About 80% of middle-aged people suffer from back problems. The most common spine disease in medical practice is cervical osteochondrosis.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is associated with deformation of the vertebrae and intervertebral discs caused by destructive processes in bone and cartilage tissue. The development of the disease is facilitated by lack of physical activity, or vice versa - muscle overload, the habit of often taking the wrong body position, hypothermia, physical inactivity, problems with posture, sleeping in an uncomfortable bed and many hereditary factors. The immediate cause of the disease is an increased level of salt in the blood lymph, which in turn causes changes in the amortization of the spine, loss of cartilage elasticity. Problems with the cervical spine can occur with obesity and metabolic disorders, which lead to an imbalance of mineral compounds in the bone tissue.
The procedure of diagnosing and treating the disease is better to entrust to specialists in the field of medicine, but in the initial stages of the manifestation of the disease you can try the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis at home.
Manifestation of cervical osteochondrosis
Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis most often appear at the stage when irreversible changes in the structure of the vertebrae have occurred and the physiological functionality of the intervertebral discs is lost. The space between them is reduced, the nerve roots and the spinal artery that pass through the cervical spine are constricted, sensitivity and characteristic unpleasant symptoms appear.
Signs of disease to watch out for:
- Pain in neck, shoulder and forearm, arms.
- Dizziness.
- Migraine.
- Noise in my head.
- Insomnia.
- Numbness of the upper limbs.
- Burning in the interscapular part of the back.
- Increased blood pressure.
- Feeling weak, tired.
- Heart rate abnormalities.
- Restricted movement when turning head, tilting neck.
- Hearing and vision impairment.
Information on what is cervical osteochondrosis, symptoms and treatment at home will help to suspect the presence of this disease in the early stages and take independent measures in time to prevent its further development.
Homeless therapy
It is impossible to get rid of osteochondrosis if it is not treated. Moreover, therapeutic measures in this case will not be aimed so much at eliminating the clinical signs of the disease, but at combating the causes of the disease. Good results can be achieved with an integrated approach to treatment, combining the use of drugs, physical therapy, massage and folk remedies.
Folk remedies for cervical osteochondrosis are an adjunct to traditional treatment, help to significantly alleviate the patient's condition and most doctors welcome them.
All of these methods have common goals:
- pain relief and cramp relief;
- strengthening muscle tissues;
- normalization of blood flow to the brain;
- and the main task of folk medicine is to warm the affected area of the body.
At the same time, none of the existing recipes of traditional medicine are able to cope with the accumulation of salt deposits in the bone tissue. This must be taken into account in order to understand that folk remedies are good as preventive measures or in combination with drugs, but not as independent therapeutic methods.
Healers use many folk recipes in the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis. They are all based on the use of essential oils, herbs, animal fats, roots and poisons. In certain proportions they are combined with alcohol, vodka or moonshine, tincture of turpentine and iodine, which allows to obtain effective painkillers, anti-inflammatory and warming agents that can be used both externally and internally.
Three groups of drugs for cervical osteochondrosis, which have been used in folk medicine for centuries, can be conventionally distinguished - decoctions and infusions, rubs and compresses. The most popular and available are:
Herbal medicine
- Bay leaf infusionis a proven prophylactic drug of traditional medicine. At the bottom of the bowl, it is necessary to put the main ingredient and pour cold water at the rate of twelve grams of leaves per 0. 3 liters of liquid. Cook for five minutes, then cool and infuse for three hours, then pass through gauze. Take four days between each meal, then take a week off and start over.
- Coniferous soup.Pour two hundred and fifty grams of fresh spruce or pine needles with one liter of water, cook for half an hour. The resulting volume of broth is sufficient for three days, provided it is consumed twice a day, thirty minutes after a meal. The course of treatment is one month.
- Sunflower root decoction- medicine for formed and standing salts in the joints. The main ingredient of this recipe is prepared in the fall, collected, washed, dried and ground plant. Mix one hundred and fifty grams of roots with 2, 7 liters of water, cook for half an hour. The amount of broth obtained will be sufficient for use for up to three days. Thirty minutes after a meal it is necessary to drink in large sips. The duration of the course is one month.
Within a few days you will be able to personally assess the effectiveness of the broth - according to the shade of urine. If its color has changed to orange, it means that the process of removing salt has actively begun. As the course continues, the color of the urine will gradually lighten.
Rubbing
- Red pepper:finely chop the beans, add 0. 2 liters of sunflower oil, cover tightly and leave in the dark for five days. Rub the resulting composition into the painful area twice a day to warm up and improve blood circulation.
- Butter and egg butter:One hundred milliliters of vegetable oil + one chicken egg + twenty grams of flour + one tablespoon of vinegar essence, mix and leave for two days in a dark place, time to remove the formed filmfrom the surface of the composition. Rub the finished ointment in the evening on the places where the manifestation of the pain syndrome has been recorded.
