reflex symptoms
Symptoms of this category are characterized by a crunch of the vertebrae during head rotation, which, due to pain, forces the patient to take a certain position. Osteochondrosis provokes pain of a pressing nature, spreading to the temporal zone. Sometimes patients experience a decrease in visual acuity.
Irritation of the nerve connections of the vertebral artery can provoke the onset of a syndrome that is often diagnosed as a violation of cerebral circulation causing dizziness.
In this case, dizziness and nausea can also be caused by violent head movements. The symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis also include cardiac syndrome. Its manifestation resembles an attack of angina pectoris.
Radicular Syndromes
Radicular symptoms of osteochondrosis of the neck, as a rule, are the result of compression of the spinal root. Injuries to the musculoskeletal system or sensitivity directly depend on which nerve ending is affected:
- S1 - leads to a violation of sensitivity in the occipital zone;
- S2 - causes pain in the parietal zone, which can cause dizziness;
- S3 - reduces the sensitivity of the throat, in addition, there may be a violation of speech;
- S4 - leads to a decrease in sensitivity in the shoulder area, reduces the tone of the neck muscles and provokes respiratory failure;
- S5 - causes pain and a violation of tenderness in the outer part of the shoulder;
- S6 - causes pain moving from the neck to the shoulder blade, to the outer part of the shoulder and even to the thumb;
- S7 - leads to pain that spreads from the neck to the shoulder blade, the back of the shoulder and II-IV fingers of the hand.
- S8 - causes pain, a decrease in sensitivity, moving from the neck to the forearm to the little finger.
Symptoms by Group
The division of clinical phenomena into groups helps to better understand the symptoms of osteochondrosis. In osteochondrosis, three main groups are observed. The first group determines the manifestation of pain, the second is reflected in movement disorders.
The third group is characterized by vascular manifestations. Based on this, it is necessary to consider in detail each individual type of complications of cervical osteochondrosis.
nervous system
The defeat of the removed part of the nervous system can lead to the manifestation of cervical osteochondrosis. The pain effect is accompanied by regular neck pain.
The main symptoms include:
- Muscle aches;
- pain in the joints;
- pain in the chest area.
Most often, pain occurs without external stimuli. Trying to roll over, raise your head, or cough may increase the pain. The main localization of pain falls on the neck.
The manifestation of pain can resemble an electric shock. There is also tension in the neck muscles and breathing difficulties. With exacerbated osteochondrosis, a non-standard posture gradually develops: the patients' head is slightly tilted to the side.
Cervical lumbago restricts rotational movement of the head. While the rotation of the head is often accompanied by a crunch of the vertebrae and noise phenomena, especially when the disease has begun. Patients often believe that the cause of pain spasms can be hypothermia of the neck or increased stress on the cervical spine. Therefore, it is important to understand which symptoms in cervical osteochondrosis cause pain, and which aggravate the clinical manifestations of the disease.
Resulting symptoms
Osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebra often provokes the development of cervical and shoulder sciatica. As a result, patients complain of pain in the occiput and upper neck. There are times when the pain shifts to the shoulder girdle area.
This usually occurs when the muscles connected to certain nerve endings are strained. The main reason is the compression of the nerve endings of the vertebrae.
movement disorders
Osteochondrosis often leads to the development of torticollis. This is the result of a spasm of the neck muscles. Such manifestations of the disease lead to a lack of movement in the cervical spine.
Any attempt to turn your head is accompanied by a crunching of the vertebrae and neck pain.
X-rays of the cervical spine show clear changes in individual vertebrae. The compression of the vessels weakens the pulse at the radial artery. Osteochondrosis in the cervical spine is often accompanied by paling of the fingers.
An additional manifestation of osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae is pain in the shoulder joint. Painful spasms usually occur at night. Pain in the neck or arm, especially when you try to move your arm to the side.
Attempts to rest the hand cause the development of joint stiffness and form a kind of posture: the shoulder presses against the chest. As a result, with osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae in a neglected form, you can only raise your hand to eye level. Periods of exacerbation are often accompanied by increased skin temperature.
vascular phenomena
Insufficient blood flow leads to manifestations of the disease in the brain. The main symptoms of osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae with vascular manifestations:
- hypothalamus;
- Drops Syndrome;
- vestibular trunk;
- ochlear trunk;
- pharyngo-laryngeal;
- visual disturbances
The first symptom indicates a malfunction of the hypothalamus and leads to increased fatigue, sleep disturbances. The ability to remember decreases. Cases of manifestation of groundless fear or anxiety are known. You may also notice a decrease in sexual desire and frequent urination.
The second symptom is characterized by causing dizziness, fainting and loss of consciousness. Attacks usually lead to weakness in the legs and a feeling of weakness. The third syndrome causes dizziness, nausea, and unsteadiness when walking.
However, dizziness can be the cause of a number of other diseases. For example, diseases such as vestibular neuritis, migraines or a brain tumor can also cause dizziness.
The fourth symptom is tinnitus, or hearing loss. The main manifestations of the fifth syndrome are a feeling of dryness or a foreign body in the throat, loss of sonority in the voice and fatigue during a conversation. The last sign of cervical osteochondrosis is determined by a drop in visual acuity.
Factors affecting nerve ending compression:
- displacement of the intervertebral discs;
- osteophytes;
- the formation of protrusions of the vertebrae;
- Change in height of the intervertebral disc.
Cervical-thoracic osteochondrosis
The basis of osteochondrosis of the cervicothoracic spine is the destruction of spongy bone tissue. Pathological changes in the spine create conditions for injury of nerve endings in the chest area. As a result, there is a feeling of electric shock when trying to bend your neck, for example.
Cervical-thoracic osteochondrosis is accompanied by pressing and pulling pains in the chest area. Complications cause restricted mobility of the elbow and shoulder joints. However, since there are no conditions for trauma to the intervertebral discs in the chest area, this pathology rarely leads to the formation of an inguinal hernia.
Symptoms of cervicothoracic osteochondrosis:
- Fatigue;
- headache, chest pain;
- drop in blood pressure;
- fog before the eyes;
- Dizziness;
- ringing in the ears;
- pain in the neck (vertebrae) and ribs;
- numbness of fingers;
- impaired movement coordination.