Characteristic features of the disease
The course of cervical osteochondrosis is accompanied by slow and irreversible destruction of the intervertebral discs. Deprived of the shock-absorbing cartilage filling, the bony vertebrae also begin to deform.
- external agents with local anesthetic, regenerating, warming effects;
- drugs that provide adequate nutrition for the brain;
- chondroprotectors that promote disc restoration processes;
- local and systemic analgesic.
The pathology still cannot be completely cured. Doctors' efforts are aimed at eliminating painful symptoms and preventing the spread of the disease to other parts of the spine. For this purpose, complex treatment regimens are drawn up using drugs from different groups.
Signs of cervical chondrosis
In the initial stages of the disease, there are practically no symptoms in women and men. Occasionally a person experiences slight discomfort in the evening. It makes him tired after a day's work, so he doesn't go to the doctor. Meanwhile, the intervertebral discs are gradually destroyed. Vertebrae are deformed by the formation of bony growths, squeezing the vertebral artery.
After about a year, discomfort is replaced by pain, which intensifies when turning or tilting the head.
- clicking, cracking in the neck;
- limitation of range of motion;
- increased blood pressure;
- rapid heartbeat;
- unilateral throbbing migraine-like headache;
- vision and hearing disorders;
- dizziness, unsteadiness in walking, sensation of imaginary rotation of objects;
- attacks of nausea, which rarely end in vomiting.
Due to oxygen starvation of the brain, sleep is disrupted, weakness, apathy, fatigue and ringing in the ears appear. The psycho-emotional state of a person worsens - he becomes nervous and worries about small things.
Principles of drug treatment
Chiropractors, professional massage therapists, physiotherapists and doctors of physical therapy are involved in the treatment of cervical chondrosis. In the final stage, the use of folk remedies is allowed. But the main role in complex therapy is assigned to pharmacological drugs.
- Injection solutions are used for exacerbations of chondrosis to quickly eliminate its painful symptoms;
- tablets, capsules, dragees are prescribed during remissions to prevent disc destruction, relieve mild or moderate pain and restore blood circulation;
- ointments, gels, balms, creams are the safest, they quickly cope with unpleasant stiffness and cracking.
It is rarely possible to treat osteochondrosis with any medicine. Therapeutic regimens usually include at least 5 drugs with different pharmacological properties. They are convenient and convenient to use at home.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
NSAIDs are used more often than other drugs in the treatment of cervical chondrosis. They are indicated for acute, piercing or distant, dull pain. The mechanism of action of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is based on the ability to inhibit the enzymes responsible for the production of neurotransmitters.
- elimination of painful sensations;
- eliminate the clicking and clicking noises that occur when you turn your neck;
- stop the flow of acute, subacute, chronic inflammatory processes affecting soft tissues;
- stimulate a reduction in swelling affecting sensory nerve endings;
- increase range of motion in damaged cervical vertebrae.
In the treatment of chondrosis, drugs in the form of solutions for parenteral administration and tablets have been well proven.
Long-term use of NSAIDs leads to damage to the gastric mucosa. Concomitant use of proton pump inhibitors will help to avoid this. Medicines reduce the production of aggressive gastric juice by parietal cells, which increases under the influence of NSAIDs.
Synthetic hormones
Glucocorticosteroids are synthetic analogues of hormones produced by the adrenal cortex. This is the "heavy artillery" of drug treatment for cervical osteochondrosis. Like natural hormones, glucocorticosteroids quickly relieve inflammation, swelling and eliminate pain almost immediately. They are used in the form of solutions for intramuscular administration. But in case of acute pain, it is possible to insert them directly into the area of the destroyed intervertebral disc.
The use of hormonal drugs during pregnancy, lactation, adolescence and childhood is prohibited.
All glucocorticosteroids have many contraindications. In clinical practice, withdrawal cases include severe damage to the liver, kidneys, and stomach after long-term hormone therapy. They are not used in the presence of cirrhosis of the liver, peptic ulcer, renal failure or osteoporosis.
Drugs with chondroprotective effects
All the means used in the complex treatment of chondrosis only eliminate its symptoms, temporarily improving a person's well-being. The only exception is chondroprotectors. These drugs contain ingredients that can promote the restoration of damaged intervertebral cartilage discs. Neck pain stops hurting after using them and disappears not for a few hours, but forever.
In pharmacies, chondroprotectors are presented in a wide range. These are capsules, substances for the preparation of solutions for injection, powders packed in bags.
- Glucosamine. Stimulates the synthesis of bioactive substances necessary for building tissues, improves the composition of synovial fluid. It increases the permeability of the joint capsule, restores enzymatic processes and prevents the destruction of discs.
- Chondroitin. Takes part in building cartilage and bone tissue, accelerates metabolic processes. Prevents the destruction of intervertebral discs, blocks enzymes that cause damage to cartilage tissue.
Products that improve microcirculation
A substance required for improving blood circulation in cervical osteochondrosis is Xanthinol nicotinate. This medication is used in the treatment of pathology with high severity, when not only the discs, but also the bone vertebrae are deformed. Compression of the vertebral artery is manifested by cervicocranialgia. This is the name for a whole complex of symptoms of vertebral artery damage: headache, "floating" before the eyes, temporary blurred vision, sweating, rapid heartbeat.
Thioctic acid helps improve microcirculation and eliminate "vertebral artery syndrome". The disadvantage of such drugs is their indiscriminate effect, since they accelerate the movement of blood throughout the body, which is not always advisable. Therefore, their list of contraindications includes epilepsy, hyperthyroidism and peptic ulcer.