- Ginger ointment:chopped one ginger root + three cloves of garlic + thirty grams of butter mixture, add your favorite essential oil for a pleasant aroma and apply to the affected neck area in the evening to relieve pain.
- Pharmacy:One hundred and fifty milliliters of medical alcohol + five milliliters of iodine + five milliliters of camphor alcohol + five tablets of analgin, stir until smooth, rub into painful areas of the neck, carefully avoiding contact with damaged skin.
Compresses
- Kerosene:Soak a lining cloth in household kerosene liquid, apply to the affected area and cover with polyethylene for 2-3 hours. The warming effect of the compress will help to immediately relieve pain and relieve cramps.
- Potatoes:Mix raw potatoes with honey in a ratio of 1: 1, place on a cloth and place in the neck area. A three-day course is recommended for treatment.
- Sour cream with comfrey:Put a mixture of 50 grams of sour cream and comfrey on a cloth and put on the painful area for 40 minutes. The course is 10 days.
- Honey:Mix honey and fine salt 1: 1, put on a cloth of natural fibers, lay on the painful area of the neck, wrap a scarf. Repeat daily until the patient's condition is relieved.
- Horseradish:Dip a horseradish leaf in boiling water, cool slightly and apply to the painful area of the body, cover with a warm cloth, repeat up to five times. The principle of action is similar to the treatment with mustard plasters, the feelings are painful and uncomfortable. There is a risk of burns.
It is worth noting that some of the components used in folk recipes for cervical osteochondrosis are categorically impossible to combine with drugs! There are medications that cause serious allergies or poisonings. As a rule, they contain poisonous fruits of plants or plants.
Therefore, after you have decided to supplement the traditional treatment with "grandma's" methods, you should inform your doctor about it in order to get individual recommendations and choose a safe set of procedures.
Rehabilitation gymnastics
Improving physical education - exercises for cervical osteochondrosis at home will bring undoubted benefits in the treatment process. It is allowed to use various devices and simulators to increase the performance of the procedures. Properly selected physical exercises will help the patient to quickly weaken or even relieve debilitating pain, stretch the ligament apparatus and relax the neck muscles. You can get individual recommendations for performing gymnastics for cervical osteochondrosis at home from your doctor, but there are also universal training methods. For example, therapy of cervical osteochondrosis according to Bubnovsky.
Professor Bubnovski's method is widely used in kinesitherapy for the treatment of many diseases without surgery and medication and gives very impressive results.
To solve problems related to the cervical spine, the doctor offers a simple set of exercises 20 times for each of the points:
- Alternately tilts his head up and down.
- Tilt your head slowly left and right.
- Circular rotation of the head.
- Lowering the head to the position where the chin touches the chest.
- Raise your shoulders up and fix the position for 10 seconds.
- Sitting on the floor with your knees bent and touching them with your forehead while fixing the position for 1 minute.
Massage and self-massage
Massage for cervical osteochondrosis, as an effective means of relaxation, helps to relax muscles, relieve tension and relieve the body from stiffness.
To get a high quality service, you can consult a professional massage therapist, but if you want, you can also learn the secrets of self-massage.
It's simple - there are no universal techniques, there are only three rules of massage for yourself:
- Massage your neck with your fingers only.
- Direct movement from the center to the periphery.
- Move at a light pace and soft rhythm.
Of course, it is impossible to cure osteochondrosis with massage, but if done properly and regularly, it will help relieve symptoms, improve the well-being and mood of the patient.
Using the applicator
A variant of an alternative method of treating cervical osteochondrosis with folk remedies is the use of applicators. From the eighties of the last century until today, this technique has many fans. An applicator is a specially designed device that represents an object with a needle-like surface. Among patients with cervical osteochondrosis, the most common applicators are Lyapko and Kuznetsov.
Kuznets' development is a plastic product in the shape of a rug with sharp buttons on the surface. Lying on such a device, the patient undergoes massage and acupuncture therapy in the reflex zones. The Lyapko applicator is an improved version of it, in which, in addition to reflex and acupuncture effects, the galvanic-electric effect is also used due to the metal needles built into the tubercles. Such therapy at home allows you to activate blood circulation in the problem area, speed up metabolic processes in the body, increase the elimination of toxins, reduce muscle tone, but in itself is not enough to successfully treat osteochondrosis.
Treating osteochondrosis of the neck at home is both simple and very difficult. On the one hand, all therapies are available to most people and are relatively easy to repeat. On the other hand, they require a certain amount of time, patience, self-control, and regularity of repetition. And whatever the expectations of alternative therapy, it is worth remembering: if within a week of starting treatment with home remedies symptoms of osteochondrosis have not disappeared and have not become less intense in manifestation, you must consult a doctor so as not to aggravate your already serious situation. health.