Osteochondrosis of the chest - symptoms in women through which the disease can be accurately identified

Thoracic spine injuries are often mistaken for lesions of internal organs. The lungs, heart, and breast and stomach located here can also cause pain in this location. For this reason, it is often difficult for doctors to diagnose osteochondrosis of the chest: women's symptoms are mistaken for breast disease.

Chest Osteochondrosis - Symptoms and Feelings

First, it should be noted that osteochondrosis is the most common pathology of the spine. Essentially, it is a degenerative, dystrophy-related disorder of the discs between the vertebrae. These processes lead to irreversible changes in vertebral structure, affecting the function of the entire spine.

People with osteochondrosis experience intense, sharp pain due to the dense innervation and presence of numerous nerve roots. At the same time, their nature and intensity may change. This complicates the diagnostic process: in order to distinguish osteochondrosis of the chest, it is necessary to analyze a woman's symptoms and sensations, excluding pathologies of the breast, heart and stomach.

First signs of osteochondrosis in women

Of all the possible signs of spinal injury, pain stands out the most. When staying in one position for an extended period of time, the first thing to notice is often severe pain that worsens at night.Increased pain may also be observed during physical activity:

• bending;
• sharp sideways turn;
• Prolonged physical activity, even low-intensity exercise;
• Take a deep breath;
• raise your hand.

Some patients complain of a squeezing sensation in the chest. If thoracic osteochondrosis is suspected, a woman's symptoms may be accompanied by a number of signs, these are:

• numbness in certain areas of the epidermis;
• A cold feeling in the lower extremities;
• Projecting pain to the stomach and esophagus;
• Gastrointestinal disorders.

degree of osteochondrosis

The symptoms of osteochondrosis of the chest in women depend largely on the nature of the degenerative changes. Taking them into account, it is possible to distinguish the corresponding stages (degrees) of the disease:

• Level 1 - Fixed when changes are observed in the core of the disk.Excessive loading can lead to dehydration of the nucleus pulposus, resulting in reduced disc height and the development of cracks in the annulus fibrosus area. There is no pain, and some women complain of mild discomfort when stationary for long periods of time.
• 2 degrees – The distance between the vertebrae decreases due to a decrease in disc height.The spinal ligaments eventually sag. The vertebrae gain greater mobility, which is not typical for the entire chest area. As a result, the risk of displacement increases. The pain occurs mainly during work. It is at this stage that osteochondrosis in the chest area is discovered and symptoms in women become apparent.
• Grade 3 – The formation of disc prolapse is observed.These phenomena are accompanied by subluxation of the intervertebral joints and the development of arthropathy. Mobility is reduced, and numbness and tingling occur in the limbs. Pain in the back, neck and chest area.
• Level 4 – The body attempts to compensate for the excessive movement of the vertebrae and adapt to the spinal dysfunction.Osteophytes can form where the vertebrae touch each other, causing nerve compression and damage to the vertebrae.

How to distinguish thoracic osteochondrosis from other diseases?

According to statistics, the incidence of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is lower than that of cervical and lumbar spine lesions, and the symptoms in women are usually no different from those in men. However, this does not make the process of diagnosing the disease any easier. Due to the particularity of localization, many doctors confuse the pathology with chest organ diseases.However, experienced specialists know how to identify osteochondrosis of the chest in the first stages and try to rule out diseases of the breast, heart, stomach and lungs. Therefore, osteochondrosis of the chest does not cause coughing, which is always accompanied by lesions of the respiratory system.

How to differentiate between thoracic osteochondrosis and heart pain?

In practice, doctors often face the situation: patients complain of frequent heart pain, but no changes in electrocardiogram and ultrasound are recorded. In this case, the pain on the left side of the chest is associated with neurological disease caused by osteochondrosis. When the gap between adjacent vertebrae decreases, the nerve roots become compressed, causing pain similar to a heart attack. Learn how to differentiate between angina and thoracic osteochondrosis and you can immediately identify heart muscle disease. The main differences include:

1. In osteochondrosis, the pain may last for hours or weeks, appear in waves, subside and then return again. In the case of angina, episodes of pain last 10-15 minutes and subside after taking nitrates.
2. Unlike angina, the pain of osteochondrosis does not occur in the context of physical activity.
3. Neuropathic pain caused by spinal cord injury can be relieved with analgesics, but these drugs are not effective in patients with heart disease.

Chest Osteochondrosis and VSD

Fixed signs of osteochondrosis of the chest in women must be differentiated from manifestations of VSD. Unlike spinal injuries, cardiovascular disease has many symptoms that require attention.Characteristics of VSD include:

• Tachycardia, heartache;
• occurrence of asthma attacks;
• Unstable blood pressure due to circulatory disorders (pressure is always normal in thoracic osteochondrosis).

Osteochondrosis of the chest and stomach pain

Abdominal pain caused by thoracic osteochondrosis results from violation of the innervation of the vertebrae located in the projection of the stomach. If a patient has stomach problems, they will experience constant pain, accompanied by unpleasant sensations such as heartburn. At the same time, the feeling of pain is not related in any way to activity and physical activity.Abdominal and thoracic osteochondrosis pain has the following characteristics:

• Movements involving the spine are aggravated;
• Discomfort that does not subside after taking medications to improve digestion;
• It occurs whether the stomach is full or not: on an empty stomach and after a meal.

Chest osteochondrosis and breast pain

Breast pain is a common symptom among women. Many girls experience chest pain due to cyclical changes in hormones. However, if there is no periodic pain, doctors suspect there may be changes in the spine. Meanwhile, women themselves began searching the Internet for the cause, trying to figure out how to know they had osteochondrosis.

If degenerative changes occur in the spine, the location of the pain may change and the pain may occur regardless of the phase of the menstrual cycle. In this case, the breasts are not swollen or engorged. In contrast to the case of breast lesion formation, the glands themselves completely retain their appearance, size and shape. Similar symptoms of osteochondrosis in women can help distinguish this disease.

What to do about thoracic osteochondrosis?

When a woman is suspected of having thoracic osteochondrosis, her doctor will send the patient for appropriate testing. Diagnosis and correct correction of this disease allow us to avoid the negative consequences closely associated with spinal disorders. A thorough diagnosis based on hardware inspection data is very important.

Diagnosis of thoracic osteochondrosis

The main and often only diagnostic method is a 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.When osteochondrosis appears in the chest, the symptoms of the woman in the picture are as follows:

• Violating the contours of the disc itself, which is located between the vertebrae;
• Modify the disk shape;
• The presence of osteophytes (pathological growth);
• The spinous processes have sharp edges and the vertebrae are irregularly shaped;
• Intervertebral hernia is present.

Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis

Treatment of this disease is complex. Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis is carried out simultaneously in several directions:

1. eliminate pain- Use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
2. Strengthen the spine– Moderate, balanced physical activity, physical therapy.
3. Surgery– When an intervertebral hernia occurs.