While the spine is healthy, a person simply does not feel it. The first alarm bells ring with the onset of pain. It is generally accepted that age-related changes in the spine begin between 30 and 40 years. However, in recent years, osteochondrosis has become significantly younger.
A comfortable existence reduces a person’s physical activity. The vertebrae become deformed from prolonged sitting, pinching nerve endings and blood vessels. At first, minor, quickly passing pain appears. Over time, they intensify and there is a need for treatment.
Osteochondrosis is difficult to treat. But the aging process of the spine and negative changes can be slowed down. One of the auxiliary treatment methods is the use of ointments for external use.
Cervical osteochondrosis: features of treatment with ointment
Cervical osteochondrosis is characterized by high pain. Ointments for external use are not suitable as the main treatment, but as an auxiliary and maintenance therapy they give good results.
Applying medicinal ointments to the affected area is a way to introduce medication specifically to the source of the problem through the skin. The active substance penetrates directly into the source of pain and quickly relieves symptoms.
The pharmaceutical industry produces a wide range of ointments, gels and creams for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis. How to make the right choice? It all depends on the characteristics of the development of the disease, the nature of the pain.
For inflammation of cervical osteochondrosis
In the acute stage, osteochondrosis of the cervical spine gives severe pain, in most cases the flow of pain is directed to the head, but the arm may also hurt and become numb. The feeling of numbness is often directed to the left or right side of the face.
The first priority in this situation is pain relief. Using ointment on the neck area at this moment may not be noticeable, but as part of a complex treatment it gives a good result. Good news: inflammation of osteochondrosis occurs once in a lifetime. Having relieved the pain syndrome once, you can be sure that pain of such severity will not happen again. In case of exacerbation, which can be provoked by weather conditions or awkward movement, it is enough to use an ointment or cream without the use of other medications.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to relieve pain and inflammation. Ointments in this line suppress the inflammatory process, relieve pain and eliminate swelling.
Fastum gel is easily absorbed due to its consistency. Created on the basis of ketoprofen. The main active ingredient penetrates deep into the tissue, reducing inflammation. Does not have a systemic effect. Not addictive.
Bystrum gel is an analogue of Fastumgel, also created on the basis of ketoprofen.
Finalgel has a noticeable analgesic effect, relieves inflammation, and relieves swelling. The main active ingredient is piroxicam.
Voltaren Emulgel contains diclofenac as its base. Its beneficial effects on the body are not limited to anti-inflammatory, analgesic and decongestant effects. Voltaren stimulates tissue regeneration.
Nise gel is an effective treatment for cervical osteochondrosis. Quickly relieves pain and stiffness, reduces swelling, and increases range of motion. We can say that this is an “ambulance” for neck pain. Created on the basis of nimesulide.
Nurofen. The active substance (ibuprofen) inhibits the reproduction of mediators of pain and inflammation.
Which ointment is better is difficult to answer. It all depends on the individual characteristics of each patient’s body. The advantage of using gels for cervical osteochondrosis is their ease of use. It is enough to apply a small dose (the size of a pea) to the sore spot with a light movement and the drug will begin to act. Usually the gel is rubbed into the neck. But if your face hurts a lot, it is permissible to apply a minimal amount of product to the sore spot with caution. Avoid contact with eyes! Wash your hands thoroughly after use.
The list of effective ointments for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine continues with warming ointments. They relieve pain no worse than gels from the NSAID line. They improve local blood circulation and nutrition of cartilage tissue, relax muscles due to the warming effect, relieving inflammation. But! We should not forget that with arterial syndrome, the skin of the face and neck has increased sensitivity. Before use, the warming ointment should be tested on a small area of skin. If the drug does not cause irritation, you can safely use it.
Warming ointments are used in the evening, before going to bed. A small amount of product is applied to clean, dry skin. Hands must be washed thoroughly with soap. Do not get the product into your eyes!
Features of the pathology
The development of cervical osteochondrosis may be indicated by various symptoms, all of which cause a lot of discomfort to the patient.
Cervical osteochondrosis
The most common signs of osteochondrosis include the following:
- general weakness of the body;
- dizziness, which often occurs when turning the head suddenly;
- loss of consciousness;
- severe headache, the focus of which is usually in the back of the head, but as the pathology develops it spreads to other areas;
Pain in the back of the head - decreased or complete loss of sensation in the lower/upper extremities;
- burning in the area of the shoulder blades;
- the appearance of a characteristic crunch in the neck when moving the head;
- pain in the arm, shoulder and neck, the intensity of which may increase with sneezing or coughing.
