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 the intervertebral discs, displacement and protrusion of the vertebrae.When diagnosing the disease, doctors take into account the fact that the signs of thoracic osteochondrosis differ in women and men.This is explained by hormonal fluctuations in the female body.Women often diet, wear narrow, high-heeled shoes, and have difficulty managing domestic conflicts.This affects the development, course and progression of the 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 cause the development of pathologies;must be differentiated.For men, the typical course of the disease is characteristic, which allows it to be detected early and treatment can begin immediately.
The clinical picture of thoracic osteochondrosis in women includes numerous signs so specific that it is sometimes 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 more fragile and vulnerable spine 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 estrogen in the body - steroid sex hormones.They reduce the severity of pain due to thinning of the intervertebral discs and spasm of the neck muscles.Therefore, during the initial diagnosis, based on patient complaints, women are not always able to informatively describe the sensations that bother them;
- In men, thoracic osteochondrosis rarely causes the development of a concomitant disease.And women can experience multiple 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 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, sedatives.The psycho-emotional state of women is more labile, so symptoms include anxiety, greater restlessness and insomnia.Sometimes, after learning that the disease is incurable, depression occurs, which can only be eliminated with a course of antidepressants.
Women are more likely to suffer from headaches.But unlike men, they do not suffer from 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, female libido may increase.This is the effect of steroid hormones, which are intensively produced in the body to suppress painful sensations.And men's sexual desire is significantly reduced due to a disorder of the innervation of the prostate.
Typical signs of the disease
Patients usually complain to doctors about pain in the shoulder blades, which intensifies when bending or turning the body.It radiates to the sides, lower back and even the forearms.The pain is felt along the intercostal nerve, its intensity increases with coughing, laughing and sneezing.Referred pain complicates the diagnosis and requires additional research and consultations with an endocrinologist, cardiologist, mammologist and gynecologist.
The characteristic signs are rigidity, feeling of constriction.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:
- sensation of “creeping goosebumps”, decreased tactility in the chest or abdomen, numbness in certain areas of the skin;
- the appearance of signs of intercostal neuralgia.When lifting weights, increasing physical activity or hypothermia, a sharp, piercing pain appears in the rib area, spreading to the chest and hips;
- development of persistent dorsalgia - a set of pain sensations of varying degrees of intensity in the back.They can also occur during inhalation, intensify when climbing stairs, doing housework;
- muscle spasm, limited 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 detected by palpation during the initial examination, as well as pain in the area of \u200b\u200bthe nerve endings.There is a change in the woman's posture and gait.Try to keep your back straight to prevent pain.But with grade 3 pathology, 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 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, differential diagnosis is necessary not only of pathologies of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, spondyloarthrosis), but also of diseases of internal organs.
Patients often turn 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 masked by 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.Mistaken for 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.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 turns to a gastroenterologist after experiencing constant or recurrent pain in the right hypochondrium or epigastrium.When diagnosing gastritis, cholecystitis and ulcerative lesions, various laboratory and instrumental studies are carried out;
- lower abdominal pain.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 narrow localization of pathologies to 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 tooth extraction treated due to severe constant pain at the base.The cause of the pain syndrome was later established: neurological symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis.
Vertebral 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 changes in blood pressure, dizziness, impaired coordination of movements, headaches and tinnitus.There have been cases of decreased visual acuity.
Many patients are diagnosed with psycho-emotional disorders (tearfulness, anxiety, mood swings).Health problems, news of impending surgery, and decreased physical activity sometimes become causes of depression.
How to eliminate the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis
Treatment methods for 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, tranquilizers and sedatives much more often than men.During natural menopause, hormone replacement therapy may be prescribed, which is also necessary for the prevention of osteoporosis (reduced 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)in tablets.After a week of taking it and feeling better, women are prescribed external forms of NSAIDs;
- hormonal drugs.Glucocorticosteroids are usually used for drug blocking;
- 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.
Physiotherapeutic procedures are actively used in the treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis: UHF therapy, laser therapy, magnetic therapy, applications with ozocerite, paraffin, bischofite.Patients are shown massage, physical therapy, 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.The deterioration of the spinal column leads to compression of the spinal cord and therefore to the onset of renal, hepatic, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular diseases.