Lumbar spinal osteochondrosis - a sign, diagnosis and treatment

Lumbar osteochondrosis is a common disease of the musculoskeletal system.Lumbar spine columns are most vulnerable to good mobility injuries.Also, with improper and prolonged chairs in combination with a low lifestyle, wearing accelerated cartilage tissue, eventually leading to osteochondrosis.

You need to know how to recognize the first signs of receiving timely medical treatment.

A brief information on lumbosacral spinal osteochondrosis

Back pain is one of the most common patient complaints with a traumatologist.The second name of the syndrome is the intervertebral disc dorsalgia.According to statistics, an average of 8 out of 10 people throughout their lives at least complained about discomfort in the lumbar zone.About one -third of patients who have seen a doctor, the pain syndrome has a persistent pathological character, causing severe discomfort and a painful condition in the patient.Long back pain can not only cause physical torture, but also cause mental instability.

Because the cartilage loses its strength and elasticity, it begins to gradually become thinner and collapse.As a result, cracks occur in the intervertebral disc.Over time, under pressure, fibrous rings spread, stand out and break.If the contents of the fibrous ring are the pulp core, it comes out, the shape of the hernia.For this reason, osteochondrosis increases the chances of the appearance of great complications.

The cause of the disease occurs

In most cases, osteochondrosis has hereditary nature.It has been proven that if the relatives have a degenerative disease of the musculoskeletal system, their children often face spinal pathology.

Other cases have extrovertebral reasons:

1. Maintain incorrect posture.
2. Excessive muscle overvoltage associated with large physical energy at work or while playing sports.
3. Lifting improper and frequent weight.
4. One of the most common reasons is hypodynamia.Minimal lack of movement and physical activity often causes problems with the spine from playing sports.
5. Previously transferred inflammation - tuberculosis or osteomyelitis, contributing to the manifestation of degenerative processes in the spine.In this case, osteochondrosis will have a contagious nature, and become a complication.
6. Hormone perestroika can trigger lumbosacral sacred osteochondrosis.This phenomenon is more often associated with a certain age period.A frequent example is to enter menopause.When cessation of the monthly cycle, a woman has a decrease in sexual steroid hormones, in which calcium practically stops absorbed by the body.The reserves in the bone are washed intensively.As a result, if you do not place a woman in the GZT, she will obtain not only osteochondrosis from the lower back, but also osteoporosis.The risk of osteochondrosis increases with the use of synthetic glucocorticosteroids.The risk of increasing during puberty with nutritional deficiencies, with tiring physical energy in combination with a harsh diet and when old age occurs.
7. The presence of congenital pathology of the ridge, including the anomaly of tropism.
8. Flat feet and scoliosis.
9. The weak structure of the bone caused by the deficit in the diet or against the amenorrhea background in women.
10. Premature clothing from vertebrates and joints.
11. Hypermobility premorbid mobile spine, which increases the risk of injury.
12. Weak abdominal muscles.
13. The presence of rare pathology, including narrow spinal cord, combination of margins, spondylolist, oncology or spinal tumors, neuromyositis.
14. The presence of endocrine disorders - obesity and hypothyroidism that are not compensated.
15. Previously suffered ridges, ligaments, joints, tendons.
16. Powerful power and frequent psycho stress.
17. Degenerative age changes.

There are also specific risk groups related to dangerous professional activities.Examples are builders, movers, computer scientists, servers, teachers.To minimize the risk of the disease, you need to distribute the load properly and engage in moderate physical activity.

Symptoms of lumbar osteochondrosis

The disease has many symptoms, so separately it is necessary to highlight the classification according to the type of pain:

1. Ischemic syndromeassociated with compression of the artery through the vertebra.As a result, persistent deterioration in blood circulation appears, where nutrition is disrupted in the lower leg.It is possible to increase blood pressure.
2. Vertebrate syndromeassociated with deformation that occurs in the nerves and vessels.With prolonged negative effects, posture changes, back bending, running changes, and muscles without physical activity are atrophy.As a result, the patient begins to experience severe pain.
3. Static syndrome.Pathological mobility develops in the vertebra, which can occur kyphosis or lordosis.During pathological development, the spine gradually deformed, as in addition to curvature in the vertebra, improper muscle setting in the affected area occurs.As a result of static syndrome - the back is twisted, and one can no longer straighten itself.
4. Neurological syndromeassociated with pinching the nerve roots.If pressure occurs in the nerve endings, the patient's sensitivity decreases, the appearance of weakness in the limbs may occur.In severe cases, paralysis, chills and loss of complete conductivity are recorded against the background of damage to the nerve fibers.