Structure of the cervical spine
At the first signs of osteochondrosis, you should immediately consult a doctor for a diagnostic examination. First of all, if you have pain in the spine, you need to contact a neurologist, who, after a visual examination, will prescribe additional procedures. Most often this is an X-ray examination and MRI. Based on the images obtained, the doctor will make a diagnosis and, taking into account the nature of the disease, prescribe the necessary therapy .
Warming ointment is the best remedy for the treatment of osteochondrosis of the neck
Nicoflex is a complex action cream that has a local irritant, analgesic and absorbable effect. Dilates blood vessels, warms the skin and muscle tissue. Gives a feeling of warmth. Relieves pain.
Finalgon ensures gradual penetration of the active substance into the deep layers of tissue. Improves blood circulation, ensures targeted delivery of nutrients directly to diseased cartilage and vertebrae. Activates metabolic processes, warms, soothes pain. The maximum effect is achieved 30 minutes after application.
Capsicam warms up, relieves pain, relieves inflammation. The ointment is based on 5 active ingredients. Dilates blood vessels, raises body temperature in the treatment area by 1-2 degrees. It has a positive effect on nerve endings, relieving pain. Increasing metabolism and improving blood supply allows nutrients to be supplied directly to the diseased vertebra. There are no blood vessels in the spine, and with a decrease in physical activity, the supply of nutrition is reduced.
Improving blood circulation with the help of warming creams renews the supply of everything necessary to restore the functionality of the spine. After stopping use, the effect of the ointment continues for two weeks.
Bee and snake venom in ointments for the spine
Poisons are often used in medicine. The word apitoxin comes from the merger of the Latin apis (bee) and the Greek toxikón (poison). The chemical composition of apitoxin is complex and not fully understood. It is known that ointments for cervical osteochondrosis, which contain bee venom, stop inflammatory reactions. They have a membrane-stabilizing effect. Strengthens connective tissue. Stimulate vascular permeability, exchange of fluids in the intercellular space, reduce swelling. The use of creams and ointments allows you to increase the range of motion in the neck, prevents the tightening of tendons, and relieves pain. Bee venom has the ability to improve blood circulation, thereby locally increasing the temperature of the skin, providing a warming effect. Vessels and capillaries expand, the active substance is able to penetrate deeper, improving tissue nutrition and providing oxygen supply. This increases metabolism and waste products that cause pain are removed from the body.
Snake venom introduced into ointments for osteochondrosis acts in the same way.
Along with apitoxin, an extract of cayenne pepper or mustard is often used in warming ointments.
Menthol-based products, when rubbed into the skin, cause a feeling of freshness. But this is a tactile deception. They have a distracting effect, which effectively relieves pain. Menthol irritates skin receptors and processes of suppression of pain signals occur at the level of the central nervous system.
Camphor in ointments for the spine acts in the same way.
Often, the ointment for osteochondrosis contains menthol and camphor along with snake venom or cayenne pepper.
Individual intolerance may be a contraindication to the use of ointments with natural warming creams. Test on a small area of skin before use.
After rubbing, wash your hands thoroughly. There are residues of the product on the fingers after rubbing. Touching your face can cause burning, tearing and other unpleasant side effects.
The most popular drugs from this list are Apizatron, Virapin, Sophia, Viprosal, Viprotox.
Making ointment at home
Not everyone trusts synthetic drugs that doctors prescribe for the treatment of a particular disease, but prefer folk remedies. Since they contain exclusively natural ingredients, ointments prepared according to traditional medicine recipes are absolutely safe, they have no side effects and do not provoke allergic reactions. The only disadvantage of folk remedies is that they do not last long, so when treating osteochondrosis, you will need to constantly prepare a new remedy, since the duration of the therapeutic course can be several weeks or even months.
Treatment with folk remedies
Table. Recipes for ointments for cervical osteochondrosis.
Homeopathic ointments
For neck pain, homeopathic remedies are often prescribed. They do not cause a feeling of heat or cold, but effectively protect the spine from premature destruction.
Goal T is one of the best ointments for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis. It is a powerful chondroprotector. Slows down the destruction of the spine and restores cartilage tissue. Relieves inflammation.
Traumeel S effectively fights pain. Has regenerating properties. An excellent anti-inflammatory agent.
