Radiculitis - what is it? Radiculitis: causes, symptoms and treatment regimen

Pain in the back of modern man is not surprising. Sometimes they arise periodically and disappear without a trace, but often such painful sensations with enviable periodicity torment a person. It can be a sciatica. What is this for a disease, why it arises, and what symptoms can be observed in a person - this is what I want to tell you about.

Terminology

First of all, we need to understand the concepts. So, radiculopathy or radiculitis - what is it? These are severe pains that a person can feel not only in the back, but also in the cervical region. They can appear not only during movement, but also in a quiet state of the body. It is necessary to say that this is not an independent disease, but a complex of symptoms that are provoked by irritation or by a pinch of the spinal nerves. Neuropathologist deals with these problems.

Causes

Having understood the concept of "radiculitis", what it is and how it is called in medicine, this illness must be told about the reasons for its occurrence. So, at the very beginning it should be noted that this is the scourge of people of advanced age. Statistics show that about 10% of people over 40 years old do not know firsthand what that is. And the whole point is that with the age of a person, the most important minerals are washed away from the body. And this is the main cause of various problems with the spine and the near-vertebral nerves. It should be noted that even a small overload of the body or a small draft can make people of older age cause such a disease as sciatica.

But most often radiculitis causes various forms of osteochondrosis. According to statistics, this occurs in 95% of all cases. The reasons for this are dystrophic changes in intervertebral discs and various complications of this disease. Also, sciatica can be a consequence of trauma to the spine, tumors, diseases of internal organs.

Doctors also say that radiculitis is one of the symptoms of the intervertebral hernia. This stiffening of the nerve roots can also be caused by spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal).

Main symptoms

So, sciatica. What it is is understandable. Now we need to talk about what symptoms accompany the disease.

1. Pain. With this disease, the pain can be either acute or dull. Very rarely it is localized in one place, most often it is given to different parts of the spine.
2. Disturbance of sensitivity. In this disease, nerve fibers are damaged, which can lead to numbness of some parts of the body. Loss of sensitivity is often accompanied by a tingling sensation or a burning sensation.
3. Muscle weakness. Often with this disease, the nerve impulses are interrupted, because of which the muscles just stop working normally. There may even be muscle atrophy.

Type 1. Cervical radiculitis

There are three types of radiculopathy. The first of these is cervical radiculitis. From one name it can be understood that it is localized in the cervical region. Symptomatics standard. Pain can be in any part of the neck, depending on where the affected nerve roots are located.

View 2. Radiculitis of the thoracic region

The next kind of radiculopathy is chest radiculitis. From the name you can draw a simple conclusion that it is localized in the middle of the spine. Characteristic tingling, pain with irradiation, muscle weakness and numbness of affected areas. It is worth mentioning that chest radiculitis is extremely rare. All the fault is the slight flexibility of this department of the spine. Potential causes are often degenerative disc changes, disc hernias, stenosis, etc.

Type 3. Lumbar radiculitis

So, the sciatica of the lumbar region. Localized in this case is the disease in the lower back, in the lumbar part of it (this is where de center of gravity of the human body is located). Therefore, the problem can also be called sacral sciatica. Symptomatology for this type of disease is the same as with the rest. It is important to note that it is this subspecies of the disease in medicine that is called ischialgia. The most obvious symptom for a given subspecies of the disease is pain that extends to the hips and buttocks. There is a sciatica of the lumbar region most often as a result of diseases such as arthritis, a hernia or disc protrusion, degenerative vertebral changes, compression fracture and other problems.

Diagnostics

As mentioned above, sciatica is a set of symptoms, not a single disease. However, with such problems, it is best to seek help from a doctor. So, the complex of his actions will be as follows:

1. Clarification of symptoms. The doctor will need to know about the nature, intensity of the pain, its duration and distribution.
2. Next, the doctor will examine the patient. The procedure will take place with a feeling of affected areas. So the doctor will be able to determine the volume of movements of the patient and the weakness of his muscles.
3. You may need a neurological examination. In this case, the doctor will check the sensitivity and reflex activity of the muscles.
4. Also, a doctor can refer a patient to an X-ray. This is necessary in order to identify degenerative changes in various parts of the spine.
5. Sometimes the patient is referred to a CT scan or an MRI. These studies perfectly visualize the presence of compression roots.
6. EMG. This study provides an opportunity to determine the degree of damage to nerve fibers.

Treatment

At the very beginning it is necessary to say that the treatment will depend on what kind of symptoms are manifested in this disease. And also on what caused radiculitis. So, initially it is necessary to cope with the cause of the disease. As for the symptoms, the medication will be aimed at relieving pain, inflammation and reducing possible edema.

1. Manual therapy. Manual techniques are primarily aimed at stretching the spine along its entire axis. They also help to relieve spasm and pain, which is very important for the patient.
2. Exercise therapy. Organism is important dosage physical activity. They can help restore the biomechanics of the spine, as well as a normal stereotype of movement.
3. Acupuncture. There is an effect on biologically active points of a person with the help of special needles.

Massage

One of the most effective methods is massage with radiculitis. So, it's good if it can be done by professionals. However, otherwise, these actions can be carried out by any member of the family.

1. Stroking. This initial stage (takes about 3-5 minutes) is performed in order to stretch the muscles and prepare them for more serious exercises.
2. Kneading. By the time this stage takes about 20 minutes. With these movements, there is an acceleration of blood flow and metabolism. Also, edema and muscle spasm decrease. Warm-up options - a huge amount. You need to choose the one that helps the patient as much as possible.
3. Trituration. These movements should take approximately 5 minutes. They help to eliminate stasis and blockages in the blood vessels, restore muscle tone. The data of movement by the pads of the fingers are produced, more intensively than stroking, but not as actively as kneading.
4. Stroking. The first and last stage are similar. However, in this case, the goal of action is to bring the nervous system in order.

So, massage with radiculitis is over. However, the patient is not recommended to get up. It takes half an hour to lie down, covered with a blanket. After that, the patient site should be wrapped in a warm kerchief for two hours.

Medicines

You can get rid of some of the symptoms of radiculitis with the help of medications.

1. Anesthetics. Tablet forms: preparations "Nimesulid", "Ibuprofen". Injection preparations: "Ketanov", "Dexalgin". Also very active is the "Olfen" patch.
2. Ointments from sciatica. Ointment "Bystrum Gel", "Fastum gel", "Voltaren", "Diklovit."

Folk remedies

Already almost completely considered such a problem as radiculitis (symptoms). Treatment with folk remedies is what is also important to tell.

1. Sheep's wool. Specialists of traditional medicine say that the clothes made of sheep's wool are very good. To cope with the problem, you need to soak a piece of woolen cloth in brine and attach it to your back. Wool and salt can "pull" the pain.
2. Bathhouse. Help to cope with radiculitis can be done with the help of a bath. So, you need to go to the bath, steam out well, then you need to struck the affected area for 5 minutes thoroughly rubbing with black soap. After that, you have to wrap yourself up and go to bed as soon as possible. The next day the pain will completely pass.
3. Garlic. You need to put three garlic heads in a saucepan, pour half a liter of boiling water, to pour a couple of minutes on the fire. From garlic you need to make a gruel and put it all on the affected area. Warning: on the skin after this, there may be burns.
4. Ledum. Eliminates the radiculitis ointment from this plant. For its preparation in the pan, you need to put two tablespoons of dry ingredients, pour five tablespoons of sunflower oil, then everything is warmed up (the oil can not be brought to a boil). After everything is poured into the jar, it is infused for 10 hours. Everything is filtered through gauze. The ointment is rubbed into the sore spot in the morning and evening.