We are sure that you have read and heard that lumbar osteochondrosis often affects bank employees and office workers, programmers and representatives of heavy physical work. This is true, but the whole truth is that today it is almost impossible to find at least one type of activity that is not associated with the risk of developing this disease.
Why? Lumbar osteochondrosis is a kind of "upright walking tax", a tribute that each of us must pay to nature. The reason for the degenerative changes in the cartilage tissue of the intervertebral disc lies not so much in the increased loads on its nucleus pulposus, but in the peculiarities of the blood supply to these structures.
Towards the twentieth year of life, the arteries that feed the fibrocartilaginous tissues of the IVD in adolescence are obliterated and for all the remaining years the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus receive nutrients exclusively by diffusion, and this is clearly 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, creating a fertile ground for the development of dystrophic processes.
In the course of our professional activities, we regularly sow seeds in this fertile soil. We sit in the wrong position, lift weights incorrectly, move around a bit, 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 do it", but under conditions of limited supply of cartilage structures in the IVD, degenerative processes inevitably develop.
How does lumbar osteochondrosis manifest itself?
The first manifestation of osteochondrosis of the lumbar region is pain syndrome. As a rule, for the first time a "lucky man" is struck by severe pain in the back, which pierces his body with a dagger. Pain occurs after involuntary torsion of the trunk, tilt or after hypothermia. There is no way to endure such pain - he literally knits a person with his hands from his legs and chains 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 pain. In the future, myofixation ceases to perform a compensatory function, and such a muscle-tonic imbalance only intensifies the pain.
During the examination of 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 a flattening or intensification of the physiological curvature (lordosis) and the appearance of a pathological curvature towards pain (scoliosis). Dynamic symptoms of the disease are a sharp limitation of mobility (up to complete immobilization) in the affected segment.
All of these changes can be confirmed using spondylography (x-rays of the spine) and more modern research methods such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The images also show a clinically significant decrease in disc height in the PDS area, hernial protrusion, osteophytes.
Lumbar osteochondrosis, treatment
Fixation and pain syndrome in combination with morphological signs on diagnostic images form a complete picture of the vertebral syndrome, which is caused by lumbar osteochondrosis. The next question we ask the doctor after completing the diagnostic phase is how to treat the disease?
Of course, it is not always the disease that needs to be treated, but the patient, but we will not depart from philosophical discussions. And we will solve more pressing problems: first we will have to overcome the pain syndrome. To do this, we need drugs with systemic and local action, such as NSAIDs, corticosteroid hormones, muscle relaxants and possibly even antidepressants. After the relief of the pain syndrome comes the turn of conservative treatment methods.
If you have been diagnosed with lumbar osteochondrosis, the treatment will be lengthy and you should be prepared for it both morally and financially. In fact and in law, it is impossible to completely overcome the disease, so with some frequency you will have to visit doctors until the end of your days.
The treatment algorithm is always individual, and is developed by the attending physician who knows 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 advocate traction therapy, although other schools of vertebrology deny this technique. Massage therapy is worth trying, you absolutely must include back exercises (LFK) in your rehabilitation program, you can also enlist the help of qualified chiropractors.
In 90 cases out of 100 methods of conservative therapy are sufficient to keep the disease under control, 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.