Protrusion: what is it? Protrusion of intervertebral discs: treatment

Protrusion is one of the most common diseases, which manifests itself in the form of dystrophic disorders in the intervertebral discs, which leads to their degradation. As a rule, this disease occurs in 80 percent of the population over the age of 30.

Protrusions - what is it?

This disease, in the first place, signals serious changes in the musculoskeletal system. Basically, this ailment is a consequence of the development of one of the stages of osteochondrosis.

In this case, protrusion is the initial form of the intervertebral hernia. The main and first of its symptoms are acute pain in the area of lesion. In this case, the displaced disks exert an interaction on the spinal cord roots, as well as on the spinal cord itself.

If a person does not turn in time for help to a medical institution, he risks getting a more serious illness - an intervertebral hernia, which will eventually have much worse consequences. Also, protrusion of the spine, which will grow into a hernia, is much harder to treat and very dangerous to human health.

Protrusion formation

The appearance of protrusion is accompanied by dystrophic changes in the fibrous ring of intervertebral discs, that is, in other words, their structure changes, elasticity is lost, as a result of which the disc flatens and protrudes beyond the vertebra. But it should be noted that the fibrous disc retains its shape and integrity, so that the gelatinous core remains inside.

The protrusion of the spine can be of several difficulty levels:
1. Bulging from 0 to 3 millimeters is not the cause of any uncomfortable sensations, and has no harmful effect;
2. Bulging from 3 to 5 millimeters - a condition that is often accompanied by discomfort and frequent pain. Especially they are manifested in severe physical exertion.
3. Bulging from 5 millimeters - this condition is regarded as an intervertebral hernia.

The causes of protrusion

To date, there are several main causes that lead to the appearance of protrusion of the lumbar spine. To such reasons it is possible to carry:

• Uncontrolled posture;
• Insufficient development of the muscular structure of the body;
• Hereditary predisposition;
• The presence of excess weight;
• Failure of metabolic processes of the body;
• Age changes;
• Large irrational loads on the back and spine;
• Presence of severe infectious diseases of the body.

As already mentioned, protrusions are the most common diseases of posture. What it is, it is clear to everyone, but very few people know how to prevent the appearance of this ailment.

Stages of formation of protrusions

To date, physicians have identified several stages in the formation of protrusions:

1. In the first stage, up to 70% of the structure of the intervertebral discs (disc) is destroyed. They lose their elasticity and form cracks in the fibrous membrane. This stage is manifested by acute local pain in the affected area.
2. The second stage of the disease is characterized by the protrusion of the disc. Thus the pulpous nucleus moves from the center to the edge, thus, the tissues of the fibrous disc are stretched. At this stage, the disc is bulged up to 2-3 millimeters, which can cause sharp pain and discomfort in the transverse section.
3. The last stage is characterized by a strong protrusion of the vertebral disc. In this case, there is a rupture of the fibrosis of the disc and the formation of the vertebral hernia, pains in the affected area may occur and various neurological disorders may appear, for example, numbness of the limbs.

Classification of protrusions

It is known that one of the most common diseases of the spine are protrusions. What is it, and what are the reasons for their appearance - is already clear. Let's find out by what parameters this disease is classified.

So, the protrusion is classified by type, type of protrusion and location.

1. By the types of protrusions are classified into circular and diffuse.

• Diffuse protrusion is a chronic type of disease. In this type of disc is bulged out unevenly. If you do not treat the disease in time, sooner or later it will lead to loss of ability to work and disability.
• Circular protrusion - when the intervertebral disc protrudes evenly. With this type of nerve impairment occurs, which causes the development of neurological symptoms - the appearance of pain, numbness of the nerve limbs.

2. The protrusion of the lumbar spine is divided according to the type of protrusion:

• Central protrusion (median) - protrusion occurs in the direction of the center of the spinal canal. In most cases, this type of disease has no manifestations, but there is a great risk, since exposure to the spinal cord can lead to disruption of its functioning.
• Back protrusion - protrusion of the intervertebral discs occurs from the abdomen to the back. Very often this kind of negatively affects the spinal cord, which leads to a violation of its functionality. Feels strong pain in the area of defeat, a violation of sensitivity, in some cases, a violation of the functionality of the pelvic organs.
• Lateral protrusion (lateral) - the disc protrudes to the right or left side of the spine. It can cause the formation of spinal cord roots. Until the nerves are damaged, the disease has no symptoms.
• Zadonebkovaya intervertebral protrusion (posterolateral) - intervertebral discs protrude back to back and to the right or left side. Has a harmful interaction on the roots and structure of the spinal cord. Up to the moment of infringement of nerves there are no symptoms.

3. The disease is subdivided at the location: cervical, thoracic and lumbar protrusion.

Cervical protrusion

Cervical protrusions very often lead to the development of a variety of complications that can provoke overload of the spine. The consequence of this can be the formation of new protrusions, and as a result - the development of the intervertebral hernia. Signaling about the appearance of this disease can be the following symptoms:

Local pain in the neck is chronic or acute.

