Radiculitis - the most common cause of back pain

Osteochondrosis and radiculitis are the most common causes of back pain, affecting millions of people around the world.

Physicians have long been called osteochondrosis illness of the century, affecting people of all ages, even adolescents. According to WHO, osteochondrosis is one of the five diseases most often leading to disability.

Causes and types of sciatica ^

The most common causes of sciatica are inactive lifestyles and lack of physical activity, or, conversely, excessive physical exertion, often resulting in injury.

When there are no loads, the cartilage tissue of the vertebrae does not receive nutrients, it dries up, often forming osteophytes - spine outgrowths in the form of spines and needles. When excessive loads, often there are hernias of the vertebrae, ruptures of ligaments and subluxations of the spine.

Very often, the primary cause is hard physical work, in which you have to bend a lot and unbend, do sharp movements and lift weights. An important role is played by genetic predisposition and metabolic disorders. The cause of radiculitis often becomes and untreated osteochondrosis.

Depending on the location, the following types of radiculitis are distinguished:

• cervical,
• thoracic,
• lumbar,
• lumbosacral.

Breast Radiculitis: Symptoms and Diagnosis

With thoracic radiculitis, pain occurs between the ribs, intensifying with movement and inspiration, so sometimes it is mistakenly confused with diseases of the liver and digestive organs.

If the upper segments of the thoracic spine are injured( at the Th4 level), the patient experiences a symptom such as dysphagia( impaired swallowing function).The patient feels a lump or foreign body in the throat, swallows food with difficulty, often regurgitates, therefore treats similar symptoms to the gastroenterologist, although the cause of the violation of peristalsis of the esophagus is the compression of the vertebral nerves.

With the localization of thoracic radiculitis in the Th5 - Th9 segments, the nerve fibers from these segments are directed to the stomach, gallbladder and duodenum, resulting in pain in the right upper quadrant, nausea, heartburn and other gastric problems.

Compression of rootlets at the Th3-Th4 level often causes chest pain, similar to angina attacks, although the ECG does not show signs of ischemic disease. In such cases, a study of the spine or MRI is recommended, so as not to waste a lot of time and effort on an unsuccessful fight with a non-existent ischemic heart disease.

Cervical radiculitis: symptoms, causes

Cervical radiculitis is a lesion of the roots of the spinal nerves of the cervical spine.

In 95% of cases, it is caused by osteochondrosis or a hernia of the intervertebral disc, which strongly compresses the nerve root and leads to an excessive strain of the neck muscles and even to the curvature of the cervical vertebrae.

Symptoms of cervical radiculitis:

• severe pain in the neck and shoulders, intensifying with coughing and tilting the head and often giving up to the head, arm and even the heart area;
• numbness, tingling, burning sensation in the skin of the hand;
• dizziness;
• loss of sensitivity and atrophy of the hand;
• hearing impairment;
• sometimes the patient becomes staggering gait.

Lumbar sciatica

Lumbar radiculitis is most common, as this part of the spine most often experiences the most severe stress.

Lumbosacral sciatica

For lumbosacral radiculitis, severe pains in the back are characteristic that are transmitted to one or both legs along the sciatic nerve and worsen during walking and inclinations, sometimes the disappearance of sensitivity in the hands and feet.

Acute sciatica attack: first aid ^

Unfortunately, very often sciatica takes a chronic course, exacerbated several times a year, especially in the fall. With chronic radiculitis, there is a constant stiffness of the person's movements in making torso and turns of the trunk, fear of sudden movements, as well as pain when pressing the inflamed area.

An awkward movement, weight lifting, hypothermia or excessive physical exertion on the spine can at any time provoke an acute attack of radiculitis.

In acute attacks of sciatica, severe pain in the lower back arises immediately after careless movement or lifting of the weight, sweeps into the lower back and legs, intensifying with movement and coughing. Often a person from pain can not bend and straighten.

If an acute attack of radiculitis occurs, the patient should be immediately put in bed to ensure peace, that is, the immobility of the lumbar region:

• . The bed does not have to be rigid so as not to cause additional pain, but it must be non-bending at the same time.
• Ideal option is an orthopedic bed, but it is possible under a soft mattress to lay a hard shield.
• The patient needs to be given a comfortable pose, it's best to lie on your back, bending your knees and placing a small pillow under your waist.

At home, a well-tried folk treatment for radiculitis is very good - salt compress on the waist:

• Dissolve 100 g of table salt or sea salt in 1 liter of hot water, soak a small towel or folded gauze in the solution and apply to the sore spot for the wholenight without polyethylene.
• If you do such procedures for 10 consecutive days, the pain completely recedes.

For the treatment of acute pain, as a rule, physicians use the following treatment measures:

• anti-inflammatory drugs,
• physiotherapy,
• novocain blockades,
• various warming ointments,
• acupuncture.

To ensure the immobility of the vertebrae in the acute period, doctors recommend moving with crutches to reduce stress and accelerate recovery. Treatment should be timely and comprehensive - just dulling the pain does not make sense, soon the disease will manifest itself again and can acquire a complicated chronic course.

With the timely treatment of radiculitis pain completely passes in 2-3 weeks. Later, after the acute pain subsides, all the efforts of the patient should be directed to the prevention of exacerbation of radiculitis.

Preventing exacerbation of sciatica ^

To avoid frequent exacerbations of sciatica, doctors advise adhering to the following simple rules:

• In the autumn-winter period, wear fur and wool belts to avoid supercooling of the back and waist.

• Choose a comfortable pillow that should not be lush, but not too hard and flat. Ideal position for sleep, when the body and head are on the same axis. If the neck strongly bends, then not only a bad dream is likely, but also headaches and fatigue.

• Keep track of your weight, because overweight and obesity creates an additional strain on the spine and joints.

• Observe the correct posture when working and lifting weights. Try not to stay long in the same position, change your position or activity every 30-40 minutes, walk around, make several inclinations with your body and head.

• If you are going to pick up something heavy, do not do it by jerk - bend your knees slightly, as if going to sit down, bend over and lift the load, using the strength of the arms and legs, not your back.

• Do not carry weights in one hand, distribute the load evenly on both hands and avoid sudden movements when lifting and wearing heavy objects.

• For the prevention of sciatica and osteochondrosis, therapeutic gymnastics, walking, swimming, as well as vises on the horizontal bar are very useful, which stretch the spine well and strengthen the muscles and spine. Classes with weights and bars are possible only after consulting a doctor.

If possible, be sure to be like a massage to a good specialist, because therapeutic massage with radiculitis is considered one of the most effective ways of preventing exacerbations and repeated relapses, well strengthens muscle tone and improves blood supply to the back and waist.

Therapeutic massage, conducted by a competent specialist, very often helps a patient after the first session feel relief and quickly get back on their feet.