case. The anatomical structure of their bodies, and the age-related changes in them, contribute to the development of intervertebral osteochondrosis. Osteochondrosis in women is often complicated by other internal diseases.
Symptoms of lumbosacral osteochondrosis have several differences from lumbar osteochondrosis.
Symptoms are expressed in pelvic organ dysfunction, which complicates the selection of the right treatment, and the diagnosis of the cause of the disease.
Symptoms such as frequent urination, urination and fecal incontinence appear. If the diagnosis is incorrect, complications will arise.
Level of disease
Treatment of lumbar osteochondrosis also varies with the degree of the disease.
- The first, and it is the early stages of the disease, characterized by manifestations of pain in the lower back - lumbago, muscle spasms, swelling of the skin on the skin. Level
- Second, starting with lumbodynia. The pain becomes regular and more intense than in the early stages. In the spinal joints, unusual movements may appear, which increase pain. Pain is felt along the sciatic nerve. Less commonly, the function of internal organs may be disrupted.
- The third stageis characterized by the appearance of an intervertebral hernia. Spinal deformity, curvature can be left or right, this is scoliosis, front - lordosis, back - kyphosis. Because of this, a person is tormented by constant sharp pain. Level
- Fourth, the most difficult. Because of the severe pain, the patient's movements are difficult to perform. Without starting treatment on time, a person may become permanently disabled.
Complications
The most common complication is dysfunction of the genitourinary system. Along with incontinence, urine and stool, inflammation occurs in the urinary tract, and in the rectum. With more pronounced vertebral lesions, irritation occurs in the direction of the sciatic nerve, and its inflammation. The protrusion of the intervertebral disc is a very dangerous complication. Prognosis is a borderline condition of the intervertebral disc, which can lead to further complications if treatment is not started in a timely manner. It occurs due to degenerative changes in the spinal cord.
The result of protrusion is a herniated disc. Which is manifested by the deformation, and the rupture of the intervertebral disc membrane.
Constant compression of nerve roots and spine causes complications such as sciatica.
Complete blockage of the spinal canal may occur. Due to instability in the lumbosacral region, men experience congestion in the small pelvis, which causes impotence. In women, this leads to inflammatory diseases of the uterus, ovaries and appendicitis. From the side of the kidney, this is renal colic, which cannot be removed until osteochondrosis of the lower back is treated. Paralysis of the lower limbs, which can confine a person to a wheelchair. Timely diagnosis and timely treatment of lumbar spine osteochondrosis helps prevent these complications and prevent deformities.
Treatment
Let's analyze lumbar osteochondrosis, its symptoms and treatment. In this modern age, medicine is capable of achieving the recovery of a person suffering from osteochondrosis. Treatment of lumbosacral spinal osteochondrosis takes a long time. A sick person, who is having intervertebral osteochondrosis for the first time, will still wonder if it is possible to cure osteochondrosis, and how to get rid of it forever?
What to do? Is osteochondrosis of the lower spine treated? First you need to completely change your lifestyle. Make certain conclusions. You need to move towards a cherished healing goal every day without interruption. With lumbar spine osteochondrosis, the treatment of complex diseases is very important. Treatment of lumbosacral osteochondrosis involves several methods.
Conservative
Conservative treatment, based on massage techniques, which, if done correctly, can relieve muscle spasms and improve muscle fiber nutrition. By increasing trophism, the back muscle corset is strengthened. Posture takes the right position, which determines the appearance of various problems on the spine. Physical therapy for lumbar osteochondrosis is very useful, but you need to exercise during the remission period, between exacerbations. Involved in the acute period of the disease, you can only aggravate the condition and endanger your health.
Manual therapy also refers to conservative treatment. It should be done by specially trained professionals in this technique. Thanks to this therapy, the spine can be returned to the desired position. This is sometimes the most effective method. It is necessary to carry out such a procedure in the subacute period.
Eating a diet, obese people, living a healthy lifestyle and adhering to a healthy diet will not hurt anyone. And people with such diseases will only benefit. Since being overweight, this is one of the causes of the appearance of osteochondrosis. Physical therapy is equally effective method of treatment. Magnetotherapy, UHF is capable of performing long-term treatment, improving blood circulation in areas affected by lumbar osteochondrosis. They also have vasodilating and analgesic effects.
Types of drug treatment. How to cure osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine with medication? What is the treatment, all these questions are very interesting for sick people. Treatment is divided into two types. In the first case, in the acute period of intervertebral osteochondrosis, the drug aims to relieve pain and inflammation. Means are used that release the pinched spinal nerve roots. These include muscle relaxation, glucocorticosteroids, restrictions, NSAIDs. For the second period, between exacerbations, the drug is used to improve blood circulation, restore muscle and nerve fibers, damaged body tissues. For this purpose, vitamins and preparations of plants and animals are used.
To improve blood circulation, vascular preparations are used, as well as heating and anesthetic ointments.
Operational
Neurosurgeons perform microsurgical and endoscopic operations on the spinal space.
This method is more common and is removed when other treatments fail.
When the therapeutic effect of the drug has not been achieved, and complications such as a hernia appear, surgery to remove the affected disc is indicated.
Disease Prevention
Prevention of lumbar spine osteochondrosis consists of eliminating the risk factors that lead to the disease. In order not to think about how to cure lumbar osteochondrosis, you need to prevent it. Eliminating the cause is a major preventative measure.
Normalized physical activity, strengthening the back muscles, preventing maximum load on the lumbar spine, preventing the development of diseases leading to osteochondrosis, all of these are preventive measures to prevent the symptoms of lumbosacral osteochondrosis. By adhering to these simple principles, you will maintain good health and prolong life. However, without attention to treatment and prevention, you may not return to a full life.