In the complex therapy of cervical chondrosis (osteochondrosis), injectable solutions, ointments, creams, tablets and dragees are used. The drugs respond well to pain, swelling, inflammation, loss of sensation, dizziness and changes in blood pressure.
Characteristic features of the disease
The course of cervical osteochondrosis is accompanied by slow and irreversible destruction of the intervertebral discs. Without their shock-absorbing cartilaginous padding, even the bony vertebrae begin to deform.When visiting a vertebrologist or neurologist, patients complain of sharp or aching pain, stiffness, dizziness when suddenly standing up, so treatment regimens consist of drugs with various properties:
- external agents with local anesthetic, regenerating, warming effects;
- drugs that provide adequate nutrition to the brain;
- chondroprotectors that trigger disk recovery processes;
- local and systemic analgesics.
The pathology cannot yet be completely cured. Doctors' efforts are aimed at eliminating painful symptoms and inhibiting the spread of the disease to other parts of the spine. For this purpose, complex therapeutic regimens are developed using drugs from various groups.
Signs of cervical chondrosis
In the initial stages of the disease there are practically no symptoms in women and men. Occasionally a person feels mild discomfort in the evening. She attributes them to tiredness after a day at work, so she doesn't see a doctor. Meanwhile, his intervertebral discs are gradually destroyed. The vertebrae deform with the formation of bony growths, compressing the vertebral artery.
After about a year, the discomfort gives way to pain, which intensifies when turning or tilting the head.Chondrosis manifests itself with the following symptoms:
- ticking, crackling in the neck;
- limitation of range of motion;
- blood pressure spikes;
- rapid heartbeat;
- unilateral migraine-like throbbing headache;
- visual and auditory disturbances;
- dizziness, unsteadiness of gait, sensations of imaginary rotation of objects;
- attacks of nausea, which rarely end in vomiting.
Due to oxygen deficiency in the brain, sleep is disrupted, weakness, apathy, fatigue and ringing in the ears occur. The psycho-emotional state of a person worsens: he becomes nervous and worries about trifles.
Principles of pharmacological treatment
Chiropractors, professional masseurs, physiotherapists and physiotherapy doctors are involved in the treatment of cervical chondrosis. At the final stage, the use of folk remedies is allowed. But the main role in complex therapy is assigned to pharmacological drugs.All dosage forms are required:
- injectable solutions are used for exacerbations of chondrosis to quickly eliminate its painful symptoms;
- tablets, capsules, dragees are prescribed during remission to prevent disc destruction, relieve mild or moderate pain and restore blood circulation;
- ointments, gels, balms, creams are the safest, they quickly cope with stiffness and unpleasant creaks.
It is rarely possible to treat osteochondrosis with just one drug. Therapeutic regimens usually include at least 5 drugs with different pharmacological properties. They are compatible and convenient to use at home.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
NSAIDs are more often used than other drugs in the treatment of cervical chondrosis. They are indicated for acute, piercing or distant, dull pain. The mechanism of action of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is based on the ability to inhibit the enzymes responsible for the production of neurotransmitters. All NSAIDs have a complex effect on the human body:
- eliminate painful sensations;
- eliminate the creaking and clicking noises that occur when you twist your neck;
- interrupt the course of acute, subacute and chronic inflammatory processes affecting soft tissues;
- stimulate a reduction in swelling that affects sensory nerve endings;
- increase the range of motion of damaged cervical vertebrae.
In the treatment of chondrosis, drugs in the form of solutions for parenteral administration and tablets have proven themselves well.
Long-term use of NSAIDs leads to damage to the gastric mucosa. Simultaneous use of proton pump inhibitors will help avoid this. The drugs reduce the production of aggressive gastric juice by parietal cells, which increases under the influence of NSAIDs.
