It happens that a person goes to the doctor with a heart complaint. The specialist sends him for examination, but does not reveal any pathologies. It is good when a cardiologist recommends that you consult a neurologist. In this case, he may report that it is not heart disease that is to blame, but osteochondrosis.
It turns out that one of the symptoms of thoracic osteochondrosis is a feeling of pain in the mammary gland or heart. It can be pulling, pain and pressure. In some cases, there is a feeling of warmth in the chest area and a disturbance of the rhythm. Over time, the pain can get worse and worse. In this case, heart drugs do not help.
Features of cardiac pain in osteochondrosis
Many people have a question: can the heart hurt with osteochondrosis? Yes. Patients often complain of the following:
- Prolonged persistence of pain in pulse and chest.
- Gradually, there are pains in the heart with osteochondrosis.
- Pain sensations are dull and pressing.
- The intensity of the pain in the sternum is low.
- Taking nitrates does not relieve chest pain.
- Patients try to make fewer movements with their upper limbs, as a result of which pain sensations intensify.
Sometimes cervical and thoracic osteochondrosis occurs at the same time, in this case, additional pain occurs in the neck. The patient may complain of the following:
- Pain in shoulder girdle, face and neck.
- The discomfort extends to almost the entire upper chest area, affects the muscle tissue of the spine.
- An attack can last several hours or even days.
Sometimes the cause of the reflected pain lies in the compression of the vertebral artery. In this case, the following symptoms appear:
- dizziness;
- deterioration of hearing and vision.
- pressing pain in back of head;
- antihypertensive drugs do not give the desired effect.
- feeling weak;
- shortness of breath?
- loss of conscience;
- rush of blood to the face.
Symptoms of osteochondrosis of the spine and how the heart hurts in women and men do not differ.
What is the effect of osteochondrosis on the heart? The disease is accompanied by changes in the spine, especially in the area of the spinous processes of the lower cervical vertebrae. Weakness of the little finger and a decrease in the strength of the muscles of the left hand may be felt.
How to distinguish heart pain from osteochondrosis
How to recognize: is it pain due to pathologies of the heart or osteochondrosis? Solving the problem is not easy: in each of the two cases, the cells can emit pain and severe pain, and during physical exertion, the discomfort intensifies.
Although it is quite difficult to distinguish angina from thoracic osteochondrosis, there are signs that will help determine the real cause of the pain.
Differences in heart pain in osteochondrosis:
- Long duration of pain: lasting weeks and months.
- Convulsions occur with sudden lifting of arms and head, bending and turning, as well as coughing.
- The pain may subside and subside when the body is in a comfortable position.
- With multiple ECG violations are not detected.
- When the chin tilts towards the chest, the pain intensifies, this is a sign of intervertebral hernia.
- With pain, there are no bouts of anxiety and fear.
- Staying in one position for a long time (for example, during sleep) can lead to a feeling of pain in the heart.
- Glycerol trinitrate does not help to get rid of pain, so you need to use only pain relievers.
- Heart pain in osteochondrosis with a sharp change in body position immediately intensifies, they appear during sneezing, coughing, deep breathing and sudden head movements.
- When exposed to the spine, the intensity of pain increases.
- Chest pain with osteochondrosis is not life-threatening.
Now let's see how to determine what harms the heart with angina pectoris. In this case, there will be such pains:
- short duration?
- not related to physical activity.
- heart medications help stop or reduce pain.
- pain sensations do not change if the load on the spine is constant.
- The pains have the same intensity.
- pain sensations spread to the arm, jaw and below the shoulder blade on the left side.
- Pain can be caused by neuropsychic overstrain.
- The cardiogram reflects the presence of pathologies.
- the patient has a fear of death.
- may cause death of the patient.
The nature of pain in osteochondrosis
Many are interested in how the heart hurts with osteochondrosis. Discomfort is felt not only in the chest, but also in the upper abdomen, ribs and near the spine. Movements are limited by staying in the same position for a long time, while the pain intensifies. A short walk helps to get rid of discomfort.
In addition, there may be pain in the back and shoulder area. It can get worse when you take a deep breath. The degree of discomfort is affected by temperature (decrease) and changes in atmospheric pressure.
Osteochondrosis and heart pain worsen with trunk rotation. This is due to the increased load on the anterior vertebral disc. Often there is a syndrome in this area. During inhalation, pain may occur in the intercostal space. Back muscle tension is possible, accompanied by unilateral spasms.
Sometimes the heart hurts with osteochondrosis, so that it seems that there are problems with the organs of the chest cavity. The disease can be disguised as pain in the intestine and stomach and in some cases it can even look like appendicitis. If no measures are taken, osteochondrosis will not only radiate to the heart, but pathology of the respiratory, cardiovascular and digestive systems will also appear.
The nature of the pain may change. Exacerbations can be replaced by recessions, it happens in waves.
Causes of pain in the heart with osteochondrosis
Distinguishing a heart attack from osteochondrosis is not always easy. In the human body, there is a complex complex of transmission of impulses from various systems and organs to the brain and vice versa. This allows it to collect information about all systems and manage their work. As a result, a connection is created between the nerve endings and the spinal cord, located in the spine. When they are violated, the transmission of impulses is violated, the brain reacts incorrectly, pain appears that radiates to the chest area and heart.
Heart pain with osteochondrosis occurs in the following order:
- Changes occur in the spine due to injuries.
- The intervertebral disc protrudes, this does not affect the annulus fibrosus, which is prone to protrusion.