Types of ointments
The cervical form of osteochondrosis is the most intractable and painful disease, so during treatment it is necessary to use regenerating, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs . There are also complex drugs that have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. But their use is justified only in cases of mild cervical osteochondrosis. In addition to all of the above drugs, massage and homeopathic ointments are also used for osteochondrosis.
Ointment for osteochondrosis
Homeopathic
They have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and chondrostimulating properties, accelerate metabolic processes in the body. Regular use of homeopathic ointments accelerates the restoration of damaged tissue in the cervical spine. These medications contain only natural ingredients, which means there are no side effects.
Homeopathic ointments
But the price of the absence of “side effects” is long-term use of medications to achieve the desired result. In addition, not all patients will benefit from homeopathic ointments (this fact must be taken into account when prescribing a course of therapy). The most common homeopathic remedies include Cel T and Traumeel.
"Target T"
Chondroprotectors
The main task of these ointments is to slow down destructive processes in the body and activate regenerative functions. As a rule, when treating cervical osteochondrosis, doctors prescribe Chondroart, Chondroxide and other ointments. This allows you to speed up the healing process, in particular, if you use chondoprotector ointments as a supplement.
Chondroprotectors
Warming
The effect of warming ointments is to relieve irritation from the patient’s skin and accelerate blood circulation in the affected area, thereby improving tissue nutrition. Nicoboxil acts as the active component of the drugs in this plan. The most effective warming ointments include Capsicam, Finalgon and Nikoflux. Regardless of which warming ointment you choose, after applying it to the skin, the body must be wrapped .
Chondroprotectors
Ointments from the line of chondroprotectors for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, by stimulating tissue metabolism, inhibit the aging process of the spine. Gels and creams containing chondroitin effectively restore connective tissue and relieve pain.
Chondroxide is the most famous cream for restoring cartilage tissue. Does not cause irritation. Well tolerated by patients with arterial syndrome.
Structum contains only talc among the auxiliary substances; we can say that it is chondroitin in its pure form. Effective for degeneration of cartilage tissue.
Honda, thanks to chondroitin and glucosamine, restores and nourishes paravertebral tissues.
Finalgon in the treatment of pain in osteochondrosis
About the article
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Regular issues of "RMZh" No. 3 dated February 14, 2001 p. 161
Category: General articles
For quotation:
Finalgon in the treatment of pain in osteochondrosis. RMJ. 2001;3:161.
Osteochondrosis is the main degenerative disease of the spinal column, in which pathological changes occur in the intervertebral discs, cartilaginous nodes of the vertebrae with subsequent involvement of the bodies of adjacent vertebrae (spondylosis), intervertebral joints (spondyloarthrosis) and the ligamentous apparatus of the spine. One of the main clinical manifestations of osteochondrosis is pain. Currently, 4 types of back pain have been well studied and described: 1. Local pain associated with any pathological process that affects the sensory nerve endings or irritates them. 2. Referred pain, which is of two types: pain projected from the spine to areas lying within the dermatome, and pain that is projected into the spine from the internal organs. 3. Pain related to the roots of the spinal nerves has some features of referred pain, but is distinguished by its greater intensity, distal peripheral distribution, and limitation to the roots. 4. Pain resulting from muscle spasm: This pain is usually referred to in connection with local pain. Treatment of patients with osteochondrosis is usually carried out using a large number of medications. In this regard, problems of their interaction, tolerability, and contraindications arise. This makes the use of local therapy relevant, which has not yet been widely used. In addition to being more targeted in its action, local therapy has another important property: it can reduce the need for systemically prescribed medications. Traditionally used for local treatment of muscle and joint pain, products are mixtures that can be used to achieve a feeling of warmth and “comfort” as a result of applying them to the skin. In recent years, requirements have been developed for locally used drugs: the drug must be effective for the pathology being treated and must not cause local toxic and allergic reactions; must reach the target tissue. All of the above was the basis for the use of drugs that have a locally irritating effect in the treatment of pain in osteochondrosis. As is known, Finalgon belongs to a group of drugs that are chemically indifferent and specifically act on receptor formations. All its forms contain two highly active substances - a vasodilator and a local irritant: nicotinic acid butoxyethyl ester and nonyl acid vanillylamide. Under the influence of Finalgon, metabolism is activated, blood vessels dilate, hyperemia develops, blood flow increases, the extensibility of connective tissue and muscles increases, and muscle tone decreases. Therefore, the