The general symptoms of lumbar spinal osteochondrosis include the following manifestations:

1. Strong pain in the lower back, including the entire lumbar region with the possibility of returning to the sacrum.
2. With the development of radicular syndrome, there is a sharp pain that gives the lower limbs.Feet usually catches cramps.In the fingers there is numbness and paresthesia.Less often, the pain gives it to his hands.
3. Kidney disease irradiation is possible.Patients can complain about problems from the urinary system, which is not confirmed during diagnosis.
4. Patients are tortured by nightmares due to discomfort in the lumbar region.
5. Patients feel tension and fatigue in the lumbar region.
6. When turning back and tendency, stiffness and tension are felt.
7. The legs occur on the back regularly.
8. After small physical activity, the patient feels severe fatigue.There is also chronic fatigue in everyday life.
9. With the development of the disease, the patient suffered pain in the lumbar region.
10. The body is often numb, and patients often have pathological problems in the back.
11. Violation of motor function due to discomfort in the lower back.
12. Muscle cramps and cramps.
13. Dizziness and headache.
14. Reduces muscle tone -The back and lower back.

Any similar symptoms require an appeal to the doctor.There are also specific signs related to gender.Men have problems in the field of genitourinary, which can affect their potential.Women suffer from severe pain in the perineum and pelvis, which also shows damage to the nerve endings.In the case of advanced, internal organ prolapse occurs, including the uterus and complement.This is due to the strong atopic processes in the muscles that support the spine.

Varieties of syndrome and symptoms of lumbar spine osteochondrosis

With the type and nature of the pain, the pathological condition shares:

1. Lumbago- It is characterized by acute conditions.The characteristic sign is the inability to move from the pain that occurs to the background of the bastard.This condition develops more often to the background of muscle atrophy, injury, pinching nerve root and intervertebral disc.
2. Lumbalgia- pathology characterized by long pain and pain.More often lumbargia occurs in the background of osteochondrosis, hernia, spondylosis or protrusion.By stretching the ligamentous tool, this syndrome is more common.
3. Sciatica.This type of pain syndrome is a lumbosacral zone characteristic.This syndrome is often confused with ishias, characterized by shooting pain caused by pinching the nerve roots.The pain syndrome is more often associated with pinching the sciatic nerve, which is increasingly worsening the movement in the lumbar region.Patients cannot bend normally, as the movement of the lumbar area worsens.It's also difficult to walk and sit normal.Pining the sciatic nerve leads to unpleasant deterioration - pear -shaped muscle spasms.As a result, one has a shot from back to the calf muscles through the thighs.Answer to the paralyzed, the socks turn to the side, and on the back you feel pain while walking, running and sitting.A comprehensive approach to treatment is required.
4. Discogenic changesis associated with the development of doring.The first sign of such a deterioration is the loss of sensitivity and numbness at the bottom.Back, buttocks, hips and lower abdomen suffer.All of these zones are absorbed by persistent discomfort.With strong deterioration, signs of inflammation occur - increased body temperature, weakness in the body, urinary incontinence appears.Patients also exacerbate appetite, leading to weight loss.In this case, an integrated approach to the treatment of conditions is also required.
5. RadiculopathyIt is also associated with restrictions on spinal motor skills and nerve endings.As a result of the occurrence of this type of pain syndrome, the patient begins to experience pain in the lower body, decrease or violation of motor reflex.There is a deterioration in joint movement and a decrease in muscle tone against the compression background due to radiculitis.

All of the above pain syndrome require immediate treatment, starting in the early stages of manifestation.Indeed, over time, the pathology is aggravated, in which the journey of the disease leads to a strong deterioration in the quality of life.

Lumbar spinal osteochondrosis - developmental stage

The general classification of the disease includes the developmental stage of lumbar osteochondrosis:

