Osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is a severe degenerative-dystrophic pathology that still cannot be completely cured.It occurs against the background of the destruction of the intervertebral discs, displacement and elongation of the vertebrae.When diagnosing the disease, doctors take into account that the signs of thoracic osteochondrosis differ in women and men.This is explained by hormonal fluctuations in the female body.Women often adhere to diets, wear tight shoes with high heels and find it difficult to deal with family conflicts.This affects the development, progress and progression of the pathology of the musculoskeletal system.
Differences between female and male clinical manifestations
Diagnosing thoracic osteochondrosis in women is more difficult due to hormonal characteristics.In young patients, it undergoes frequent monthly fluctuations.In women during natural menopause, the production of hormones in the body decreases.This can cause the development of pathologies;they must be differentiated.For men, the typical course of the disease is characteristic, which allows it to be detected at the right time and treatment to begin immediately.
The clinical picture of thoracic osteochondrosis in women includes numerous signs that are so specific that sometimes it is difficult to classify them as symptoms of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system.Doctors identify the following characteristic differences between the male and female clinical picture and the further progression of thoracic osteochondrosis:
- Clinical manifestations in women occur a little earlier.This is due to a spine that is more fragile and sensitive to negative factors, and increased sensitivity to painful sensations;
- intensity of pain in the chest region, stiffness varies depending on the menstrual cycle.This is explained by the production of estrogens in the body - steroid sex hormones.They reduce the severity of pain that occurs due to thinning of the intervertebral discs and spasm of the neck muscles.Therefore, during the initial diagnosis, based on patients' complaints, women are not always able to informatively describe the sensations that bother them;
- In men, osteochondrosis of the chest rarely causes the development of a concomitant disease.And women can experience several pathologies at the same time.In this case, osteochondrosis can provoke the development of a disease that is not related to the musculoskeletal system.Conversely, an endocrine or metabolic disorder leads to the destruction of cartilage tissue;
- For the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, women are prescribed drugs that are used in the treatment of men in rare cases.These are antipsychotics, tranquilizers, tranquilizers.The psycho-emotional state of women is more unstable, so symptoms include anxiety, increased restlessness and insomnia.Sometimes, after learning that the disease is incurable, depression appears, which can only be eliminated with a course of antidepressants.
Women are more likely to experience headaches.But unlike men, they do not suffer from increased intensity of clinical manifestations during the day due to the action of estrogen.
An interesting fact is that as the pathology progresses, women's libido can increase.This is the effect of steroid hormones, which are intensively produced in the body to suppress painful sensations.And men's sexual desire decreases significantly as a result of a prostate innervation disorder.
Typical signs of the disease
Patients usually complain to doctors about pain in the shoulder blades, which intensify when bending or turning the body.It radiates to the sides, lower back and even forearms.The pain is felt along the nerve between the ribs, its intensity increases with coughing, laughing and sneezing.Referred pain complicates the diagnosis and requires additional research and consultation with an endocrinologist, cardiologist, mammologist and gynecologist.
Characteristic signs are stiffness, a feeling of tightness.When you move or change the position of the body, specific clicks are heard, usually associated with the displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other.Typical symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women also include the following clinical manifestations:
- sensation of "creeping lumps", decreased sensitivity in the chest or abdomen, numbness of some areas of the skin;
- the appearance of signs of intercostal neuralgia.During weight lifting, increased physical activity or hypothermia, a sharp, piercing pain appears in the rib area, which spreads to the chest and sides;
- the development of persistent dorsalgia - a group of pain sensations with varying degrees of intensity in the back.They can also occur when you inhale, intensify when you climb the stairs, do some housework;
- muscle spasms, limiting range of motion.Muscle spasm occurs in response to compression by an osteophyte (bone growth) or inflammatory swelling of sensitive nerve endings in soft tissue.
Thoracic osteochondrosis is characterized by constant tension in the muscles located near the spine.This is revealed by palpation during the initial examination, such as pain in the area of nerve endings.There is a change in the woman's posture and gait.She tries to keep her back straight to prevent pain.But with grade 3 pathology, the curvature of the spine is already observed against the background of the development of scoliosis and a decrease in the distance between the vertebrae.