- If the annulus fibrosus ruptures, the center of the cartilaginous disc enters the brain canal, resulting in a herniation.
- osteophytes are formed.
- The vessels and nerves surrounding the disc begin to flatten.
- The appearance of the pain syndrome.
With osteochondrosis, the heartbeat may become more frequent and tachycardia may occur. Spinal injuries in different areas can give different pain symptoms. Neuralgia is affected by the degree of damage:
- only the body of the vertebra;
- intervertebral discs;
- Connecting device?
- paravertebral muscles.
How does osteochondrosis affect heart function? After the deformation, the discs compress the spinal nerves. This leads to pain. Osteochondrosis can give not only to the heart, but also cause pathologies of the entire spine. The disease can spread to adjacent parts, which leads to the appearance of new symptoms.
Symptoms of heart pain with osteochondrosis
Signs and symptoms of osteochondrosis with heart pain often appear against the background of a perfectly healthy heart system. They are often stable, but may occur and increase in paroxysms. In case of problems with the spine, the pains are dull, deep and pressing, their characteristic is sharp severity. With pain in the chest area with osteochondrosis, glycerol trinitrate does not help, since the cause is not in the heart.
To distinguish heart pain with thoracic osteochondrosis, it is important to know that sensations of a different nature may appear. For example, they can spread from the affected area to the muscles of the anterior part of the chest, to which the cervical roots from the fifth to the seventh are attached. In this case, the pain can be felt in the upper left area of the body, sometimes even affecting part of the face. At the same time, vascular disorders are not diagnosed, the ECG does not detect abnormalities. This happens even at the peak of pain.
How does thoracic osteochondrosis affect the heart and the human body?
One of the manifestations of osteochondrosis is the compression or pinching of blood vessels. This leads to a narrowing of the "channels" through which the blood passes. In order for the organs to continue to receive it in the right amount, the heart has to work more actively. This means that the number of contractions increases per minute. As a result, blood pressure rises. This is the effect of osteochondrosis on the heart.
Violations in the work of the circulatory system lead to the appearance of pain in the heart with osteochondrosis in the chest and oxygen starvation of the brain. As a result, the above symptoms appear. Reaction, speed of thought, emotional state, orientation in space and memory depend on the work of the heart, as well as problems with vision or hearing.
Because of all these consequences, it becomes difficult to determine whether the heart hurts or it is thoracic osteochondrosis.
Diagnostics
How to determine that the heart hurts from osteochondrosis? There are special procedures that will help determine the form and extent of the disease. When the disease worsens, it is better to consult a doctor. Doctors may advise you to undergo a differential diagnosis, which allows you to determine what is the cause of the disease - the heart or the spine. It may include the following procedures:
- Electrocardiogram. When recording an ECG, it will be possible to immediately detect cardiac pathology. If the results are normal, then it will become obvious that the cause of the pain is neuralgia or osteochondrosis.
ECG is a mandatory diagnostic procedure for the formation of chest pain.
- ultrasound. It is performed for patients with suspected infectious lesions of the heart. It is used as an additional method.
- X-ray. X-ray is prescribed for patients with suspected osteochondrosis. The images will allow you to determine the catastrophic destruction of the joints. With heart problems, they will not suffer.
- CT and MRI. They can help if the x-rays are unclear. These methods will more accurately determine the damage. Magnetic resonance imaging will help diagnose osteochondrosis and heart pathology.
Treatment
Rest and bed rest will help relieve pain in osteochondrosis. The surface should not be too soft or hard. The pillow is chosen in such a way that the neck does not bend. You can relieve the pain if you put a non-hot heating pad under it.
Treatment of thoracic osteochondrosis is carried out by the following means:
- Medicines:
- Vasodilators?
- neurotropic drugs;
- diuretic drugs;
- pain relievers?
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
- chondroprotectors;
- sedatives.
- Physiotherapy. The patient undergoes procedures in which the affected area is affected by an electric field and currents with a variable frequency. This will help start the mechanism of natural tissue regeneration.
- The use of turpentine, ointments containing snake or bee venom, as well as painkillers. They activate the release of heat in the muscles, improve the condition of the nerve roots, dilate blood vessels.
- Acupuncture. With the help of needles energy meridians and active points are affected.
- Manual therapy. Thanks to them, degenerative processes in the spine are corrected and affect the intervertebral joints.
- Back massage will not allow you to get the desired result. The muscles are located around the vertebral discs, it is almost impossible to reach them. The result gives an extremely deep and acupuncture massage. Before this procedure, it is recommended to take painkillers.
- At home, you can use warm heating pads and warm compresses to reduce muscle tone.
Manual therapy and acupuncture should only be performed by a qualified orthopedist, neuropathologist or traumatologist who has undergone special training and received the appropriate certificate.
Taking heart medication is usually the first and most powerful treatment for an illness. When used with other methods, the results can be significantly improved. Armed with knowledge, it's time to start healing!
self-medication errors
Often, patients with complaints of thoracic spine disease make a serious mistake in self-medication - they take drugs if there are contraindications to them. For example, the older generation likes to use NSAIDs from the group of phenylacetic acid derivatives. However, it cannot be used for problems with the gastric mucosa. They are typical for people over 50 years of age.
So, we looked at the difference and what are the differences between the symptoms of angina and osteochondrosis, and also got to know the methods of diagnosis and treatment. Work with qualified doctors and follow their instructions. Be persistent and consistent and you will succeed in overcoming this painful and dangerous disease! Remember, it can be very dangerous. So much so that the patient can be dismissed from military service.