Osteochondrosis is a common disease that requires qualified comprehensive treatment. At the Yusupov Hospital, leading neurologists, vertebrologists, physiotherapists and other Russian doctors treat this pathology, quickly and efficiently solving the problem of each patient.
In the absence of treatment, the patient's blood pressure increases due to osteochondrosis of the cervical spine. High blood pressure in this case is a very dangerous symptom, since most people deal with it incorrectly. Instead of treating the true cause of hypertension, people diagnosed with osteochondrosis try to eliminate its manifestation, that is, reduce high blood pressure, thereby further aggravating the situation and harming their body.
Osteochondrosis leads to deformation of the intervertebral discs, loss of elasticity and changes in the natural position of the vertebrae. In this case, there are clamps on the arteries that ensure normal blood circulation in the head. To saturate the brain with oxygen, the body increases blood pressure. Patients, as a rule, take all measures to lower this pressure. As a result, the brain does not receive the required amount of oxygen and nutrients.
It is important to understand that osteochondrosis and high blood pressure must be dealt with comprehensively. At the Yusupov Hospital, doctors develop an individual treatment program for each patient, taking into account the stages of development of osteochondrosis, the age factor, the presence of concomitant pathologies, the severity of the clinical picture, etc.
Development of high blood pressure syndrome in cervical osteochondrosis
Cervical osteochondrosis is an insidious disease.
It develops gradually over years. It is most often observed in older people, but young people with this disease are becoming increasingly common. The cause of the development of cervical osteochondrosis at an early age can be even a minor injury that happened in childhood. Note.
The Clinic of Dr. Shishonin is often visited by patients over 30 years of age who have serious disorders, displacement of the cervical spinal discs, who had injuries in childhood and did not see a doctor in time. Post-traumatic changes develop over many years without manifesting themselves, and then develop into serious problems.
If you look at the cervical spine, it consists of several vertebrae with transverse processes in which there are openings, as well as intervertebral discs. Through these openings, arteries pass directly through the skull to the basal part of the brain, feeding it. In the basal section there is a rhomboid fossa - the center of regulation of vascular tone and heart function. When prolonged muscle spasm occurs, the nutrition of the intervertebral discs is disrupted. As a result, this entails compression of the vertebral arteries, they are pinched, and the blood supply to the rhomboid fossa and oxygen supply to the brain are disrupted.
Important:
If you feel that the muscles of your neck are in constant tone, pain appears - consult a doctor immediately!
What are the consequences of this condition? The human brain is designed in such a way that at the slightest lack of oxygen, it sends signals to the heart so that it works faster and more actively. As a result, the heart begins to work harder and pressure increases. That is why high blood pressure syndrome with cervical osteochondrosis, which the patient has not treated for many years, will inevitably overtake him.
Advice:
If you experience pain in the neck, which is accompanied by increased pressure, this indicates the development of cervical osteochondrosis, which needs to be treated.
Possible complications
In the absence of treatment for osteochondrosis, which is accompanied by high blood pressure, the condition of the blood vessels quickly deteriorates. As a result, hypertrophied heart syndrome, retinal angiopathy, and transient cerebrovascular accident occur. Constantly reduced blood pressure causes the development of thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, pulmonary embolism, and ischemic stroke.
Symptoms of the disease
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, accompanied by high blood pressure, is observed in approximately 40% of patients. In this case, the disease is resistant to antihypertensive therapy; the drugs do not have the necessary positive effect. Moreover, in such patients, hypertensive crises occur much more often than in people with a healthy cervical spine. This increases the risk of the disease and its negative consequences.
High blood pressure syndrome with cervical osteochondrosis manifests itself as follows:
- pain in the neck;
- headache;
- dizziness;
- pain in the shoulder girdle and arm;
- numbness of fingertips, tingling;
- numbness of the tongue.
These symptoms taken together indicate that the pressure increases due to problems in the cervical spine, which means that when visiting a doctor you need to pay special attention to this problem and undergo the necessary examinations.
A person can independently understand that he has arterial insufficiency. This syndrome, in addition to the listed symptoms, may be accompanied by deterioration of vision and hearing, vestibular disorders, and pain when moving the head. The syndrome most often appears after a long stay in one position, for example when working at a computer or after sleep.
You can find out more information about this and many other important aspects of health related to blood pressure, osteochondrosis, atherosclerosis by becoming a member of the Club of Former Hypertensive Patients
.
Join our community, download gymnastics, which has already helped hundreds of thousands of people overcome blood pressure surges and hypertension. Get the most up-to-date and correct information, ask your questions to Dr. Shishonin and just communicate.
Treatment
It is possible to cope with osteochondrosis and hypertension at the same time only in a comprehensive manner. The recovery rate for a tandem of two diseases, provided all medical recommendations are followed, is high. Treatment includes techniques aimed at the following:
- elimination of neuromuscular symptoms;
- restoration of normal blood viscosity;
- minimizing vascular syndromes;
- stabilization of blood circulation and energy exchange in brain tissue.
Drug therapy consists of taking muscle relaxants, combined antihypertensive drugs, drugs that normalize poor circulation, and drugs that eliminate cerebral symptoms. The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that can relieve pain is unacceptable. They affect blood vessels and can cause an increase in blood pressure.
