Damage to the chest is often confused with pathology of internal organs. The lungs, heart, as well as the mammary glands and stomach, located here, can also provoke pain in this place. Therefore, it is often difficult for doctors to diagnose osteochondrosis of the chest: symptoms in women are confused with mastopathy.
Thoracic osteochondrosis - symptoms and sensations
To begin with, it should be noted that osteochondrosis is the most common pathology of the spine. In its essence, it is a degenerative, dystrophy-related damage to the discs between the vertebrae. Such processes lead to irreversible changes in the spinal structure, which affects the functionality of the spine as a whole.
Given the dense innervation and the presence of a large number of nerve roots, patients with osteochondrosis experience severe, sharp pain. At the same time, their character and intensity can change. This complicates the diagnostic process: in order to differentiate thoracic osteochondrosis, the symptoms and sensations in women are analyzed, excluding the pathology of the mammary glands, heart and stomach.
The first signs of osteochondrosis in women
Painful sensations come to the fore among all possible signs of damage to the spine. Severe, aching pains that worsen at night when they remain in one position for a long time are often the first to attract attention. Increased pain is also observed during physical activity with:
- turns;
- sharp turns to the side;
- prolonged physical activity, even of low intensity;
- deep breathing;
- raising hands up.
Some patients complain of a feeling of pressure in the chest area. If osteochondrosis of the chest is suspected, symptoms in women can be supplemented by a number of signs, namely:
- numbness of certain areas of the epidermis;
- feeling of coldness in the lower limbs;
- pain in the projection of the stomach and esophagus;
- disturbances in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
Degrees of osteochondrosis
Symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women largely depend on the nature of the degenerative changes. Taking into account, the relevant stages of the disease (degree) are distinguished:
- 1st degree - fixed when changes are observed in the disc core itself.Excessive loading leads to dehydration of the core, which leads to a decrease in the height of the disc and the development of cracks in the area of the annulus fibrosus. There is no pain, some women complain of slight discomfort during prolonged static.
- 2nd degree - due to a decrease in the height of the disc, the distance between the vertebral bodies is reduced.Spinal ligaments eventually sag. The vertebrae acquire greater mobility, which is not typical for the chest as a whole. As a result, the risk of displacement increases. The pain occurs mainly during work. It is at this stage that osteochondrosis of the chest is detected and the symptoms in women become obvious.
- Grade 3 – formation of intervertebral disc prolapses is observed.These phenomena are accompanied by subluxations and the development of arthrosis of the intervertebral joints. Mobility decreases, numbness and tingling appear in the limbs. Painful sensations are recorded in the back, neck and chest area.
- 4th degree - the body tries to compensate for the hypermobility of the vertebrae and adapt to the dysfunction of the spine.Where the vertebral bodies come into contact with each other, osteophytes form, which can cause nerve pinching and vertebral injury.
How to distinguish thoracic osteochondrosis from other diseases?
According to statistics, osteochondrosis of the chest, the symptoms of which in women usually do not differ from those registered in men, occurs less often than lesions of the cervical and lumbar spine. However, this does not facilitate the process of diagnosing the disease. Due to the peculiarities of the localization, many doctors confuse the pathology with diseases of the chest organs.
However, experienced specialists who know how to identify thoracic osteochondrosis at the very first stage try to exclude diseases of the breast, heart, stomach and lungs. Thus, there is no cough with thoracic osteochondrosis, unlike the pathologies of the respiratory system, which are always accompanied by this symptom.
How to distinguish thoracic osteochondrosis from heart pain?
In practice, doctors are often faced with a situation where the patient complains of regular pain in the heart, but the changes in the cardiogram and ultrasound are not recorded. In such cases, painful sensations in the chest on the left are associated with neurological disorders due to osteochondrosis. When the distance between adjacent vertebrae decreases, the nerve roots are compressed, which causes painful sensations that mimic a heart attack.
Knowing how to distinguish angina from thoracic osteochondrosis, you can immediately identify myocardial disorders. Among the main differences:
- With osteochondrosis, the pain lasts for hours, weeks and has a wavy course, subsides and reappears. In angina pectoris, the pain attack lasts 10-15 minutes, subsides after taking nitrates.
- The appearance of pain in osteochondrosis does not appear against the background of physical activity, unlike angina pectoris.
- Neurological pain due to spinal cord injury can be relieved with analgesics, but in patients with cardiac pathology these drugs are ineffective.
Thoracic osteochondrosis and VSD
Fixed signs of thoracic osteochondrosis in women should be distinguished from the manifestations of VSD. Unlike spine injuries, diseases of the cardiovascular system are characterized by a number of symptoms that should be paid attention to.Among the characteristic signs of VSD:
- tachycardia, heart pain;
- the onset of asthmatic attacks;
- unstable blood pressure due to circulatory disorders (pressure with thoracic osteochondrosis is always normal).
Thoracic osteochondrosis and stomach pains
Pain in the abdomen with thoracic osteochondrosis is provoked by a violation of the innervation of the vertebrae located on the projection of the stomach. If the patient has stomach problems, painful pains appear, accompanied by unpleasant sensations such as heartburn. At the same time, painful sensations are in no way related to activity and physical activity.Pain with thoracic osteochondrosis in the abdominal area has the following characteristics:
- aggravated by movements that involve the spine;
- discomfort does not disappear after taking drugs that improve digestion;
- appear regardless of the fullness of the stomach: on an empty stomach, after a meal.
Thoracic osteochondrosis and mammary gland pain
Mastalgia is a common symptom in women. Many girls experience painful sensations in the breasts due to cyclical hormonal changes. However, if there is no cyclical pain, doctors suspect possible changes in the spine. At the same time, women themselves begin to look for the cause on the Internet, trying to understand how to understand that you have osteochondrosis.
In cases where degenerative changes occur in the spine, the pain changes its localization and appears regardless of the phase of the menstrual cycle. In this case, there is no swelling or fullness of the breast. The gland itself completely preserves its appearance, size and shape, unlike when breast pathologies develop. Similar signs of osteochondrosis in women help to differentiate the disease.
What to do with thoracic osteochondrosis?
If breast osteochondrosis is suspected in women, doctors send patients for an appropriate examination. This diagnosis of the disease and the correct correction allow us to avoid the negative consequences that are inextricably linked to spinal disorders. A thorough diagnosis based on hardware examination data is important.
Diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the chest
The main and often the only diagnostic method is chest X-ray. It allows you to diagnose osteochondrosis in women, regardless of the severity of the changes. It all depends on the quality of the photo.In the presence of osteochondrosis of the chest, the symptoms in the women in the photo are as follows:
- violation of the contours of the discs themselves, located between the vertebrae;
- modified disc shape;
- the presence of osteophytes (pathological growths);
- spinous processes with sharp edges, vertebrae of irregular shape;
- the presence of an intervertebral hernia.
Treatment of osteochondrosis of the chest
The therapy of this disease is complex. Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis is carried out simultaneously in several areas:
- Pain relief- use NSAIDs.
- Strengthening the spine– moderate, balanced physical activity, physical activity.
- surgery– when intervertebral hernias occur.