How to get rid of cervical osteochondrosis

Osteochondrosis of the cervical region is a degenerative-dystrophic disease that affects the cartilage tissues of the intervertebral discs, provoking the pathological change in vertebrae. The need for hospitalization occurs only with exacerbation with a sharp deterioration in well -being, usually provoked by paving the vertebral artery with an enthusiastic vertebra.

In most cases, treatment of osteochondrosis is carried out at home. The patient is shown the course of chondroprotectors, massage and physiotherapeutic procedures, compliance with a sparing diet. But the main method of therapy for the disease is daily medical physical education or gymnastics. Patients are also recommended for swimming, yoga, long walks in the fresh air.

Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis

To begin with, let's recall the most common symptoms of osteochondrosis in the cervical region.

• Pain in the neck;
• cramps of the neck muscles;
• headache;
• Cryst when turning or rotating the neck.

In fact, there are a lot of symptoms and this fact once again confirms the seriousness of this disease and the need for a quick response from the patient. Indeed, in the future, the quality of life will only worsen.

Features of the stages of the disease and symptoms

In the process of developing the disease, experts distinguish 4 stages:

• Stage I. At this stage, there is a shift in the intervertebral discs, a violation of their stability. In this case, a person can feel muscle tension in the affected area and slight soreness. Due to weakly expressed symptoms, as a rule, this stage goes almost imperceptibly.
• Stage II. The destruction of the fibrous ring begins, the distance between the vertebrae is reduced. Symptoms - pain localized at certain points and increasing during tilting or turning the head. Also at this stage, increased fatigue may appear.
• Stage III. The fibrous ring is completely destroyed, a hernia forms. The spinal column is deformed, the pain becomes much stronger. To reduce discomfort, a person is forced to limit movements. Explicit signs are frequent dizziness, fatigue.
• Stage IV. This stage is characterized by the complete immobility of the damaged area of the spine. Periodically, the extinction of pain is possible, but subsequently it will necessarily return, intensifying several times.

Diagnosis of the disease

To identify the cause of the pathology, the patient describes the doctor’s unpleasant symptoms of his condition. After hearing the patient, the specialist sends him to one of the following research methods.

1. Radiography.  Currently, this diagnostic method is considered uninformative, especially at the last stages of the development of the disease.  
2. Ultrasound duplex scanning.  This method is used in cases where a specialist involves a violation of blood flow in the arteries that give the brain to food. The study shows the flow rate of blood and determines whether there are obstacles in its path.  
3. CT (computed tomography).  This method is more informative in comparison with radiography, since not only reveals the problem, but also allows you to determine the presence and size of hernias, though with difficulty.  
4. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).  The most informative method for the diagnosis of osteochondrosis, which allows you to make out the bone structures, the presence of hernias, and even the direction of their development.

Methods for the treatment of osteochondrosis at home

Treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine should be complex. Initially, it is necessary to stop pain using ointments, gels, creams, home compresses. In this case, the daily self -massage, gymnastic exercises is also important in this case. In addition, you will need to completely change the lifestyle - to revise the nutritional diet, move more, visit the fresh air, etc.

With accurate compliance with the instructions, careful attitude to the advice of a doctor, the patient achieves good results in a short time. Home treatment pursues certain goals: to save the patient from pain; improve blood supply to the brain; normalize sleep; remove anxiety and irritability; stop numbness of the shoulder zone; Improve the innervation of the cervical spine and neighboring areas.

Therapeutic baths

Another effective way of folk treatment of osteochondrosis of the neck is the adoption of therapeutic baths. This procedure contributes to relaxation, reducing blood pressure, relaxing the spinal column. It is impossible to take baths with oncological pathologies, hypertension, and heart diseases. As the main components, you can use branches of needles, chamomile, dry mustard, birch leaves. Good results are shown by the addition of horse chestnut decoction to the bath.

The following baths will help from osteochondrosis of the cervical department:

1. Dripidar. This method will remove the inflammatory process, provide healing, restoring and absorbing actions. One procedure will require 20-50 ml of pure turpentine.
2. Needles. A good medicine for the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebra. The finished needles extract can be purchased at the pharmacy and add it to the bath.
3. Chamomile. 300 gr. Dry flowers of plants are poured with 5 liters of water. The mixture must be boiled for about 20 minutes, then insist for 20 minutes and filter. Take a chamomile bath for half an hour.

Therapeutic gymnastics for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine

But it is the special therapeutic gymnastics that helps with cervical osteochondrosis. Checked on your own experience. If you want to defeat this unpleasant disease, there is simply no other way. Thanks to gymnastics, the muscles surrounding the cervical spine surrounding, leading to proper support of joints and vertebrae.

With regular implementation, positive changes are observed. The normal patency of blood vessels is restored, which leads to the disappearance of pain, a general improvement in well -being, restoring the normal functioning of the brain, and therefore the psyche. Those who want to get rid of all kinds of mental problems, such as panic attacks, depression, phobias should also not forget about the bodily cause of their ailments. And cervical osteochondrosis is just one of this reason.

Gymnastics confirms the fact that for the normal functioning of the spine it is necessary to strengthen the muscles associated with it. There is dynamic gymnastics, as well as static exercises. Which exercises should be practiced depending on the severity, the features of the disease. But as practice shows to achieve a positive effect, both types need to practice.

Dynamic exercises

Dynamic exercises for the treatment of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine are simple movements and rotation of the head. But this apparent simplicity contains the key to getting rid of cervical osteochondrosis. This practice with regular implementation helps to strengthen muscles, restore cartilage tissue, that is, intervertebral discs. Also, without certain conditions, which we will talk about a little below, the effect of practice will not only be insignificant, but can even be simply harmful.