Specific symptoms of pathology
Thoracic osteochondrosis is rarely diagnosed.This part of the spine is equipped with a powerful muscular corset, and its strong attachment to the ribs allows it to withstand intense static and dynamic loads.Doctors often call thoracic osteochondrosis a "chameleon disease."To detect it, differential diagnosis is required not only of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, spondyloarthrosis), but also of diseases of internal organs.
Patients often go with complaints not to a vertebrologist or neurologist, but to a cardiologist, nephrologist, gastroenterologist or gynecologist.The fact is that the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis are disguised as clinical manifestations of angina, cholecystitis and kidney pain.And an attack of intercostal neuralgia is very similar to a myocardial infarction or appendicitis.What atypical signs of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine in women can appear during remission or during relapse:
- pain in the region of the heart.Mistaken for an angina attack or myocardial infarction.Cardiologists exclude cardiac pathologies after studying the results of ECG and other instrumental tests;
- pain in the mammary glands.Unpleasant sensations do not disappear for a long time and their intensity does not decrease.After the patient contacts a gynecologist or mammologist, an ultrasound of the mammary glands is performed to exclude benign and malignant neoplasms;
- pain in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT).A woman is referred to a gastroenterologist after experiencing persistent or recurrent pain in the right hypochondrium or epigastrium.During the diagnosis of gastritis, cholecystitis and ulcerative lesions, various laboratory and instrumental studies are performed;
- pain in the lower abdomen.They often occur due to compression of the nerve endings of the spinal cord.Painful sensations and urinary disorders are similar to signs of diseases of the genitourinary system.Urologists or gynecologists distinguish osteochondrosis from pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis and uterine fibroids.
Despite the increase in sexual desire caused by the production of estrogen, dysfunction of the reproductive system is observed in patients.Anorgasmia (absence of orgasm) develops against the background of compression of the nerves that innervate the lower part of the thoracic region of the back.
Close localization of pathologies in internal organs and common innervation causes very specific clinical manifestations.Sometimes they are disguised as cerebrovascular accidents, renal failure, hepatic colic and even dental disease.Medical literature describes cases of removal of treated teeth due to persistent severe pain at their base.Then, the cause of the pain syndrome was established - the neurological symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis.
Vertebrological signs are more typical for cervical pathology, but are sometimes detected in severe cases of thoracic pathology.Destructive and degenerative processes in vertebrae and discs provoke sharp jumps in blood pressure, dizziness, impaired coordination of movements, headaches and tinnitus.There have been cases of reduced visual acuity.
Psycho-emotional disorders (tearfulness, anxiety, mood swings) are diagnosed in many patients.Health problems, news of an upcoming surgical operation, and decreased physical activity sometimes become causes of depression.
How to eliminate the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis
The methods of treating degenerative-dystrophic pathology in women and men are the same.Destroyed cartilage tissue cannot be restored, so the main goals of therapy are to reduce the severity of symptoms and prevent further spread of the pathology.
When choosing a method, the doctor takes into account the degree of destructive changes, the presence of an inflammatory process in the soft tissues and the stage of thoracic osteochondrosis.Women are prescribed antidepressants, sedatives and tranquilizers much more often than men.During natural menopause, hormone replacement therapy may be prescribed, which is also necessary to prevent osteoporosis (low bone mass).
To eliminate pain due to thoracic osteochondrosis in women, drugs of various clinical and pharmacological groups are used:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)in tablets.After a week of taking it and feeling better, women are prescribed external forms of NSAIDs;
- hormonal drugs.Glucocorticosteroids are commonly used for drug blockade;
- muscle relaxants.Relaxes skeletal muscles, relieves painful muscle spasms;
- chondroprotectors.They partially regenerate the damaged hyaline cartilage and after a couple of weeks of use they certainly have an analgesic effect.
Physiotherapeutic procedures are actively used in the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis: UHF therapy, laser therapy, magnetic therapy, applications with ozokerite, paraffin, bischofite.Pacientëve u tregohet masazhi, terapia fizike, noti dhe joga.
If a woman does not seek medical help, then diseases of the internal organs may soon develop.They are provoked by the elongation of the intervertebral disc in the narrowing of the spinal canal and the formation of hernias.Deterioration of the spine leads to compression of the spinal cord, and then to the appearance of renal, hepatic, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular pathologies.