How to treat cervical osteochondrosis at home?

Pain occurs when you don't expect it. In this situation, even the most confident people can feel confused and scared. The cause of the pain syndrome is usually osteochondrosis. How to treat cervical osteochondrosis at home, and how effective is the treatment? Let us know more.

What is osteochondrosis

Official medical information interprets osteochondrosis as a degenerative disease that affects the intervertebral discs and affects adjacent vertebrae and joints. The elasticity of the intervertebral joints is impaired-the intervertebral discs become thinner. It is necessary to understand how nutritional and metabolic processes occur in the intervertebral disc. This structural element is formed by cartilage tissue, and there are no blood vessels here. Power is decentralized, like a pump. When moving and squeezing, the lubricating fluid is released and then absorbed again. If cervical osteochondrosis occurs, exercise therapy, massage, and all treatment techniques should be prescribed as soon as possible.

What happened to the spine and its symptoms

The following processes occur in the affected joints:

  • The nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc loses physiological water;
  • Cartilage loses its shape;
  • Lose flexibility
  • Change color
  • Dry up;
  • Turn yellow
  • Lose resistance to injury.
Spinal injury with cervical osteochondrosis

The result of this is to violate the synchronization of the motion of the adjacent segments of the spine and violate the nerve root. The main symptoms of degenerative changes are pain, restricted mobility, and some forms of paresthesia ("crawling", tingling).

All these changes indicate the presence of osteochondrosis. How about cervical osteochondrosis or any other treatment, we will discuss further.

Why does osteochondrosis occur?

The reasons for the onset of the disease include everything that destroys the power of the disk:

  • Congestion caused by static load.
  • Maintain an unfavorable posture for a long time, especially sitting. There is a good proverb: "If you can stand-don't sit, if you can lie down-don't stand. "
  • Traumatic effects on endplates and annulus fibers.
Cervical osteochondrosis compresses arteries

Common causes include unbalanced nutrition, lack of exercise, and insufficient development of the deep muscles that make up the muscle tights. The stability of the spine is due to the complex interaction of bones, muscles and nerve structures. The muscles of the abdomen and back are antagonists and balance each other. Therefore, the assumption that "movement is life" is still more important than ever. Exercise can effectively affect cervical degenerative disc disease. Exercise therapy can be used in polyclinics and at home. Since the spine is made up of multiple parts, the disease may occur in any one of them. The neck and waist areas are more often exposed.

How does cervical osteochondrosis manifest?

The manifestations of osteochondrosis in various locations are combined into syndromes:

  • Neck pain syndrome (restricted movement of the shoulder joint, pain of different nature);
  • Cervical pain (back of head pain, neck discomfort, tinnitus, dizziness, palpitations, nausea may occur);
  • Neck and arm pain or scapular syndrome (neck pain flows into the shoulders and arms).
Neck pain with osteochondrosis

If you are worried about soreness, usually at night, accompanied by numbness, you may confirm the diagnosis-cervical thoracic osteochondrosis. The pain syndrome associated with undergraduate disease is called chest pain.

Physical therapy at home

Many reference books describe how to treat cervical osteochondrosis with drugs. But in most cases, the effect of the drug is short-lived. Here, exercise therapy can come in handy.

Physical therapy exercises for cervical osteochondrosis
  1. We stand against the wall, with the back of our heads against the wall. We try to press the wall with maximum force for a few seconds. Then we relax.
  2. We sit at the table and put our elbows on the table. We leaned our chin on the hand and tried to press the palm while trying to tilt the head or turn it to the side.
  3. Put your head on your hands and put your hands behind your head. Or, then press them with the back of your head, and then relax. Perform multiple repetitions for a maximum of 10 seconds.
  4. Hold the head with the palm of your hand and press one hand or the other alternately.

During the worsening period, the duration of the exercise should not exceed 3-4 seconds, with moderate exertion. The course will slow down the osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. After you are satisfied with exercising properly in a healthcare environment, you can start exercising at home.

Massage without professional help

If cervical osteochondrosis is diagnosed, massage will be one of the necessary treatments. In this case, it is not only useful, but also an irreplaceable program. At first, it is best to take professional courses and then practice simple skills at home. These techniques include static muscle relaxation techniques. The feature of this method is to combine massage elements to passively stretch muscles from excessively tense positions. It is necessary to apply this technique (bathing, warm compress, kneading, touching) after warming up the spastic muscles.

Cervical osteochondrosis causes neck pain

When using self-massage, use the same technique as professional massage. These are stroking, kneading, precise bumping, slapping, shaking. The massage is performed with warm hands. Use massage oil to improve sliding. The technical sequence is as follows:

  • Touch
  • Grinding
  • Knead
  • Vibration (beating, shaking).

Act on the osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, massage starts and ends with stroking.

A little manual therapy

  1. We sit on a high-backed chair. We hold the head with our hands and place our thumbs on the cheekbones (more precisely, on the bumps under the eye sockets). We lifted our eyes, took a deep breath, and then pressed the back of our heads on our fingers. We hold it for a quarter of a minute at most, and then lean back on the back of the chair as we exhale, relax the neck muscles, and tilt the head down. We repeated this technique many times. Then we wrap our fingers around the neck, close to the upper part of it, and tilt our head forward slightly. We press our fingers into the base of the skull and rotate them slowly. Gradually lower the fingers lower and lower, approaching the trapezius muscle. How to treat cervical osteochondrosis with manipulation, please see the following manipulation.
  2. Neck pain caused by osteochondrosis
  3. We lie on our backs and pull our shoulders down as much as possible. Place your hand on the painful side under the hip, palm up. Place your other hand under your head, hold the back of your head, and tilt your head to the side opposite to the problem. Inhale and press your head on your finger for 15 seconds. As you exhale, relax and pull your head hard to stretch the sore muscles.

A set of measures to treat osteochondrosis

Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely defeat cervical osteochondrosis. Treatment at home or in a medical institution should be comprehensive. This includes using:

  • painkiller;
  • Muscle relaxants that help relieve muscle cramps;
  • Drugs with chondroprotective effects;
  • Physiotherapy procedures;
  • massage;
  • Exercise therapy
  • Balanced diet.

After studying the medical literature, people can draw certain conclusions about how to treat cervical osteochondrosis, but not prescribing professional treatment is a crime against health.