Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is asymptomatic as long as the intervertebral discs wear out with their amortization. As soon as their thickness begins to decrease, instability occurs. The body compensates for this by growing osteophytes, as a result, the person feels stiffness in the neck, and over time, other unpleasant symptoms appear that significantly worsen the quality of life. Treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine should be comprehensive.
This means that drug therapy alone (injections, tablets, ointments) is not enough. In addition, it is necessary to do special therapeutic exercises, massage, attend chiropractic courses (leech treatment), and also do elementary exercises at home. In addition to the main treatment, the use of folk remedies is allowed.
Medications
The doctor's priority is to relieve the patient of pain. For these purposes, the whole complex of drugs is used:
- nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- anesthetics and hormones (for blockades);
- muscle relaxants;
- chondroprotectors;
- sedatives and antidepressants;
- B vitamins.
These groups of drugs in the complex play the role of a powerful anesthetic complex for osteochondrosis, and also nourish the intervertebral discs and restore nerves:
- NSAIDs relieve mild to severe inflammation and pain.
- Anesthetics and hormonal agents are injected into the site of pain (paravertebral or vagosympathetic) - the pain syndrome stops immediately. The patient is then placed a neck holder for a while so that he cannot move his head sharply.
- Muscle relaxants are used to relax spasmodic muscles.
- Chondroprotectors improve the nutrition of intervertebral discs. Their admission begins at the same time as NSAIDs. The use of chondroprotectors is usually long and complex. This means that the doctor can prescribe, in addition to external means, oral medications, as well as injections.
- Sedatives and antidepressants help the patient cope with stress, prevent depression, which in turn helps to cope with muscle tension.
- Complex vitamin B preparations. Deficiency of B1, 6 and 12 negatively affects nerve fibers and neuronal conduction. First, the drugs are prescribed in the form of injections in a short course, then they switch to supportive therapy and take tablets.
Note. Most NSAIDs and chondroprotectors come in a variety of forms - tablets, ointments, injections, as well as rectal suppositories (NSAIDs) and patches (NSAIDs).
Therapeutic gymnastics and massage
As soon as the pain syndrome subsides, it is necessary to gradually increase the motor activity of the cervical spine. If the patient has had a blockage, the bandage is removed after approximately one week.
Some doctors believe that it is always necessary to move. When a patient is prescribed bed rest, it is believed that it helps to cope with the disease, but in fact the person gets the opposite effect - on one side of the neck muscle cramps, if no muscle relaxants are used, remain tight, on the other handare their slow weakening (relaxation or loss of tone). As a result, returning to work rhythm, a patient with cervical osteochondrosis in a relatively short time will inevitably face pain, limited mobility and muscle cramps again. If you do physical education in doses and little by little, but constantly, you can achieve pain relief with minimal use of painkillers.
Physicians and chiropractors share the same point of view. Their techniques are based on movement, not lying in bed, which is what 90% of doctors who try to relieve patients with cervical osteochondrosis are in pain.
Exercises for acute pain
This is static gymnastics, in which the cervical spine does not perform any movements. The doctor of physical therapy recommends performing the following 3 exercises against headaches, tinnitus, neck pain:
- Sit in a chair, straighten your back, look straight. Put your hands on top of each other and place them under your chin. Start pressing your chin to your hands, as if you want to lower your head. At this moment, the spine is not affected in any way, but the muscles of the front part of the neck are tense. Press your arms for 3 to 5 seconds, then lower your arms and relax. Repeat several times.
- Continue to sit with your back straight and look ahead. Place the back of your right hand on your cheek. Start by turning your head to the right, while resisting with your hand. The head is motionless. Press for 3 to 5 seconds, then remove your hand and relax. Repeat several times. Repeat exercise no. 2 with the other hand.
- Place the brushes on top of each other on the back of the head. Imagine throwing your head back. Resist with your hands. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds when pressed. Then lower your arms and relax. Repeat several times.
You don't have to put pressure on your hands with all your strength. This will come back - the pain will intensify. All movements are as smooth as possible, slower, without jerks. The number of accesses is 2-3 times a day.
Note. Static exercises are similar to micro-mobility techniques. As a result, the muscles relax, and the pain gradually disappears.
Universal set of exercises for cervical osteochondrosis
Gymnastics can be performed independently, at home, both in remission and in times of deterioration.
The universal complex consists of 6 exercises:
- Stand up straight, feet shoulder-width apart, chest extended. Put your hands on your shoulders. Perform symmetrical circular motions backwards (at least 10 times), then forwards (10 times). The body and neck are immobile. After completing the exercise, lower your arms down and shake off your shoulders, relax.
