Injury to the thoracic spine is often mistaken for a pathology of the internal organs. The lungs, heart, as well as the mammary glands located here and the stomach can also cause pain in this area. Because of this, doctors often find it difficult to diagnose osteochondrosis of the chest region: in women, the symptoms are mistaken for mastopathy.
Chest osteochondrosis - symptoms and sensations
To begin with, it should be noted that osteochondrosis is the most common pathology of the spine. By its nature, it is a degenerative, dystrophy-related damage to the discs between the vertebrae. Such processes lead to irreversible changes in the structure of the spine, which affect the functioning of the spinal column as a whole.
Given the presence of dense innervation and a large number of nerve roots, patients with osteochondrosis experience severe, sharp pain. At the same time, their nature and intensity can change. This complicates the diagnostic process: in order to differentiate thoracic osteochondrosis in women, symptoms and sensations are analyzed excluding mammary glands, heart and stomach pathology.
The first signs of osteochondrosis in women
Painful sensations come to the fore among all the possible signs of spine damage. Severe, aching pains that get worse at night, when you stay in one position for a long time, are often the first to get attention. Intensification of pain is also observed during physical activity:
- in curves;
- sharp turns on the side;
- long physical exercise, even of low intensity;
- deep breathing
- raising hands.
Some patients complain of a feeling of compression in the chest. If osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is suspected, a number of signs can be added to the symptoms in women, such as:
- numbness of certain areas of the epidermis;
- feeling of coldness in the lower limbs;
- pain in the projection of the stomach and esophagus;
- Dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract.
Degrees of osteochondrosis
Symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women largely depend on the nature of degenerative changes. Taking them into account, the corresponding stages of the disease (quality) are distinguished:
- Grade 1 - fixed when changes are observed in the core of the disc.Excessive loading causes dehydration of the core, which leads to a decrease in the height of the disc and the formation of cracks in the area of the fibrous ring. There is no pain, some women complain of slight discomfort with a long static position.
- 2nd degree – due to the decrease in the height of the disc, the distance between the vertebral bodies decreases.Spinal ligaments eventually tear. Vertebrae acquire greater mobility, which is not characteristic of the thoracic region as a whole. As a result, the risk of displacement increases. Pain occurs mainly during work. Directly at this stage, osteochondrosis of the chest region is revealed, and the symptoms in women become obvious.
- 3rd degree - formation of intervertebral disc prolapses is observed.These events are accompanied by subluxations and the development of arthrosis of the intervertebral joints. Mobility decreases, numbness and tingling sensations appear in the limbs. Painful sensations are recorded in the back, neck and chest.
- Grade 4 - The body tries to compensate for the hypermobility of the spine and adapt to the dysfunction of the spine.Where the vertebral bodies come into contact with each other, osteophytes form, which can cause nerve compression and damage to the spine.
How to distinguish thoracic osteochondrosis from other diseases?
According to statistics, osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine, the symptoms of which in women do not differ from those in men, is less common than damage to the cervical and lumbar spine. However, this does not make the process of diagnosing the disease any easier. Due to the peculiarities of localization, many doctors confuse the pathology with diseases of the chest organs.
However, experienced specialists, who know how to recognize thoracic osteochondrosis in the first stage, try to exclude diseases of the breast, heart, stomach and lungs. Thus, there is no cough during thoracic osteochondrosis, unlike respiratory system pathologies, which are always accompanied by this symptom.
How to distinguish chest osteochondrosis from heart pain?
In practice, doctors often face a situation when a patient complains of regular pain in the heart, but no changes are recorded on the cardiogram and ultrasound. In such cases, painful sensations in the chest area on the left are associated with neurological disorders due to osteochondrosis. When the space between adjacent vertebrae decreases, the nerve roots are compressed, causing painful sensations that mimic heart pain.
Knowing how to distinguish angina from thoracic osteochondrosis, you can immediately recognize myocardial disorders. Among the main differences:
- In osteochondrosis, the pain lasts for hours, weeks and has a wave-like course, decreases and reappears. The pain attack during angina lasts 10-15 minutes, disappears after nitrates.
- Pain in osteochondrosis does not occur against the background of physical exertion, unlike angina pectoris.
- Neurological pain caused by spinal cord injury can be relieved by analgesics, but these drugs are ineffective in patients with heart disease.
Thoracic osteochondrosis and VSD
Fixed signs of thoracic osteochondrosis in women should be differentiated from the manifestations of VSD. Unlike back 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 appearance of asthma attacks;
- Unstable blood pressure due to blood circulation disorders (pressure is always normal in thoracic osteochondrosis).
Chest osteochondrosis and stomach pain
Abdominal pain with thoracic osteochondrosis is caused by a disturbance of the innervation of the vertebrae located on the projection of the stomach. If the patient has stomach problems, there is a sharp pain accompanied by unpleasant sensations such as heartburn. At the same time, painful sensations are in no way related to activity and physical activity.Pain in the abdomen during thoracic osteochondrosis has the following characteristics:
- aggravates movements involving the spine;
- discomfort does not disappear after taking drugs that improve digestion;
- It appears regardless of the fullness of the stomach: on an empty stomach, after eating.
Osteochondrosis of the chest and pain in the mammary gland
Mastalgia is a common symptom in women. Many girls experience painful sensations in the chest due to cyclical hormonal changes. However, if there is no cyclic pain, doctors suspect possible changes in the spine. At the same time, women themselves start looking for the reason on the Internet, trying to find out how to understand that you have osteochondrosis.
In cases where degenerative changes occur in the spine, the pain changes location and appears regardless of the phase of the menstrual cycle. In this case, there is no breast swelling or swelling. The gland itself completely preserves its appearance, size and shape, unlike in cases where breast pathologies develop. Signs similar to osteochondrosis in women help to differentiate the disease.
What to do with thoracic osteochondrosis?
Due to suspicion of thoracic osteochondrosis in women, doctors send patients for appropriate examination. This disease diagnosis and correct correction allows us to avoid negative consequences that are inextricably linked to spinal column disorders. A thorough diagnosis based on technical examination data is important.
Diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine
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 region, the symptoms in the women shown in the picture are as follows:
- Violation of the contours of the discs themselves, which are located between the vertebrae;
- Changed disk shape;
- presence of osteophytes (pathological formations);
- pointed processes with sharp edges, irregularly shaped spines;
- Presence of intervertebral hernia.
Treatment of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine
Treatment of this disease is complex. Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis is carried out simultaneously in several directions:
- elimination of pain- Use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Strengthening the spine- Moderate, balanced physical activity, physiotherapy.
- surgery- When an intervertebral hernia occurs.