• Restriction of mobility of the neck.
• Manifestations of headaches, dizziness.
• Pain with irradiation along the arm.
• Numbness and tingling in the hands.
• Weakness in the muscles of the shoulders and arms.

Protrusion of thoracic discs

Because of the structure of the human skeleton, the protrusion in the thoracic region develops very rarely. About the appearance of this disease in the thoracic department may indicate the following symptoms:

• Chronic or acute pain in the thoracic spine, discomfort.
• Chronic pain in the intercostal space or between the shoulder blades.
• Tingling in the abdomen and chest, numbness of the limbs and impaired sensation.
• Failure in the work of organs that are located in the affected area (heart, liver).
• Weakness in the muscles of the press.

Lumbar protrusion

It is known that this disease is most often found in the lumbar spine. This is due to the fact that this area of the back is constantly subjected to great dynamic and statistical loads. The protrusion of the lumbar spine is most often accompanied by:

Chronic and acute pain in the lumbar region.

• The presence of painful and cramped sensations in the lumbosacral zone.
• Education of sciatica.
• The manifestation of weakness in the legs.
• Violation of the sensitivity of individual parts of the body - numbness, sensations of "goosebumps", pricking.
• Appearance of irradiation of pain in one or both legs.
• In certain cases, the activity of the urethra and genital organs may also be impaired.

Symptomatic of protrusion

Symptoms of this disease directly depend on which disc is damaged. But until the pinching of the various spinal cord nerves occurs, the protrusion can occur absolutely without any symptoms.

In general, the symptoms of protrusions can always manifest themselves with different strengths, it all depends on how much the spinal cord is irritated and the nervous system is damaged by the intervertebral disc. The most frequent symptom of protrusion is severe pain in the affected area, which can eventually lead to a disruption of sensitivity.

In addition, it is also possible to identify a number of other indicators that may indicate the presence of a protrusion:

• Chronic or acute pain in the affected area (neck, loin, thoracic spine).
• The presence of migrating and irradiating pain.
• Manifestation of radiculitis.
• Loss of muscle elasticity and weakening of the muscular corset in the affected area.
• Loss of sensitivity of individual upper and lower extremities.
• Presence of a feeling of stiffness and burning in the affected department.
• Reducing the sensitivity of the organs of hearing, vision, manifestation of headaches, dizziness.

The most commonly degraded intervertebral discs

The protrusion of the disk l5, L4 / S1 most often occurs, since these discs are subjected to the greatest load when performing any actions. L5, L4 are the spinal intervertebral disks, which are located in the lumbar region. When lifting heavy loads or sitting, a lot of pressure on these disks occurs, which causes them to degrade. S1 is the first disc from the pelvic bone, which is also often subjected to stress. For these reasons, these disks are most often degraded.

As practice shows, there are practically no noticeable symptoms of protrusions before the age of 30, basically all of them arise precisely after this age, since it is during this period that the human body is exposed to a large number of interactions that adversely affect his health.

Diagnosis of the disease

Diagnosis with the appearance of symptoms of protrusion, usually begins with physical examination of the patient by the attending physician. To do this, experts use a series of manual tests that allow you to determine the affected area. If suspected of intervertebral protrusions, the patient is assigned an additional examination - ultrasound, MRI, KG, EMG, X-ray and so on. X-ray allows you to determine the complexity of the disease, MRI - to establish compression of neural bundles, and the scale of nerve fiber damage helps to learn EMG.

Treatment

From the foregoing, it can be concluded that protrusion is a very common and health-threatening disease. Therefore, its treatment should be conducted under the supervision of experienced doctors.

Treatment of protrusions is a complex of various procedures. They should be aimed at the removal of pain, swelling of the tissues, restoration of motor functions and normalization of sensitivity.

In order to forget what a protrusion is, treatment should also be carried out with the help of various medications. For a complete cure and recovery today, various analgesics, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory drugs are used.

Also, great help in the treatment of this disease is provided by special massages, which can be done only by highly qualified specialists.

Ways to prevent protrusion

As stated above, one of the most terrible diseases is protrusions. What it is, and how they appear, is already clear. But there are ways that can significantly reduce the possibility of the appearance of this disease.

It is not difficult to guess that the lumbar protrusion in most cases appears due to the deformation of the intervertebral discs, so it is necessary to constantly strengthen your back while doing sports, namely athletics. This kind of sport helps to strengthen the muscle mass and ligaments, which, in fact, keep the entire structure of the back.

Conclusion: one of the most common diseases of the back, with which every second person lives today, is a protrusion. Treatment of this disease is simply necessary to avoid excruciating pains in the back, numbness of the limbs, headaches and allow yourself to work normally, rest and lead an active lifestyle.