1. The first degree does not cause any physiological deterioration from the spine.The patient is feeling well and does not suspect the presence of a problem with the spine.In the early stages, active damage processes arise.The essence of the pulpoose changes its position, gradually absorbing through the fibrous ring microcucco.Earlier in the article it was stated that before the disease occurred, the patient had a violation of the metabolic process, in which the cartilage shell weakened and covered with microcucco.As a result, over time, nerve endings arise, as patients may experience the first signs of discomfort in the lumbar region.
2. The second stage osteochondrosis is characterized by the appearance of the signs of the lumbar region.There is a dynamic shift in the vertebra, compared to the deep and underlying section.Patients have signs of compression syndrome and reflex disorders.
3. In patients, in the incident of 3 stages of pathology, the deterioration associated with highlighting the contents of the fibrous ring has occurred.Propes, prolapses or hernia appear.If the 3rd stage of pathology, the root of the spinal cord and blood vessels are squeezed.At this stage, severe pain associated with pinch and inflammation has occurred.Strong mobility is also limited, the shelter arises at the bottom of the limbs.
4. The terminal level is the fourth.At this stage, unprecedent pathophysiological changes have arisen.Patients have pathology of bone system related to bone vertebral body growth.As a result, the compensation reaction of the reaction - the load is transferred to another vertebrate, weak.Stock, mobility limitations in spinal amplitude.Pathological bone growth presses on the vascular tract and nerve endings, which significantly burden the course of symptom pathology.

Lumbar osteochondrosis - diagnosis

When the patient reached the doctor, he prescribed several laboratory examinations based on the history installed to identify osteochondrosis of the spinal lumbar sacrum:

1. X -ray.This is a basic analysis that allows you to evaluate the condition of the spine in general.X -ray will not show small and early pathological changes, but will identify rough violations in bone tissue.If the image shows the signs -the sign of removing the vertebrate or darkness that does not fit the normal size, another study is required.
2. Calculated tomography.This is a more advanced version of the X -Ray picture, which allows you to see the smallest negative changes in the bone tissue at the site of the destruction, as the pictures are taken in a three -dimensional image.
3. Magnetic resonance tomography.This type of diagnosis is close to CT, but allows you to better consider soft tissue.MRI distinguishes between deterioration of osteochondrosis, including hernia and protrusion.This type of diagnosis is sufficient to make accurate diagnosis related to degenerative destruction of bone tissues.
4. Run a laboratory testBased on biomaterials.Patients often pass blood and urine tests to control basic indicators.This data allows you to evaluate the patient's health status.
5. Delivery of rheumatological samples.It is necessary to analyze to eliminate the pathological rheumatoid properties.

After the required examination and test behavior, they make a final diagnosis.

Lumbar osteochondrosis treatment

In pathological treatment, an integrated approach is required.At stage 1-2, conservative treatment with the use of drugs and physiotherapy during the recovery period is used.With the presence of 3 or 4 stages, if the patient has a serious indicator of health deterioration, surgical intervention is required.

Treatment of a pathological process drug

In the event of damage to the intervertebral disc, which arises against the background of the lumbosacral department osteochondrosis, the use of a broad list of drugs is indicated.Some products work for symptom therapy, others to maintain health.

What medicine is prescribed:

1. Nonsteroidal anti -inflammation, analgesic.These medicines greatly simplify the patient's condition, especially in the acute period.Thanks to the obvious effects of this type of medicine, it may quickly soothe the pain within 1-2 days.Usually, patients are prescribed by NSAIDs type of selective action, as they are less damaging to the mucous membranes of the stomach.If the old NSAID cannot be used for more than 5 days, then the new generation of medicines can be taken for 2-3 weeks without fear of a healthy gastrointestinal tract.In the presence of gastritis or ulcers, it is best to be safe and use gastroprotectors, proton pump inhibitors.
2. Musorelaxants- Drugs designed to eliminate painful muscle cramps.With osteochondrosis, inappropriate distribution of load on muscle corsets associated with spinal weakness occurs.As a result, some muscles are clamped, while others are in the hypotonus.To relieve painful cramps, muscle relaxation is prescribed.The duration of treatment and scheme for taking the pill is selected by the attending physician.
3. Neurotropic vitamins.Meaning includes vitamins of biamin, tiamine, cyanocobalamin and pyridoxine.With the combination of B1, B6 and B12 in large doses, analgesic effects occur.These components have a positive effect on the nerve endings, nourishing them.This vitamin also participates in the construction of myelin shells that cover the nerves.Such medicines are primarily prescribed for radicular syndrome, when it is necessary to relieve pain associated with a pinch of nerves.For 2-3 weeks, the injection agent was used, and then switched to the form of oral release.
4. Chondroprotectors.These drugs have protective properties in relation to cartilage.If there are clear signs of cartilage degeneration, it is necessary to set chondroprotectors with long courses.First, the injection agent is used for 2-3 months, and then switch to tablet.The minimum consumption course is six months with a few months of rest.The current components in the composition are chondroitin sulfate and glucoseamin hydrochloride.Acceptance schemes and doses are individually selected.
5. Calcium in combination with vitamin D3.This component works to strengthen bone tissue.With age, due to bone wear, nutritional deficiency and hormone deficiency, fragile bones are enhanced.The main building material is calcium.Without it, it is impossible to get a strong bone corset.In order for calcium preparations to be absorbed, it is necessary to take vitamin D3.To avoid cholecalciferol deficiency, it is necessary to visit the sun regularly in the summer, and in the winter to take extra vitamins.
6. Complex polyvitamin.There is a research data that continuous vitamin intake in natural or synthetic forms in physiological doses Strengthen immunity during the expansion of SARS season, acute respiratory infections.People with lumbosacral disease should monitor their health carefully.
7. Restrictions with anestheticThey are carried out with poor pain syndrome using NSAIDs.Intra -articular corticosteroids related to blockade are also effective.This means helping to calm the inflammation, which accelerates recovery in the acute period.Restrictions should be performed by highly qualified doctors with extensive experience in their use.It is advisable to carry out restrictions under ultrasound control so as not to enter the other part of the spine.Such treatment methods will help to quickly relieve chronic pain.
8. Special ointment and gel.With the help of local funds, you can also fight moderate and weak chronic pain syndrome.Different products are cooled or heated, which generally enables regular use of external drugs.The use of drugs on the surface of the skin allows you to use it for a long time.Such medicines are practically not absorbed into the systemic blood flow, so they do not cause side effects.It is important to pay attention to the condition of the skin after using the drug.If there is a rash or itching, you should cancel the medicine.