Synthetic hormones
Glucocorticosteroids are synthetic analogues of hormones produced by the adrenal cortex. This is the "heavy artillery" of drug treatment of cervical osteochondrosis. Like natural hormones, glucocorticosteroids quickly relieve inflammation, swelling and eliminate pain almost instantly. They are used in the form of solutions for intramuscular administration. But in case of acute pain it is possible to insert them directly into the area of the destroyed intervertebral disc. Treatment of aggravated pathology is carried out with hormonal drugs.One injection is enough to prevent the onset of pain for 3-5 days. Glucocorticosteroids are prescribed to patients with osteochondrosis when NSAIDs are ineffective. It's about the extensive list of their potential side effects. Too frequent use of hormones leads to damage to muscles, bones, tendon-ligament apparatus.
The use of hormonal drugs during pregnancy, breastfeeding, adolescence and childhood is prohibited.
All glucocorticosteroids have many contraindications. In clinical practice, cases of withdrawal include severe damage to the liver, kidneys and stomach after long-term hormone therapy. They are not used in the presence of liver cirrhosis, peptic ulcer, renal failure or osteoporosis.
Drugs with chondroprotective effects
All means used in the complex treatment of chondrosis only eliminate its symptoms, temporarily improving a person's well-being. The only exception is chondroprotectors. These drugs contain ingredients that can trigger the restoration of damaged cartilaginous intervertebral discs. Neck pain stops hurting after using them and disappears not for a few hours, but forever.
In pharmacies, chondroprotectors are presented in a wide range. These are capsules, substances for the preparation of injectable solutions, powders packaged in bags.They must contain one of the following components:
- Glucosamine. Stimulates the synthesis of bioactive substances necessary for tissue construction, improves the composition of synovial fluid. Increases the permeability of the joint capsule, restores enzymatic processes and inhibits the destruction of discs.
- Chondroitin. Participates in the construction of cartilage and bone tissue, accelerates metabolic processes. Inhibits the destruction of intervertebral discs, blocks enzymes that cause damage to cartilage tissue.
Products that improve microcirculation
A substance required to improve blood circulation in cervical osteochondrosis is xanthinol nicotinate. This drug is used in the treatment of pathologies of high severity, when not only the discs, but also the bone vertebrae are deformed. Compression of the vertebral artery manifests as cervicocranialgia. This is the name of a whole complex of symptoms of violation of the vertebral artery: headache, "floaters" before the eyes, temporary blurred vision, sweating, rapid heartbeat.
Thioctic acid helps improve microcirculation and eliminate "vertebral artery syndrome". The disadvantage of such drugs is their indiscriminate effect, since they accelerate the movement of blood throughout the body, which is not always advisable. Therefore, the list of their contraindications includes epilepsy, hyperthyroidism and peptic ulcer.
Prepared with B vitamins
Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis in the acute phase cannot be carried out without the use of drugs, the composition of which is formed by B vitamins. The fact is that acute bone growths of the vertebrae infringe not only the vertebral artery. They also put pressure on sensitive nerve roots, interrupting innervation. Nerve impulses enter the central nervous system with a delay and its responses are inhibited.
Disruption of innervation leads to paresthesia - loss of sensitivity in some areas of the body.
In the pharmacological treatment of cervical chondrosis, drugs whose activity is determined by pyridoxine, thiamine and B12 have proven effective.
Many of them are available in the form of solutions for intramuscular administration. Contains B vitamins and an anesthetic. Therefore, after the injection, the pain immediately disappears and mobility in the area of \u200b\u200bthe cervical vertebrae is restored.
At the same time, the product improves blood flow, the functioning of the nervous, muscular and cardiovascular systems, relieves inflammation and degeneration of nerves. There are contraindications to its use. These are periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding, hypersensitivity to ingredients.
The best muscle relaxants
Elimination of mild symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis and treatment of its exacerbations at home are often complicated by muscle spasms. The nerve root is compressed by displacement of the intervertebral discs and inflammatory edema. A severe pain syndrome occurs, which the body tries to eliminate with muscle spasms. Thanks to this peculiar protective reaction, the person's mobility is limited and the discomfort disappears.
But often increased skeletal muscle tone causes even greater pressure on the nerve endings.
Muscle relaxants are combined with all means for the pharmacological treatment of chondrosis, including glucocorticosteroids. They are well tolerated by the body, but some can cause addiction and "withdrawal syndrome". Therefore, they are not intended for long-term therapy. The duration of the treatment course does not exceed one week.
