Osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is a serious degenerative-dystrophic pathology that cannot yet be completely cured.It occurs against the background of destruction of intervertebral discs, displacement and protrusion of vertebrae.When diagnosing the disease, doctors take into account that the signs of thoracic osteochondrosis differ in women and men.This is due to hormonal fluctuations in the female body.Women often go on diets, wear narrow high-heeled shoes, and find it difficult to deal with 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 subject to frequent monthly fluctuations.In women during natural menopause, the production of hormones in the body decreases.This can provoke the development of pathologies;it is necessary to differentiate them.For men, the typical course of the disease is characteristic, which makes it possible to detect it in a timely manner and begin treatment immediately.
The clinical picture of thoracic osteochondrosis in women includes numerous signs so specific that it is sometimes difficult to attribute them to symptoms of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system.Doctors identify the following characteristic differences between the male and female clinical picture and further progression of thoracic osteochondrosis:
- Clinical manifestations in women occur a little earlier.This is due to a more fragile spine and vulnerable to negative factors, and a greater sensitivity to painful sensations;
- The intensity of pain in the thoracic 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 intensity 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, thoracic osteochondrosis rarely causes the development of concomitant disease.And women can experience several pathologies at the same time.In this case, osteochondrosis can provoke the development of a disease not related to the musculoskeletal system.In contrast, an endocrine or metabolic disorder causes the destruction of cartilage tissue;
- For the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, women are prescribed medications, which in rare cases are used in the treatment of men.These are antipsychotics, tranquilizers, sedatives.The woman's psycho-emotional state is more labile, so symptoms include anxiety, increased restlessness, and insomnia.Sometimes, knowing that the disease is incurable, depression occurs, which can only be eliminated with treatment with antidepressants.
Women are more likely to experience headaches.But unlike men, they do not suffer an increase in the intensity of clinical manifestations during the day due to the action of estrogen.
An interesting fact is that as the pathology progresses, a woman's libido may increase.This is the effect of steroid hormones, which are intensely produced in the body to suppress painful sensations.And the sexual desire of men is significantly reduced as a result of a disorder of the innervation of the prostate.
Typical signs of the disease
Patients often complain to doctors of pain in the shoulder blades, which intensifies when bending or twisting the body.It radiates to the sides, lower back, and even the forearms.The pain is felt along the intercostal nerve, its intensity increases when coughing, laughing and sneezing.Referred pain complicates the diagnosis and requires additional investigations and consultations with an endocrinologist, cardiologist, mammologist, and gynecologist.
Characteristic signs are rigidity, a feeling of oppression.When moving or changing 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:
- feeling of “goosebumps”, decreased tactility in the chest or abdomen, numbness of some areas of the skin;
- the appearance of signs of intercostal neuralgia.When lifting weights, increasing physical activity or hypothermia, a sharp, stabbing pain appears in the rib area, which extends to the chest and sides;
- development of persistent backgia - a set of pain sensations of varying degrees of intensity in the back.They can occur even when inhaling, intensify when climbing stairs, performing any household chores;
- muscle spasm, limitation of 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 detected by palpation during the initial examination, as is pain in the area of the nerve endings.There is a change in the woman's posture and gait.Try to keep your back straight to avoid pain.But with grade 3 pathology, the curvature of the spine is already noticeable 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 adhesion to the ribs allows it to withstand intense static and dynamic loads.Doctors often call thoracic osteochondrosis a "chameleon disease."To detect it, a differential diagnosis is required not only of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, spondyloarthrosis), but also of diseases of internal organs.
Patients often come 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 renal colic.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 occur during remission or during relapse:
- pain in the heart region.Confused with an angina attack or myocardial infarction.Cardiologists exclude cardiac pathologies after studying the results of the ECG and other instrumental tests;
- pain in the mammary glands.Uncomfortable 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 comes to a gastroenterologist after experiencing constant or recurring pain in the right hypochondrium or epigastrium.When diagnosing gastritis, cholecystitis and ulcerative lesions, various instrumental and laboratory studies are performed;
- pain in the lower abdomen.They often occur due to compression of the nerve endings in the spinal cord.Painful sensations and urinary disorders are similar to signs of diseases of the genitourinary system.Urologists or gynecologists differentiate osteochondrosis from pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis and uterine fibroids.
Despite the increase in libido caused by the production of estrogen, dysfunction of the reproductive system is detected in patients.Anorgasmia (lack of orgasm) develops against the background of compression of the nerves innervating the lower part of the thoracic area of the back.
The close localization of pathologies in internal organs and common innervation causes very specific clinical manifestations.Sometimes they disguise themselves as strokes, kidney failure, liver cramps and even dental diseases.Medical literature describes cases of extraction of treated teeth due to severe and constant pain at their base.Subsequently, the cause of the pain syndrome was established - neurological symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis.
Vertebrological signs are more typical of cervical pathology, but are sometimes detected in severe cases of thoracic pathology.Destructive and degenerative processes in the vertebrae and discs cause sharp increases in blood pressure, dizziness, impaired coordination of movements, headaches and tinnitus.There have been cases of decreased visual acuity.
Psychoemotional disorders (crying, anxiety, mood swings) are diagnosed in many patients.Health problems, news about an upcoming surgery, and decreased physical activity sometimes become causes of depression.
How to eliminate the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis.
The methods of treatment of degenerative-dystrophic pathology in women and men are the same.Destroyed cartilage tissue cannot be restored, therefore the main goals of therapy are to reduce the severity of symptoms and prevent further spread of 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 much more frequently than men.During natural menopause, hormone replacement therapy may be prescribed, which is also necessary for the prevention of osteoporosis (low bone mass).
To eliminate pain due to thoracic osteochondrosis in women, drugs of various clinical and pharmacological groups are used:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)on tablets.After a week of taking it and feeling better, women are prescribed external forms of NSAIDs;
- hormonal drugs.Glucocorticosteroids are commonly used for pharmacological blocks;
- muscle relaxants.Relaxes skeletal muscles, relieves painful muscle spasms;
- chondroprotectors.They partially regenerate damaged hyaline cartilage and, after a couple of weeks of use, have an analgesic effect.
In the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis, physiotherapeutic procedures are actively used: UHF therapy, laser therapy, magnetic therapy, applications with ozokerite, paraffin, bischofite.Patients are shown massage, physiotherapy, swimming and yoga.
If a woman does not seek medical help, diseases of the internal organs may soon develop.They are caused 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 appearance of kidney, liver, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular pathologies.