Protrusion is one of the commondiseases, which manifests itself in the form of dystrophic disorders in the intervertebral discs, which lead to their degradation. As a rule, this disease occurs in 80 percent of the population over the age of 30 years.
Protrusions - what is it
This disease, first of all, signals about serious changes in the musculoskeletal system. Basically, this disease is a consequence of the development of one of the stages of osteochondrosis.
At the same time, protrusion is the initial form.intervertebral hernia. The main and first symptom of it is acute pain in the affected area. In this case, the displaced discs interact on the spinal roots, as well as on the spinal cord itself.
If a person does not ask for help in time.a medical institution, it risks getting a more serious disease - intervertebral hernia, which in the end will have much worse consequences. Also, protrusion of the spine, which develops into a hernia, is much more difficult to be treated and very dangerous for human health.
Protrusion formation
The appearance of protrusion is accompanied by dystrophicchanges in the fibrous ring of intervertebral discs, that is, in other words, their structure changes, elasticity is lost, as a result of which the disc flattens and protrudes beyond the limits of the vertebra. But it is worth considering that the fibrous disc retains its shape and integrity, so that the gelatinous core remains inside.
Spinal protrusion can be of several levels of difficulty:
1. Bulging from 0 to 3 millimeters is not the cause of any discomfort, and has no harmful effects;
2. Bulging from 3 to 5 millimeters - a condition that is often accompanied by discomfort and frequent pain. Especially they appear with heavy physical exertion.
3. The protrusion of 5 millimeters - this condition is regarded as an intervertebral hernia.
The causes of the protrusion
To date, there are several main reasons that lead to the appearance of protrusion of the lumbar spine. These reasons include:
- bad posture;
- insufficient development of the muscular structure of the body;
- hereditary predisposition;
- overweight;
- failure of metabolic processes of the body;
- age changes;
- large irrational loads on the back and spine;
- the presence of severe infectious diseases of the body.
As already mentioned, the most common posture diseases are protrusions. What it is, it is clear to everyone, but few know how to prevent the occurrence of this disease.
Stages of protrusion formation
To date, doctors have identified several stages of protrusion formation:
- At the first stage, up to 70% of the structure is destroyed.intervertebral disc (disk). They lose their elasticity and cracks form in the fibrous membrane. This stage is manifested by sharp local pains in the affected area.
- The second stage of the disease is characterized by protrusiondisk. At the same time, the pulpous nucleus moves from the center to the edge, thus, fibrous disc tissues are stretched. At this stage, the disc bulges up to 2-3 millimeters, as a result, sharp pain and discomfort can be felt in the transverse section.
- The last stage is characterized by a strong protrusionspinal disc. In this case, the disc fibrosis and the formation of a vertebral hernia occur, pain may occur in the affected area and various neurological disorders, such as numbness of the extremities, may occur.
Classification of protrusions
It is known that one of the most commonspinal diseases are protrusions. What it is, and what are the reasons for their appearance is already clear. Let's find out by what parameters this disease is classified.
So, protrusion is classified by type, type of protrusion and location.
- By type of protrusion are classified into circular and diffuse.
- Диффузная протрузия - это хронический тип diseases. With this type of disc bulges unevenly. If time does not cure this disease, then sooner or later it will lead to disability and disability.
- Circular protrusion - when the intervertebral discbulges evenly. In this type of nerve infringement occurs, which causes the development of neurological symptoms - the emergence of pain, numbness of the nervous limbs.
2. The protrusion of the lumbar spine is divided according to the type of protrusion:
- Central protrusion (median) - protrusionoccurs towards the center of the spinal canal. In most cases, the disease of this type has no manifestations, but there is a great risk, since the impact on the spinal cord can lead to disruption of its work.
- Posterior protrusion - intervertebral bulgingdrives comes from the abdomen to the back. Very often, this kind of negative effect on the spinal cord, which leads to a violation of its functionality. Feels severe pain in the affected area, a violation of sensitivity, in some cases, a violation of the functionality of the pelvic organs.
- Lateral protrusion (lateral) - discbulges in the right or left side of the spine. It may cause the formation of spinal roots. Until the nerves are harmed, the disease has no symptoms.
- Заднебоковая межпозвонковая протрузия (posterior-lateral) - intervertebral discs bulge back to back and to the right or left side. It has a harmful interaction on the roots and structure of the spinal cord. Until the moment of nerve crushing, there are no symptoms.
3. The disease is subdivided by location: cervical, thoracic and lumbar protrusion.
Cervical protrusion
Протрузии шейного отдела очень часто приводят к the development of a variety of complications that can provoke spinal overload. The consequence of this may be the formation of new protrusions, and as a result - the development of intervertebral hernia. The following symptoms may signal the appearance of this disease:
Local neck pains of a chronic or acute nature.