Drugs that improve the psycho-emotional state
Of all chondrosis, it is the cervical one that especially worsens a person's psycho-emotional state. It concerns the violation of the vertebral artery by bone growths, which leads to cerebral hypoxia.The patient presents atypical symptoms for pathologies of the musculoskeletal system:
- panic attacks;
- depression, neurosis;
- visual and auditory disturbances;
- non-productive dry cough;
- shortness of breath;
- anxiety, apathy, tiredness;
- various sleep disorders.
What you shouldn't do when they appear is use cough suppressants, eye or ear drops. Symptoms can often be eliminated by taking a course of drugs with a mild sedative effect: Tenoten, Novo-Passit, motherwort tinctures, valerian, peony. Only for severe neuroses and depression are tranquilizers, antipsychotics and antidepressants prescribed.
Balanced vitamin complexes
Most essential vitamins, micro and macro elements enter the human body with food. But food products are not always able to satisfy physiological needs, or they are absorbed and distributed incorrectly. For example, with circulatory disorders characteristic of cervical osteochondrosis. There is a shortage of bioactive substances, which negatively affects the functioning of all vital systems.
To quickly replenish the body's daily requirement of vitamins, micro- and macroelements, their balanced complexes must be included in treatment regimens.
Magnesium forms muscle and bone tissue and iodine regulates metabolism. Manganese, molybdenum, chromium, potassium, chlorine, selenium, zinc stimulate the strengthening of the tendon-ligament system and copper stops inflammatory processes. These minerals are present in all the above complexes.
Correct taking of drugs consists in using 1 tablet per day: this amount is enough to improve the blood supply to the brain with useful substances.
A week later, the signs of anemia that occur in stage 3 of the development of cervical chondrosis disappear. The person no longer feels drowsy and does not suffer from movement coordination disorders. Double vision of objects before the eyes disappears.
Ointments, gels, balms
External remedies are always used for exacerbations of chondrosis at home. They cannot bear intense pain; injections or painkillers are required. Ointments, creams, gels, balms are used to eliminate pain that occurs during hypothermia and changing climatic zones.Which of them will help cure a chronic disease:
- Anti-inflammatory. Medicines have a gentler effect on the human body than other NSAIDs.
- Vasodilators. The agents show local irritant activity and dilate the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain.
- Painkillers. The drugs help relieve pain immediately after application. They are well absorbed and do not leave greasy traces on clothes and bed linen.
- Heating. Products with pepper extract are applied only using an applicator. The medicines have an analgesic effect a couple of minutes after application to the back of the neck.
Products for external use are effective and very rarely cause the development of local allergic reactions. But caution is required during treatment. If the ointments come into contact with the mucous membranes, rinse them quickly with water. Especially those that contain essential oils, natural poisons and turpentine.
Therapeutic patches
A proven remedy for exacerbations of osteochondrosis is pepper plaster. Its composition is represented by phytoextracts of red pepper, belladonna and dimexide. The active ingredients of the patch gradually penetrate into the damaged disc area and have an analgesic effect for 3-5 hours. If your neck hurts, the external remedy is used whole or cut into small pieces.
The pepper patch is convenient to use for treatment at home, at work or while traveling. But it also has a contraindication: individual intolerance to one of the components. And in women with sensitive skin it can cause chemical burns.
The patches have anti-inflammatory, decongestant and chondroprotective activity. They are intended for the treatment of all pathologies of the cervical spine. Their use helps reduce the pharmacological burden on the human body by reducing the doses of systemic drugs.
How to properly treat cervical chondrosis?
Stopping the destruction of intervertebral discs is possible only with an integrated approach to therapy. It is practiced to wear orthopedic devices (Schanz collars) that fix the vertebrae in an anatomical position. Applicators are needed to improve the blood supply to damaged tissues with nutrients and bioactive substances. Daily classes in physiotherapy, yoga, swimming and outdoor walking are shown.
It is best to use most medications to relieve symptoms during flare-ups. They have many side effects, including damage to liver tissue. For regular use, chondroprotectors, means to improve blood circulation and balanced vitamin and mineral complexes are suitable.