- Keep standing. Spread your arms out to the sides parallel to the floor, squeezing your arms into fists. Now imagine rocking dumbbells. Bend your elbows and touch your shoulders with your fists at the same time, then straighten up. Repeat 10-15 times. After the exercise, shake your hands off your shoulders and relax.
- Stay in the starting position. The exercise is static. Interlace your fingers and place your palms on your forehead. Start, so to speak, lowering your head forward. Resist with your hands. Hold the pressure position for 3-5 seconds, then relax. The muscles of the back of the neck work.
- Do exercise number 3 from the complex with exacerbation of cervical osteochondrosis.
- From the starting position, without moving the neck, pull the shoulders forward, hold for 3-5 seconds, then straighten and connect the shoulder blades and relax. Repeat several times.
- From the starting position: take a deep breath with your nose - raise your arms to the side and up, lower them in front of you - exhale completely through your mouth. In the acute period, raise your arms low - parallel to the floor.
Note. For complete healing of the cervixosteochondrosisthese exercises are not enough. However, they are suitable for relieving acute pain and restoring spinal mobility.
Micro-movements
A chiropractor has developed a system to help patients with cervical osteochondrosis:
- Sit in a chair and lean back. Now imagine agreeing with someone - shake your head slightly. You can do this as much as you want, until you get bored. As soon as the free minute was given, they sat down and did it. Free charging.
- The starting position is exactly the same as in Exercise 1. Only now do not agree with the interlocutor - barely shaking his head left and right. Do as much as you like. Free charging.
Note. Exercise sets can be combined with each other. This will give a noticeable effect in a short time - the pain will subside.
Massage
It is better to entrust the massage of the cervical spine to a specialist. However, in case of severe pain, if it is possible to lift and put your hands behind your head painlessly, you can try to help yourself. There are many self-massage techniques.
The simplest self-massage is done as follows:
- Sit in a chair. Raise and place your hand behind your head on the opposite side of the pain.
- Start stroking the neck in the area of inflammation. At first you do it gently, almost without pressure. Then increase the intensity slightly.
- Get down to your shoulders. As a rule, when torticollis overtakes, it hurts not only the neck on one side, but also the shoulder. Stretch your shoulder. This must be done actively to warm the muscle cramps, but there should be no severe pain from self-massage.
- Repeat this procedure on the other side of the door. This must be done, because on the one hand the muscles are spasms, on the other hand they are relaxed - it is necessary to even out their tone.
- Place both hands behind your head and place your fingers along your spine (along your spine). Carefully, but actively enough, work through this area. Don't put too much pressure. The neck is the most sensitive part of the spine. One clumsy move can hurt and make the situation worse.
- Apply any anesthetic gel or ointment you have in the medicine cabinet to the heated cervical spine.
Do not use heating ointments for self-massage. The skin on the neck is very delicate, especially in the area of the arteries and in the front part. If the heating mass gets there, you can get burned.
Hirudotherapy
Treatment of osteochondrosis with leeches, especially the cervical spine, is very effective. Hirudotherapy helps:
- reduce pain;
- improve blood circulation in the area affected by leeches - normalize the flow of arterial blood to the brain and venous blood outflow;
- alleviate swelling;
- enhance the effect of drugs;
- improve sleep;
- alleviate psychological stress;
- significantly reduce headaches and dizziness.
Such treatment is not allowed for everyone. Do not forget to undergo a complete examination before treatment with leeches. If there are no contraindications, 7-10 procedures are performed. To consolidate the result in a month, you can consult a chiropractor again.
Folk remedies
Try the following recipes:
- rub the back of the neck with a leaf of Indian onion, cover it with something warm from above and go to bed;
- self-massage with honey - rub the neck and shoulder girdle with honey, then put a towel soaked in warm water, after 10 minutes remove the remnants of honey (if any) and go to bed covered with a blanket;
- bathe in a steam bath, but not during exacerbations, then do a honey massage and drink herbal tea;
- use a needle applicator - place the needle plate in the area of the seventh cervical vertebra, if the sensations are tolerable, then sleep on the needles - in the morning you will notice significant relief.
There are many ways to treat cervical osteochondrosis. In addition to the described, an effective method of therapy is acupuncture, yoga, pilates, fitball exercises. Remember, self-medication is dangerous. Make an appointment with your doctor and have a complete examination. The specialist will individually choose the treatment and say which exercises can be done and which cannot, whether self-massage is possible, whether leeches will help, or maybe recommend one of the methods of alternative medicine, for example, bee stings.