- Restriction of neck mobility.
- Manifestations of headaches, dizziness.
- Pain radiating along arm.
- Numbness and tingling in hands.
- Weakness in the muscles of the shoulders and arms.
Thoracic disc protrusion
Because of the structure of the human skeleton, protrusion in the thoracic region is very rare. The following symptoms may indicate the appearance of this disease in the thoracic region:
- Chronic or acute pains in the thoracic spine, discomfort.
- Chronic pain in the intercostal space or between the shoulder blades.
- Pricking in the abdomen and chest, numbness of the limbs and impaired sensitivity.
- Failure of the organs that are located in the affected area (heart, liver).
- Weakness in the muscles of the press.
Lumbar protrusion
It is known that this disease is most oftenoccurs precisely in the lumbar spine. This is due to the fact that it is this area of the back that is constantly subjected to large dynamic and statistical loads. Protrusion of the lumbar spine is most often accompanied by:
Chronic and acute pain in the lumbar region.
- The presence of painful and constrained sensations in the lumbosacral area.
- The formation of sciatica.
- The manifestation of weakness in the legs.
- Violation of the sensitivity of individual parts of the body - numbness, tingling sensations, tingling.
- The appearance of irradiation of pain in one or both legs.
- In certain cases, the activity of the urinary and genital organs may also be impaired.
Symptoms of protrusion
The symptoms of this disease are directly dependent onwhich disk is damaged. But until such time as the disc of various spinal nerves is pinched by the disc, protrusion can occur absolutely without any symptoms.
In general, protrusion symptoms can alwaysmanifest with different strengths, it all depends on how much the spinal cord is irritated and the nervous system is affected by the intervertebral disk. The most frequent symptom of protrusion is severe pain in the affected area, which may eventually lead to a violation of sensitivity.
In addition, it is also possible to determine a number of other indicators that may indicate the presence of protrusion:
- Chronic or acute pain in the affected area (neck, lower back, thoracic spine).
- The presence of migrating and radiating pains.
- The manifestation of sciatica.
- Loss of muscle elasticity and weakening of the muscular system in the affected area.
- Loss of sensitivity of individual upper and lower limbs.
- Presence of stiffness and burning in the affected area.
- Decreased sensitivity of the organs of hearing, vision, manifestation of headaches, dizziness.
Most commonly degraded intervertebral discs
The most frequent protrusion of the l5 disc,L4 / S1, since these particular disks are subjected to the greatest load when performing any actions. L5, L4 are spinal intervertebral discs located in the lumbar region. When lifting weights or when sitting there is a lot of pressure on these discs, which causes their degradation. S1 is the first disc from the pelvic bone, which is also often subjected to stress. For these reasons, these discs most often degrade.
As practice shows, tangible symptomsThere are practically no protrusions up to the age of 30, basically they all arise precisely after this age, since it is during this period that the human body undergoes a large number of interactions that adversely affect his health.
Diagnosis of the disease
Diagnosis of symptoms of protrusion,usually begins with a physical examination of the patient by the attending physician. For this, experts use a series of manual tests that allow you to determine the affected area. If intervertebral protrusions are suspected, additional examination is prescribed to the patient - ultrasound, MRI, CG, EMG, X-ray, and so on. X-rays can determine the complexity of the disease, MRI to establish compression of the nerve bundles, and the magnitude of damage to nerve fibers helps to find out the EMG.
Treatment
From the above, it can be concluded that protrusion is a very common and dangerous health condition. Therefore, her treatment should be carried out under the supervision of experienced doctors.
Treatment of protrusion is a complexvarious procedures. They should be aimed at relieving pain, swelling of tissues, restoring motor functions and normalizing sensitivity.
Для того чтобы забыть, что такое протрузия, treatment must also be carried out with the help of various medications. Today, various analgesics, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatory drugs are used for complete healing and recovery.
Also a great help in the treatment of this disease is provided by special massages that can only be done by highly qualified specialists.
Ways to prevent the occurrence of protrusion
As mentioned above, one of the worstdiseases are protrusions. What it is and how they appear is already clear. But there are ways that can significantly reduce the possibility of this disease.
It is not hard to guess that the lumbar protrusion inIn most cases, it appears due to the deformation of the intervertebral discs, therefore it is necessary to constantly strengthen your back while playing sports, namely athletics. This sport contributes to the strengthening of muscle mass and ligaments, which, in fact, keep the whole structure of the back.
Conclusion:One of the common diseases of the back, with which every second person lives today, is protrusion. Treatment of this disease is simply necessary in order to avoid the painful back pain, numbness of the extremities, headaches and allow yourself to work normally, relax and lead an active lifestyle.