Preparations with B vitamins
Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis in the acute phase cannot be done without the use of drugs, the composition of which is formed by B vitamins. The fact is that acute increases in the bones of the vertebrae affect not only the vertebral artery. They also put pressure on sensitive nerve roots, disrupting innervation. Nerve impulses enter the central nervous system with a delay and its responses are inhibited.
Interruption of innervation leads to paresthesia - loss of sensation in certain areas of the body.
In the drug treatment of cervical chondrosis, drugs whose activity is determined by pyridoxine, thiamine and B12 have been well proven.
Many of them are available in the form of solutions for intramuscular administration. It contains B vitamins and an anesthetic. Therefore, after the injection, the pain disappears immediately and the range of motion in the area of the cervical vertebrae is restored.
At the same time, the product improves blood flow, functioning of the nervous, muscular and cardiovascular systems, relieves inflammation and nerve degeneration. There are contraindications for its use. These are periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding, hypersensitivity to the ingredients.
The best muscle relaxants
Eliminating mild symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis and treating its exacerbations at home is often complicated by muscle spasms. The nerve root is compressed by displaced intervertebral discs and inflammatory edema. A strong pain syndrome appears, which the body tries to eliminate with muscle spasms. Thanks to this special protective reaction, a person's mobility is limited and discomfort disappears.
But often an increase in skeletal muscle tone causes even greater pressure on nerve endings.
Muscle relaxants are combined with all means for drug treatment of chondrosis, including glucocorticosteroids. They are well tolerated by the body, but some can cause addiction and "withdrawal syndrome". Therefore, they are not intended for long-term therapy. The duration of the treatment course does not exceed one week.
Drugs that improve the psycho-emotional state
Of all chondrosis, it is the cervical one that especially worsens the psycho-emotional state of a person. It all has to do with damage to the vertebral artery from bone growths, which leads to hypoxia of the brain.
- panic attacks;
- depression, neurosis;
- vision and hearing disorders;
- dry non-productive cough;
- shortness of breath;
- anxiety, apathy, fatigue;
- various sleep disorders.
What you don't need to do when they appear is to use cough medicine, eye drops or ear drops. Symptoms can often be eliminated by taking a course of drugs with a mild sedative effect: Tenoten, Novo-Passit, mother tinctures, valerian, peony. Tranquilizers, antipsychotics and antidepressants are prescribed only for severe neuroses and depression.
Balanced vitamin complexes
Most essential vitamins, micro- and macroelements enter the human body with food. But food products cannot always meet physiological needs, or they are absorbed and distributed incorrectly. For example, with blood circulation disorders characteristic of cervical osteochondrosis. There is a lack of bioactive substances, which negatively affects the functioning of all vital systems.
To quickly meet the body's daily needs for vitamins, micro- and macroelements, their balanced complexes should be included in treatment regimens.
Magnesium forms muscle and bone tissue, and iodine regulates metabolism. Manganese, molybdenum, chromium, potassium, chlorine, selenium, zinc stimulate the strengthening of the tendon-ligament apparatus, and copper stops inflammatory processes. These minerals are present in all the above complexes.
The correct intake of drugs is the use of 1 tablet per day - this amount is enough to improve the blood supply of the brain with useful substances.
A week later, the signs of anemia that appears in stage 3 of the development of cervical chondrosis disappear. The person no longer feels drowsy and does not suffer from impaired coordination of movements. Double vision of objects in front of the eyes disappears.
Ointment, gel, balm
External remedies are always used for exacerbations of chondrosis at home. They cannot bear severe pain; injections or analgesics are needed. Ointments, creams, gels, balms are used to eliminate pain that occurs during hypothermia and changing climatic zones.
- Anti-inflammatory. Medicines have a milder effect on the human body than other NSAIDs.
- Vasodilators. The agents exhibit local irritant activity and dilate the blood vessels that supply the brain with blood.
- Painkillers. Medicines help relieve pain immediately after application. They absorb well and do not leave greasy marks on clothes and bedding.
- HEAT. Products with pepper extract are applied only using an applicator. The drugs have an analgesic effect a few minutes after they are applied to the back of the neck.
Products for external use are effective and very rarely provoke the development of local allergic reactions. But caution is necessary during treatment. If the ointments come into contact with the mucous membrane, rinse them quickly with water. Especially those containing essential oils, natural poisons and turpentine.
Therapeutic plaster
A time-tested remedy for exacerbations of osteochondrosis is Patch Piper. Its composition is represented by phytoextracts of red pepper, belladonna and dimexide. The patch's active ingredients gradually penetrate the damaged disc area and have an analgesic effect for 3-5 hours. If your neck hurts, then the external medicine is used whole or cut into small pieces.
Pepper patch is convenient to use for treatment at home, at work or while traveling. But it also has a contraindication - individual intolerance to one of the ingredients. And in women with sensitive skin, it can cause chemical burns.
Stains exhibit anti-inflammatory, decongestant and chondroprotective activity. They are intended for the treatment of all pathologies of the cervical spine. Their use helps to reduce the pharmacological load in the human body by reducing the doses of systemic drugs.
How to properly treat cervical chondrosis?
Stopping the destruction of intervertebral discs is possible only with an integrated approach to therapy. The use of orthopedic tools (Schanz collars) that fix the vertebrae in an anatomical position is practiced. Applicators should improve the blood supply of damaged tissues with nutrients and bioactive substances. Daily classes of physical therapy, yoga, swimming and walks in the fresh air are indicated.
Most drugs are advised to be used to relieve symptoms during flare-ups. They have many side effects, including damage to liver tissue. Chondroprotectors, means for improving blood circulation and balanced complexes of vitamins and minerals are suitable for regular use.