No ads 2
Recommendation! Massage, which is so useful for osteochondrosis, many physiotherapy procedures and physical exercises for hypertension are contraindicated, as they can cause worsening of the manifestations of arterial hypertension. If the condition is accompanied by high blood pressure, the choice of additional treatment methods is made by the doctor, focusing on the patient’s condition.
Additional measures that are an integral part of therapy will help restore the cervical spine affected by osteochondrosis. They are:
- Physiotherapy. A set of exercises allows you to return the vertebrae to their original position, relieve spasm, strengthen the muscle corset, and improve blood circulation in the tissues. In the acute stage of the disease, any physical activity is performed under the strict supervision of an exercise therapy instructor or a rehabilitation physician.
- Manual therapy. This treatment method restores the normal position of the vertebrae. The pressure on the damaged area must take into account all the characteristics of the patient and the nature of the course of the disease, therefore, it is necessary to trust the manual influence to a professional chiropractor, and not to a healer advertised in the newspaper.
- Shants collar. It compensates for the loads placed on the cervical spine, which minimizes the risk of further pressure drops.
Special exercises for the cervical spine will help prevent osteochondrosis, especially useful for people who spend a long time in a sitting position.
Why is cervical osteochondrosis dangerous?
When you visit a doctor, it is very important to talk about all the symptoms of the disease, problems, and possible injuries, even if they happened a long time ago. Only by comparing all the symptoms together can a specialist make the correct diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment.
Many patients come with complaints only of high blood pressure, overlooking problems with the cervical spine. The doctor prescribes medications for hypertension, but they have only a temporary effect, because the cause of the disease itself has not been identified, and it progresses. In addition, drug intoxication can occur, because the abundance of serious medications negatively affects the condition of the liver. In the early stages, it is possible to cure cervical osteochondrosis.
Prevention and prognosis
If the patient follows all medical recommendations, the prognosis is favorable. Longer treatment may be required if complications of cervical osteochondrosis have already developed. To avoid recurrence of the pathology, other consequences, and surges in blood pressure, doctors recommend giving up smoking, drinking alcohol, and a sedentary lifestyle. It is necessary to limit the amount of salt in the diet, exclude smoked foods and semi-finished products.
Reasons to suspect a connection between hypertension and thoracic osteochondrosis
The fact that thoracic osteochondrosis and blood pressure are interconnected is indirectly indicated by the following symptoms:
- causeless frequent migraine-like headaches;
- weakness and dizziness;
- lack of coordination;
- chronic fatigue;
- loss of sensitivity in the fingers;
- increase and normalization of blood pressure without any visible connection with external factors;
- feeling of discomfort behind the sternum.
In almost 75% of cases, at an early stage, spinal pathology is accompanied by pseudocardiac pain (no changes are detected on the ECG).
But if the spine is not treated in a timely manner, then disruption of the innervation or blood supply to the tissues will lead to dystrophic changes in the heart and blood vessels.
Mechanisms of hypertension
To many, the statement that the systems and organs of the human body do not work in isolation, but interact with each other and influence each other, will seem banal.
But why then does the fact that an increase in pressure occurs with osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine seem strange? Arterial hypertension, which arises due to osteochondrosis processes in the spinal column, has three development mechanisms:
- vascular;
- neurological;
- myospasmic.
Vascular
Pathological displacement of the vertebrae is accompanied by compression of the vessel. Partially or completely blocked blood flow causes tissue hypoxia. Trying to compensate for cellular starvation, the body redistributes blood flow, directing more blood to the place of compression of the vessel.
The compressed vascular bed is not able to pass the required amount of fluid and therefore the increased blood flow is redistributed among the remaining vessels, causing an increase in intravascular pressure.
If this condition persists for a long time, then such blood distribution is “programmed” in the body and persistent hypertension occurs, which can persist for a long time even after restoration of full blood supply to the cells.
Neurological
To understand this mechanism of pathology, it is worth remembering the structure of the spinal cord. From each of its segments there arise a pair of roots responsible for motor activity or innervation of certain organs.
The peculiarity of the thoracic region is that here almost all spinal processes innervate the internal organs. Displacement of the vertebrae is often accompanied by pinching of the process and disruption of innervation. If the root responsible for vascular tone is compressed, then the walls may lose the ability to relax and contract in response to external factors.
The pericardial vessels maintain increased tone for a long time, and the heart, in order to push a portion of blood into them during the next contraction, is forced to contract with greater force, increasing the pressure and speed of blood flow.
High pressure in osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine occurs when the processes extending from the upper thoracic or lower cervical spine are pinched: they are responsible for vascular tone.
According to medical statistics, in hypertensive patients who have cervicothoracic osteochondrosis among concomitant diseases, pressure much more often rises and spontaneously decreases for no apparent reason. The fact that the cause of hypertension is osteochondrosis can be suspected by tracing the connection between increased blood pressure and the occurrence of back pain.
As a rule, a hypertensive crisis develops against the background of pain and can spontaneously heal after the pain is eliminated.
Myospasmic
As mentioned above, the cardiovascular system is not located in isolation, but the vascular network is surrounded by muscle and other types of tissue. This mechanism is a little similar to the previous ones, only with it, due to a violation of innervation, a spasm of muscle tissue develops.
Spasmed muscles partially compress the vessel, impairing its patency. With myospasms, hypertension is stable and hypertensive crises rarely occur.