Homeopathy or antispasmodic can also be prescribed.The diagram of the medication is determined by the doctor individually.

Non -conservative treatment methods

During the recovery period, physiotherapy procedures must be used which helps improve blood circulation and normalize the metabolic processes in the affected tissue.Active recovery methods are used exclusively after stopping acute pain.Supports conservative treatment softening the chronic course of the disease, which prevents severe attacks.

Active recovery methods include:

1. Conducting Physiotherapy Physical Education.With the development of lumbar osteochondrosis, special exercises are needed to increase blood flow that is posture and support the muscles in tone.The LFK must initially be conducted under the supervision of an instructor, including safety rules.Exercises are done in a standing position, sitting or lying, depending on the complex provided by the specialist.If the patient is experienced, he or she can perform gymnastics at home.You can't ignore the useful part of the lesson - warm and obstacles.After a good warmth, the muscles are protected from tears and sprains.The last level of implementation speeds up the recovery process in the muscles.With normal exercise, the muscles become strong, as the pain in the back weakens.
2. Massage- How to relax the muscle tissue tense in contact.Experts with the help of hands increase blood flow in the muscles, which allow you to eliminate strong overvoltage.Massage in combination with muscle relaxants is the most effective.These medicines eliminate cramps and frustration.Additional stimulation by hand motivates the effects of the drug.It is recommended to visit a massage therapist several times a year in the course for solid effects.
3. Manual therapy.Using this method of exposure, it is possible not to touch the muscles, not taking into account their resistance levels.Unlike massage, this method is violent, though effective.With neglected lumbar osteochondrosis, it is dangerous to use manual treatment practices if the specialist is not experienced.Before contacting a manual therapist, you should familiarize yourself with a list of contraindications, including hypertension, heart disease and the presence of hernia in the lumbar region.
4. Physiotherapy procedure.With the help of physiotherapy, it is possible to increase local blood flow to the affected area without affecting other zones behind.The essence of physiotherapy is simple: they combine hardware treatment methods and drugs.Examples are electrophoresis.Under the influence of certain frequency lasers, medicines are administered through the skin.More often use vitamin injection of group B. This device allows you to enter the skin for medicines without making a systemic effect on the body.Magnetotherapy and shock wave therapy are also related to physiotherapy methods.The transmitted frequency accelerates the process of regeneration in the joints and ligaments without causing side effects.

As part of complex treatments, acupuncture, hirudotherapy or homeopathy can be prescribed.

When surgical intervention is performed

Operations are required in advanced cases when the patient is tortured by serious neurological syndrome that has arisen the background of lumbar osteochondrosis.If the patient has complications in the form of a hernia, the limbs begin to be taken, and the intestinal or bladder sensitivity is interrupted, it is immediately admitted to the hospital.In this case, the operation is carried out according to the guidance of life.

There are also relative indicators for surgery.Examples are the limbs, persistent discomfort in the back, which is unacceptable to conservative treatment, loss of partial sensitivity in the finger.In this case, you can independently decide surgical treatment.

Lumbar osteochondrosis is a serious pathology that requires an integrated approach to therapy.In the early stages, medicines and physiotherapy are prescribed.If the disease develops rapidly, surgery may be needed.