1. Tilt your head down, lowering the chin to the chest. Raise your head and throw it back.
2. We tilt your head left, right. The ear leans to the shoulder of the same name.
3. Turn without tilt to the right, to the left, holding the neck of the neck vertically. That is, we turn the head to the right and look to our right, also to the left.
4. The rotation of the head clockwise and against the clock. (This exercise is careful, not for everyone).

Often a person simply cannot turn his neck, he says that he is painful or not comfortable. Skripes, crackling are heard in the neck, as if sand is grinding there. But over time, the "sand is smaller", exercises are more easily and easier and after some time a person forgets that there were problems with the neck. Of course, this does not happen immediately. Someone in a few weeks, months, for someone in six months, a year. Yes, there is no other way out. You need to do exercises for a long time and regularly, only then there will be a positive effect over time. In order for the neck to recover time and naive to wait for quick results, there are no miracles. Having removed the pain quickly with pills, you will not get rid of cervical osteochondrosis. To get rid of the disease, you will have to work.

But by applying special conditions, you will like to perform exercises, they will not be a burden to you. Exercises must be performed slowly, connecting awareness. Only in this case there will be a positive effect and you will not harm yourself. You need to start with a dozen repetitions in each direction and do it slowly, carefully without pain and unpleasant sensations. It is important at this time not to be distracted by extraneous thoughts, but to direct all attention to sensations in the body. The neck is relaxed, you feel her muscles, they are not tense. During movement, you feel how the neck stretches, but does not contract. So you turn on awareness and do not injure the neck.

During awareness, you just relax from everyday fuss, since your attention is distracted from fussy thoughts and is at the sensations in the neck. In itself, awareness is capable of miracles of healing. You need to perform exercises sitting on a chair, gradually adding one, two movements per day, bringing to about fifty in each direction. In some cases, when there is no pain, you can increase the pace. Also remember that you do not need to direct all attention to the exercise. So you will not feel your neck and will not get a positive effect. In this case, the number of repetitions should be approximate.

It happens that as a result of the exercise, you lost awareness, violated the principle of caution, non -violence to your body and injured the neck. For example, residual pain appeared. It is necessary to stop performing the complex until the pain passes, and also wait a few days to give the neck to recover. Only after that can you return to practice again. Also, many do not recommend rotating their heads. If you have strong and old osteochondrosis, it is better to exclude the last exercise.

Static exercises

As practice shows successfully treating cervical osteochondrosis can also be static exercises, and often they help even better. People, performing them, also after a few weeks, months, six months, a year got rid of problems such as dizziness, headaches, and mental disorders. Static load is the simplest way to strengthen the neck muscles without movements. Indeed, often with big problems with cervical vertebrae, any movement leads to pain and further trauma. But if you can’t move your neck, you can strengthen the muscles, passively using its weight, and it is done very simple. So, what exercises are useful and effective. They are simple:

We lie down on your back, relax. We raise our head, tearing the back of the head from the floor by about a centimeter. We hold the head on the weight of the neck with the muscles of the neck until obvious fatigue. We only look up. We lower the head. Typically, the first time exposure is a few seconds, over time increases. In any case, time must be selected individually. We do the same by lying on the stomach. Hands together, in front, put our heads on the hands. We tear off the head from the floor. We lower the head. We do the same on the right side and on the left side. To begin with, one repetition is enough, over time, the exercise can be repeated up to 5 times.

It is also important to include awareness here. While holding the head, we direct the attention not to the neck and imagine how it relaxes, even though the muscles are tense. This is very important. When we lower your head, do not rush to perform the following repetition. Lie up for a few seconds, also relaxing the neck, imagining how pleasant energy spreads inside it. The exposure time is first small, a few seconds. Over time, it can increase to a minute and even more. Also, to get rid of cervical osteochondrosis, static exercises are used sitting or standing, when we resting the hand in the head and try to resist this cutter with the muscles of the neck.

So, in order to forget about cervical osteochondrosis and get rid of many unpleasant symptoms that significantly worsen our life, you need to open the neck with dynamic exercises, and strengthen the muscles of the neck with static. To do it regularly for some time. At the same time, do not forget about the relaxation of the neck, awareness, to know the sense of proportion. By training the neck muscles, we reduce the load on sore intervertebral discs, enhance the blood flow, restore their normal work. It must also be remembered that exercises for cervical osteochondrosis are used not only for treatment, but also for prevention.

Effective strength exercises

The well -known Dr. Bubnovsky, who successfully treats osteochondrosis, recommends, with problems in the cervical spine in the spine, to perform such strength exercises that strengthen the neck muscles well, like push -ups on the bars and pulling up on the horizontal bar. He personally says that one who periodically pulls up on the horizontal bar will not hurt cervical osteochondrosis. Of course, strength exercises are not suitable for weakened, elderly, very sick people. But to get rid of cervical osteochondrosis as an additional method, such people can perform them at least in full force, not completely. If you do not have bars, put two chairs together or something else from furniture and work out the neck muscles with small push-ups.

General information

A sedentary lifestyle characteristic of office workers and those who like to relax in front of the TV or behind the monitor screen often cause osteochondrosis. The first signs of this disease can manifest itself at the age of 25 and, if it is not treated, complications can lead to serious consequences.
In the article we will consider what is osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, the main causes of this disease, its symptoms and stages, methods of treatment, as well as answer other questions that occur in patients with osteochondrosis.