Manual therapy: diseases — симптомы, диагностика и лечение

Osteochondrosis is age-related degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs and joints of the spine. It is important to understand: to one degree or another, almost all people after 30–35 years have them, and in themselves they are not a disease. The problem is that this diagnosis in post-Soviet medicine is used to explain almost any pain - in the back, neck, head, arm, heart. Meanwhile, in most cases, back pain is not associated with “salt deposits”, but with muscles and joints, and responds well to movement, rather than rest and IVs.

A herniated disc is the release of the internal contents of the disc beyond its outer ring. The diagnosis sounds alarming, and most patients immediately think about surgery. In reality, the picture is different: a significant proportion of hernias exist asymptomatically, and of those that cause pain, the majority resolve conservatively within 6-12 weeks. Moreover, large hernias and sequesters often decrease or completely resolve on their own - the body “digests” them. Surgery is necessary for a minority, but there are a few situations where delay is unacceptable.

Scoliosis is a three-dimensional deformation of the spine with lateral curvature and rotation of the vertebrae. Most often it is idiopathic, that is, it develops without an established cause, and appears during a period of rapid growth, much more often in girls. The main feature of scoliosis is that it progresses during the child’s growth and stops after its completion. Therefore, timing is everything: scoliosis detected in time can be supported with a corset, but if missed, it will require surgery. Posture and “correct sitting” have almost no effect on true scoliosis, and it’s worth knowing this so as not to waste months.

Tension headaches are the most common headache in the world, and that is why they are almost never treated: they just live with it, swallow a pill and get back to business. It feels like a squeezing hoop or a tight hat, covers the head on both sides, is rarely strong and does not get worse from normal walking. It does not pose a danger in itself, but it has an insidious continuation, which few people know about: if painkillers are taken more than a certain number of days a month, they themselves begin to cause headaches. So rare attacks turn into a daily background, and the person is sure that the disease is progressing, although the reason lies in the package of pills on his desk.

Radiculopathy is damage to the nerve root as it exits the spine. In everyday life it is called “pinched nerve” or radiculitis. A distinctive feature is that the pain does not remain in the back, but “shoots” along the nerve: in the arm to the fingers if the cervical spine is affected, or in the buttock and along the back of the leg with lumbar pain. Along with the pain comes numbness and weakness. Most cases resolve with conservative treatment, but there are several situations in which delay is dangerous.