Damage to the thoracic spine is often mistaken for a pathology of internal organs. The lungs, heart, as well as the mammary glands and stomach located here can also cause pain in this location. Because of this, it is often difficult for doctors to diagnose osteochondrosis of the thoracic region: the symptoms in women are confused with mastopathy.
Thoracic osteochondrosis - symptoms and sensations
First, it should be noted that osteochondrosis is the most common pathology of the spine. By nature, it is a degenerative, dystrophy-related lesion of the intervertebral discs. 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 intense, sharp pain. At the same time, their nature and intensity may change. This complicates the diagnostic process: to differentiate thoracic osteochondrosis, symptoms and sensations in women are analyzed, excluding pathology of the mammary glands, heart and stomach.
The first signs of osteochondrosis in women
Painful sensations come to the fore among all the possible signs of damage to the spine. Sharp, aching pains that worsen at night when you stay in one position for a long time are often the first to get attention. Increased pain is also observed during physical activity with:
- bends
- sharp turns to the side.
- prolonged physical exercise, even of low intensity.
- deep breath;
- raising hands up.
Some patients complain of a feeling of compression in the chest area. If osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine is suspected, the symptoms in women may be supplemented by a number of signs, which are:
- numbness of certain areas of the skin.
- feeling of coldness in the lower extremities.
- pain in the projection of the stomach and esophagus.
- disorders in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
Grades of osteochondrosis
The symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis in women largely depend on the nature of the degenerative changes. Taking them into account, the respective stages of the disease (degree) can be distinguished:
- 1st degree - corrected when changes are observed in the disk core itself.Excessive load leads to dehydration of the core, which causes a decrease in disc height and the development of cracks in the area of the annulus fibrosus. There is no pain, some women complain of slight discomfort with prolonged static.
- 2nd degree – due to a decrease in the height of the disc, the distance between the vertebral bodies decreases.Spinal ligaments eventually fall out. The vertebrae become more mobile, which is not typical for the thoracic region as a whole. As a result, the risk of displacement increases. The pain occurs mainly during labor. At this stage, osteochondrosis of the thoracic region is detected and the symptoms in women become apparent.
- Grade 3 – intervertebral disc prolapse formation is observed.These phenomena are accompanied by subluxations and joint development of the intervertebral joints. Mobility is reduced and numbness and tingling occurs in the extremities. 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 pinch nerves and injure the vertebrae.
How to distinguish thoracic osteochondrosis from other diseases?
According to statistics, osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine, the symptoms of which in women generally do not differ from those recorded 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 localization, many doctors confuse the pathology with diseases of the chest organs.
However, experienced specialists who know how to recognize thoracic osteochondrosis already at the first stage try to exclude diseases of the breast, heart, stomach and lungs. Thus, there is no cough with thoracic osteochondrosis, unlike respiratory system pathologies, 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 a patient complains of frequent pain in the heart, but 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 space 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 detect myocardial disorders. Among the key differences:
- With osteochondrosis, the pain lasts for hours, weeks and has a course like a wave, subsides and reappears. With angina, an attack of pain lasts 10-15 minutes, subsides after 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 for patients with cardiac pathology these drugs are ineffective.
Thoracic osteochondrosis and VSD
Fixed signs of thoracic osteochondrosis in women must be differentiated from the manifestations of VSD. Unlike spinal injuries, diseases of the cardiovascular system are characterized by a number of symptoms that should be paid attention to.Among the characteristic points of VSD:
- tachycardia, heart pain.
- the occurrence of asthma attacks;
- unstable blood pressure due to circulatory disorders (pressure with thoracic osteochondrosis is always normal);
Thoracic osteochondrosis and stomach pain
Abdominal pain with thoracic osteochondrosis is caused by a violation of the innervation of the vertebrae located in the projection of the stomach. If the patient has stomach problems, annoying pain occurs 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 region has the following characteristics:
- aggravated by movements involving the spine.
- the discomfort does not go away after taking medicines that improve digestion.
- appear regardless of the fullness of the stomach: on an empty stomach, after eating.
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 circular 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 location and occurs regardless of the phase of the menstrual cycle. In this case, there is no swelling or swelling of the breast. The gland itself completely preserves its appearance, size and shape, unlike in cases where breast pathologies develop. Similar signs of osteochondrosis in women help differentiate the disease.
What to do with thoracic osteochondrosis?
Suspecting thoracic osteochondrosis in women, doctors send patients for 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, which is based on material examination data, is important.
Diagnosis of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine
The main and often the 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 there is osteochondrosis of the thoracic region, the symptoms in the women in the picture 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, irregularly shaped vertebrae.
- the presence of an intervertebral hernia.
Treatment of osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine
Treatment for this disease is complex. The treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis is carried out simultaneously in several directions:
- Eliminate pain- use NSAIDs.
- Strengthening the spine– moderate, balanced physical activity, physical therapy.
- Surgery– when intervertebral hernias appear.