drug is used for pain in muscles and joints, injuries to muscles and ligaments, inflammation of the joints and peripheral circulation disorders. For a palm-sized area of skin, it is recommended to squeeze out a column of the drug just 0.5 cm long from a tube. The drug is rubbed into the affected part of the body and surrounding tissue with light massaging movements. Finalgon is usually well tolerated. In rare cases, allergic skin reactions may occur. It is also not applied to wounds and areas of skin with impaired permeability, to the neck, inner thighs and abdomen. The use of Finalgon ointment has been studied in patients with rheumatic diseases, neuralgia, soft tissue bruises, and peripheral circulatory disorders. A feeling of warmth was noted, which arose after a short period of time and lasted up to 6 hours. The feeling of warmth was accompanied by a decrease in pain and easing of muscle tension. We observed 32 patients with spinal osteochondrosis complicated by myofascial syndrome, including 12 patients with pain in the lower back. Most of the patients were aged from 20 to 40 years. The duration of pain and its recurrence ranged from 6 months to 3 years. A thorough history taking, physical examination with a search for painful points, instrumental research methods. X-ray examination and laboratory tests were used to correctly diagnose and exclude other diseases accompanied by chronic musculoskeletal pain. When examining patients with spinal osteochondrosis, the following were assessed: pain intensity in accordance with the McGill pain index; Chronic disability index (according to Waddell), number of tender points. In accordance with the study protocol, the comparative therapeutic effect of the skin-irritating drug Finalgon and the typical anti-inflammatory drug indomethacin in the form of ointments was studied. Exclusion criteria were: skin hypersensitivity, irritated or diseased skin, and the presence of wounds. Finalgon in the form of an ointment measuring 0.5 cm was applied to myofascial painful compactions, as well as to the paravertebral areas of the lumbar spine in 16 patients. The comparison group consisted of 16 patients with the above pathology, who were rubbed into the same areas with one of the most active non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Indomethacin ointment, in a dose of 3-5 cm. The course of treatment was 2 weeks, observation also continued for the next 2 weeks. Analysis of the clinical manifestations of the disease, taking into account formatted international questionnaires, revealed in the vast majority of patients a significant decrease in the severity of pain and a decrease in the limitation of motor activity. By the end of the study, 79% of patients in the finalgon treatment group and 48% in the comparison group (indomethacin) experienced improvements in the form of reduction or disappearance of pain and increased motor activity. Two patients had skin hypersensitivity to Finalgon in the form of diffuse erythema and painful burning. As can be seen from the presented data reflected in the table, Finalgon significantly more often causes the disappearance or reduction of pain (according to the results of studying the pain index, p <0.005), the number of painful myofascial compactions (painful points p <0.05), as well as such an important functional test reflecting quality of life, ability to self-care, as an index of chronic disability (p<0.05).
The observed statistically significant dynamic changes in the clinical and functional state of patients indicate that Finalgon at the indicated dose is an effective and safe drug for local treatment of back pain
, caused by osteochondrosis of the spine, according to our data, superior to the effect of indomethacin ointment. The data obtained confirm the concept of the non-inflammatory nature of myofascial syndromes that complicate the course of spinal osteochondrosis and draw attention to the advisability of using local therapy with locally irritating agents. Based on materials
ON THE. Shostak, E.E. Arinina, D.A. Shemetovva (RGMU)
“Finalgon as a local irritant for the treatment of pain in spinal osteochondrosis”
Ph.D. N.G. Lyutov
Combined preparation for external use –
Finalgon (trade name)
(Boehringer Ingelheim)
Content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Selection issues
The primary desire of every patient is to get rid of pain and return to their normal lifestyle. With all the variety of proposals, the question arises again and again: what ointments help with cervical osteochondrosis? It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. Each individual case requires an individual approach.
Warming neck ointments are not suitable for everyone. Toad stone ointment helps well with cervical osteochondrosis. Along with chondroitin, it contains vegetable oils and plant extracts. The product provides maximum benefits with a minimum of side effects.
The collection of creams 911 is worthy of attention. The line of creams basically contains extracts from plants, chondroitin, bee venom, etc.
Constantly using the same cream is contraindicated. In case of severe inflammation, ointments and gels containing NSAIDs can be used for several days (no more than 10). For cartilage tissue degeneration, it is recommended to use chondroprotective creams. For pain due to pinched nerve roots, locally irritating and distracting agents are effective.
Patients with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine should use ointments as a course of treatment or as an emergency treatment.