Intervertebral hernia: symptoms, diagnosis, treatment

Increasingly in the modern world, people complain of back pain. If your work is connected with lifting weights or if it is sedentary, or spend a lot of time driving, then you are in a risk zone. Most often, this way of life leads to a disease such as a herniated intervertebral disc. They can occur both in the lumbar region, and in the thoracic or cervical.

Our spine is a chain of vertebrae, interconnected by articular processes, and intervertebral soft discs located between them, consisting of fibrous rings and a gelatinous nucleus. Due to the elasticity of the discs and their ability to "spring", we can easily bend and change the position of the body. All this is fastened by a powerful muscular framework that fixes the vertebrae. The spine is permeated with spinal nerves coming from the spinal cord and passing between the vertebrae. The muscular framework, preventing the movement of the intervertebral discs away from the center, protects the fine bundles of nerve fibers from damage to the vertebrae.

However, there are situations in which the muscle skeleton can not cope with the task assigned to it, and then the spinal disc "drops out" of the general chain. Among such situations we can distinguish:

- Strong compression loads, i.e. Weight lifting. This can be a lifting of men of great weight, and the wearing of heavy bags by women. It should be remembered that you can not lift heavy things by bending your back. It is necessary to sit down, take a load and go up with a straight back. So you reduce the load on the spine dozens of times. Moreover, a strong compression load on the spine is created when wearing high-heeled shoes;

- Prolonged compression load on the spine. For example, the lumbar section is subjected to an additional load, when a person constantly sits, especially if it is sitting behind the wheel. After all, in this case it is supplemented also by the movements of the body up and down;

- turns of the upper part of the body to the sides, especially sharp ones. At a young age, the muscular framework is strong, and at such bends, the muscles tense, holding the vertebrae away from the displacement. But with age, the fibers in the muscles are less and so there is a risk of getting intervertebral hernias with a sharp movement of the body. It should be remembered that in the cervical region the vertebrae are more mobile, and even slight sharp turns of the neck are capable of knocking out a disk here;

When the intervertebral disc jumps out of the vertebrae, it bursts and spreads. And when, after a certain time, the disk hardens, it begins to pose a significant threat to nerve fibers. The frozen mass of the bursting disc not only constantly touches the nerve fibers, traumatizing them and causing severe pain, but is capable of cutting nerves, which can lead to paresis. If the protrusion of the hernia occurred in the spinal canal, then it can damage the spinal cord and lead to paralysis.

Intervertebral hernia: symptoms

Among the symptoms of this disease, you should especially highlight the sharp pain in the region of the shifted vertebra. Often, patients complain of tingling, numbness in the hands or feet. On which part of the spine has suffered, the symptoms are somewhat different.

Lumbar intervertebral hernia: symptoms

There is pain in the lumbar region, as well as along the entire length of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the largest in our body. It transmits signals from the spine to the muscles of the thighs and legs, ensuring the sensitivity of these parts of the body and their correct movement. Accordingly, if the displacement of the vertebra in the lumbosacral region clamped the roots of the sciatic nerve, there are severe pains on its course, sensitivity is impaired, and paresis occurs.

Pain can be irradiated into separate areas through which the sciatic nerve passes, for example, into the lower leg, the popliteal region. Most often, patients complain of pain in the lumbosacral, gluteal regions, as well as the back of the thigh. There are complaints about pain in the foot.

There is a violation of the sensitivity of individual zones, for example, a toe or a small portion of the thigh. Sometimes there is a complete loss of it or distortion in the form of severe burning or cold, tingling.

Parezy are small paralyzes. Especially they are affected by feet, fingers on the feet. The patient can not climb to the toe of the foot, but in the prone position it is unable to pull on the foot. The fingers on the paresis-damaged foot do not move well. Violated the functions of the pelvic organs - incontinence (perhaps, partial) of urine, feces, sometimes loss of potency.

The thoracic intervertebral hernia differs from the lumbar. Symptoms of this disease - it's pain on a stretch from the waist to the neck. Symptoms: pronounced intercostal neuralgia, dizziness, tingling or numbness of the upper limbs, especially the hands and fingers, their pareses. Often pain can be given to internal organs and create the illusion of pain of the pancreas, gallbladder, heart. With herniation of the thoracic vertebrae, it is difficult to take a deep breath, the chest is squeezed, and when inhaled, the pain in the hernia increases. In severe cases, there are paresis of the legs and paralysis.

And, finally, the most dangerous of all is the cervical intervertebral hernia. Symptoms of a herniated disc of the cervical region are pain in the neck, dizziness, nausea. The patient can not freely turn his neck, his movements are chained. There are sharp pains in the region of the shoulder girdle, giving in hands. There may be pain in the face, similar to inflammation of the trigeminal nerve. Also there are light paresis of the hands and their fingers, numbness or changes in the sensitivity of the shoulder girdle and upper limbs. With the increase in the disease, not only the hands but also the legs and feet are exposed to paresis. There are problems in the work of the pelvic organs. The danger of this hernia is that it can lead to paralysis of the entire body.

If you have a herniated intervertebral disc, treatment can not be started without going through the necessary examinations: MRI (preferably) and a computer tomograph.

Treatment

At the first stage of the disease, the following types of treatment are used:

- Physiotherapeutic procedures: electrophoresis, laser, magnet, etc. They go well in combination with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These types of treatment procedures are aimed at removing the inflammation of the trapped nerve fibers and tissues around. Often the pain in the area of the herniated intervertebral disc is aggravated from the swelling of the tissues of the affected area, which presses on the nerve fibers. Removing the inflammation, we eliminate the swelling. The nerve is released and the pain goes away.

But the massage and the Novocaine blockade are aimed at relieving muscle spasm in the affected area. Spasmodic muscles increase the pain syndrome and do not allow the disk to return to its place if the displacement was not strong.

Massage should be gentle, without sudden movements. In no case can not be in this state to apply manual therapy. Sharp jerks are more likely to knock out a displaced disc or provoke its rupture.

Novokainovye blockades are the introduction of injections of this medication into the affected area. Hypertension of muscles under the influence of an anesthetic gradually goes away. This procedure is usually 5-6 days. But it is worth bearing in mind that novocaine is a strong allergen. Therefore, those people who are predisposed to allergies should be extremely cautious in the use of this drug. On novocaine. Allergies can provoke attacks of suffocation. Edema of the larynx, facial disorders, cardiac muscle disorders, up to cardiac arrest. Therefore, before the appointment of Novocaine blockade, it is necessary to make an allergic test for novocaine.

Swimming can act as a therapeutic procedure in the absence of convulsions and strong paresis of the limbs. During the swimming, the vertebrae stretch, the compression load on the damaged area goes away, and the spinal disc can take its place.

Corsets on the lower back or for the thoracic spine, cervical bandages have a curative effect with prolonged wearing and are able to provide quick help for severe pain. They not only fix the spine in the correct position, preventing further dislocation of the intervertebral disc, but stretching it, as a result of which the pressure of the dropped disc on the nerve fibers decreases. Ideally, the disc returns to its original position.

Operative intervention

Surgical intervention is required if the herniated disc of the lumbar or thoracic region is more than 12 mm, and the cervical disk - more than 6 mm. Indication for the operation:

- compression of the structures of the spinal cord and nerve roots, when the patient has multiple pareses,

- disruption of the pelvic organs, etc.

The purpose of the intervention is to release the nerve root. The prognosis is favorable with the appropriate competent postoperative treatment and the patient's right lifestyle.

Observe the right way of life and contact the doctor in a timely manner!