Osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is a severe degenerative-dystrophic pathology that cannot be completely cured yet.The destruction of the intervertebral discs occurs against the background of displacement and protrusion of the vertebrae.When diagnosing the disease, doctors take into account that the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women and men are different.This is explained by hormonal fluctuations in the female body.Women often adhere to diets, wear narrow high-heeled shoes, and have difficulty resolving domestic conflicts.This affects the development, course and progression of pathology of the musculoskeletal system.
Differences between female and male clinical manifestations
Diagnosis of thoracic osteochondrosis in women is more difficult due to hormonal characteristics.In young patients, it is often subject to monthly fluctuations.During the natural menopause in women, the production of hormones in the body decreases.This can lead to the development of pathologies;they need to be distinguished.For men, the typical course of the disease is characteristic, which allows it to be detected in time and treatment can be started immediately.
The clinical picture of thoracic osteochondrosis in women includes numerous symptoms that are so specific that sometimes it is difficult to classify them as symptoms of musculoskeletal system pathologies.Doctors identify the following characteristic differences between the clinical picture of men and women and the further development of thoracic osteochondrosis:
- In women, clinical manifestations occur a little earlier.This is due to a back that is more fragile and sensitive to negative factors and increased sensitivity to painful sensations;
- The severity of pain in the thoracic region, hardness varies according to the menstrual cycle.This is explained by the production of estrogens - steroid sex hormones - in the body.They reduce the severity of pain caused by thinning of the intervertebral discs and spasm of the neck muscles.Therefore, at the time of the initial diagnosis, based on the patients' complaints, women are not always able to informatively describe the feelings that bother them;
- In men, thoracic osteochondrosis rarely leads to the development of accompanying disease.Women can face several pathologies at once.In this case, osteochondrosis can lead to the development of a disease unrelated 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 rarely prescribed drugs used in the treatment of men.These are antipsychotics, tranquilizers, sedatives.The psycho-emotional state of women is more labile, so symptoms include anxiety, increased anxiety and insomnia.Sometimes, after learning that the disease is incurable, depression occurs, which can only be overcome by a course of antidepressants.
Headaches are more common in women.However, unlike men, they do not suffer from an increase in the intensity of clinical manifestations during the day under the influence of estrogen.
An interesting fact is that as the pathology progresses, women's libido may increase.This is the effect of steroid hormones intensively produced in the body to suppress painful sensations.Men's sexual desire is greatly reduced as a result of prostate innervation disorder.
Typical symptoms of the disease
Patients usually complain to doctors of pain in the shoulder blades, which intensifies when bending or turning the body.It spreads to the sides, lower back and even forearms.Pain is felt along the intercostal nerve, its intensity increases during coughing, laughing, sneezing.Referred pain complicates the diagnosis and requires further research and consultation with an endocrinologist, cardiologist, mammologist and gynecologist.
Characteristic signs are stiffness, a feeling of limitation.When moving or changing the position of the body, special clicks are heard, usually associated with the displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other.Typical symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women include the following clinical manifestations:
- "creeping goosebumps" feeling, decreased ability to touch in the chest or abdomen, numbness of some parts of the skin;
- the appearance of symptoms of intercostal neuralgia.When lifting weights, increased physical activity or hypothermia, sharp, piercing pain appears in the rib area, spreading to the chest and sides;
- The development of persistent dorsalgia - a set of pain sensations in the back of varying degrees of intensity.They can occur even when breathing, get stronger when climbing stairs, doing any housework;
- muscle spasm, 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 tissues.
Thoracic osteochondrosis is characterized by constant tension in the muscles located near the spine.This is determined by palpation as pain in the area of nerve endings during the initial examination.There is a change in the woman's posture and gait.He tries to keep his back straight to prevent pain.However, with pathology of the 3rd degree, the curvature of the spine is already noted 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 strong muscular corset, and its strong attachment to the ribs allows it to withstand intense static and dynamic loads.Doctors often call osteochondrosis of the chest "chameleon disease".To detect it, differential diagnosis requires not only pathologies of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, spondyloarthrosis), but also diseases of internal organs.
Patients often turn to cardiologists, nephrologists, gastroenterologists or gynecologists with complaints, not to a vertebrologist or a neurologist.The fact is that the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis are masked as clinical manifestations of angina, cholecystitis and renal colic.And an attack of intercostal neuralgia is very similar to a myocardial infarction or appendicitis.What atypical symptoms of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine in women can occur during remission or relapse:
- pain in the heart region.Mistake for angina attack or myocardial infarction.Cardiologists exclude heart pathologies after studying the results of ECG and other instrumental tests;
- pain in the mammary glands.Anxious feelings 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).After experiencing constant or recurring pain in the right hypochondrium or epigastrium, a woman consults a gastroenterologist.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 the symptoms of diseases of the genitourinary system.Urologists or gynecologists distinguish osteochondrosis from pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis and uterine fibroids.
Despite the increase in libido caused by estrogen production, dysfunction of the reproductive system is detected in patients.Anorgasmia (absence of orgasm) develops against the background of compression of the nerves that innervate the lower part of the chest.
Localization of pathologies close to internal organs and general innervation cause very specific clinical manifestations.Sometimes they are disguised as cerebrovascular accidents, kidney failure, hepatic colic and even dental diseases.In the medical literature, cases of extraction of treated teeth due to severe persistent pain at the base have been described.Later, the cause of the pain syndrome was determined - neurological symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis.
Vertebrological signs are more characteristic of cervical pathology, but sometimes they are found in severe cases of thoracic pathology.Destructive and degenerative processes in the vertebrae and discs cause sharp jumps in blood pressure, dizziness, incoordination of movements, headaches and tinnitus.There are cases of reduced visual acuity.
Many patients are diagnosed with psycho-emotional disorders (tears, anxiety, mood swings).Health problems, news of upcoming surgery, and reduced physical activity sometimes lead to depression.
How to eliminate the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis
Treatment methods for degenerative-dystrophic pathology in women and men are the same.It is impossible to restore the destroyed cartilage tissue, 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 soft tissues and the stage of thoracic osteochondrosis.Women are prescribed antidepressants, tranquilizers and sedatives more often than men.During natural menopause, hormone replacement therapy may be prescribed, which is necessary to prevent osteoporosis (low bone mass).
Drugs of various clinical and pharmacological groups are used to relieve pain due to thoracic osteochondrosis in women:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)in tablets.After taking it for a week 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.Restore partially damaged hyaline cartilage and after a few weeks of use, it has a natural analgesic effect.
Physiotherapy procedures are actively used in the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis: UHF therapy, laser therapy, magnetic therapy, applications with ozokerite, paraffin, bischofit.Patients are offered massage, physiotherapy, swimming, yoga.
If a woman does not consult a doctor, diseases of the internal organs may develop soon.They are provoked by the protrusion of the intervertebral disc into the narrowed spinal canal and the formation of hernias.Deterioration of the spinal column leads to compression of the spinal cord, and then to the development of kidney, liver, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular pathologies.