Dorsalgia: what it is and complete information about the treatment of the disease. Dorsalgia of the thoracic spine: causes, symptoms and treatment Dorsalgia is a new orthopedic disease of Bogachev

The initial cause of pain can be, as already mentioned, different. However, the pain itself occurs due to hypertonicity and tension of the spinal muscles, after which muscle spasms appear.

Classification

In real medical practice, the following classification is used:

vertebrogenic dorsalgia;
myofascial dorsalgia.

Relatively speaking, chronic dorsalgia of the first type develops due to diseases of the spine. And pain of the second type is caused exclusively by muscle tension.

Sometimes the diagnosis is nonspecific dorsalgia back pain occurs due to diseases of the internal organs(kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, pelvic organs, lungs).

The development of vertebrogenic dorsalgia occurs after pinching of the spinal nerve roots. Pinching is usually followed by inflammation and radiculitis develops.

Radiculitis can be located between the vertebrae or at the site of a bulging disc. Pain usually occurs only after a degenerative change in the tissue of the intervertebral discs, which is called osteochondrosis.

Spasms of muscle tissue lead to vascular spasms, which impairs the nutrition of disc tissue. As a result, the intervertebral discs simply dry out. The space between the vertebrae becomes smaller, and this is followed by pinching of the nerve endings and pain attacks, which are stimulated by reflex pinching of the muscles.

Sometimes the nerve endings are pinched by the spasmed muscles themselves, making the pain even more acute and difficult to bear.

In the myofascial scenario, the cause of the development of pain is also muscle spasm. Tight muscles form pain points - triggers. It is in these areas that pain manifests itself.

According to the location of pain, they distinguish:

dorsalgia of the lumbosacral spine;
dorsalgia of the thoracic spine;
dorsalgia of the cervical spine.

Dorsalgia of the lumbosacral spine

The vast majority of pain in the lower back is associated with exacerbation of lumbar osteochondrosis. Lower back pain is often caused by a hernia or protrusion. Typically, lower back pain is a classic case of vertebral dorsalgia. The pain here will be caused by pinched and possibly inflamed nerve roots.

As you know, lower back pain often occurs in overweight people, since it is this part of the spine that bears the main load. To reliably cure osteochondrosis, you must also take care of eliminating excess kilograms.

Dorsalgia of the thoracic spine

In the thoracic region, osteochondrosis is least pronounced. The development of the disease implies degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs.

Thoracic osteochondrosis is widespread, but is rarely diagnosed, because this disease often resembles a heart attack, angina pectoris, or a disease of the gastrointestinal tract.

If you have pain when inhaling and exhaling, intercostal pain, difficulty bending your body, pain when raising your arm, you should turn your attention to the thoracic spine.

Dorsalgia of the cervical spine

Usually the cause of neck pain is an exacerbation of cervical osteochondrosis. Such dorsalgia can be accompanied by pain in the arm, in the shoulder area, and headaches.

Cervical dorsalgia occurs or worsens when staying in an uncomfortable position for a long time, during physical exertion, sudden bending and awkward movements of the neck. There is also a rarer case of the disease - osteochondrosis, in which the back hurts between the shoulder blades.

Reasons

The main cause of acute and regular back pain is stress. It is stress that causes muscle strain. Over the years, accumulated negative emotions that a person does not work with lead to the development of painful areas.

Another common cause of spinal problems is sedentary lifestyle, which does not give the muscular system the necessary daily dose of movement.

Among the medical diagnoses leading to dorsalgia, doctors usually name:

radiculitis;
osteochondrosis;
Bekhterev's disease;
vertebral displacement;
disc protrusion;
intervertebral hernia;
spondylosis;
subluxations;
scoliosis.

Symptoms

The exacerbation period will last 2-3 weeks. At the same time, the pain gradually increases. Mild pain appears in the affected part of the spine.

As a rule, pain manifests itself especially actively when breathing deeply and bending forward, backward, or to the sides.

The specific symptoms of dorsalgia will directly depend on the disease and its stage. For example, in the case of an intervertebral hernia, the pain can be quite acute at first, but at the final stage it can hardly be felt. This will be associated with atrophy of the pinched nerve.

When diagnosed with dorsalgia, the symptoms can be so different that the severity of the disease is not always related to the intensity of the pain. There is a widespread, but completely erroneous opinion that if it doesn’t hurt too much, then nothing bad is happening.

The price to pay for such a mistake may be disability, the need for urgent surgical intervention, and the inability to live a full life. If your back hurts, you should urgently go to the doctor and get examined.

The nature of pain during dorsalgia can be very different. The pain can be pulling, burning, aching, cutting, and can radiate to the leg, arm, buttock, or shoulder blade. The location of the pain is no less varied. They can appear below, above, in the middle, on the right, on the left, between the shoulder blades.

But, despite such diversity, all pain can be divided into sudden and chronic.

Sudden pain

A sharp, sudden pain, similar to a lumbago, is called dorsago. The cause of pain in the chest area will most often be thoracic osteochondrosis. Sometimes the pain is so strong that the person has difficulty breathing or freezes in a forced position.

A lumbago in the lumbar region is called lumbago. The most likely cause of such pain is lumbar osteochondrosis.

If you immediately contact a specialist, it will be quite easy to relieve sudden pain. If the problems are not big, then one or several massage sessions will be enough for the pain to go away. Sometimes acupuncture and manual therapy are also used to quickly relieve pain.

Chronic pain

Chronic pain does not appear immediately. They usually develop gradually. At first, the pain occurs briefly when inhaling, exhaling and bending over. Gradually they become more and more frequent guests. The cause of chronic dorsalgia is dystrophic changes in the intervertebral discs.

A possible cause is also inflammation of the intervertebral joints. This disease is called ankylosing spondylitis. In addition to these reasons, there are a dozen others.

Chronic pain is excellently eliminated by various methods of reflexology and physiotherapy. Of course, you will need patience to complete a full course of treatment, but with regular procedures you can achieve a powerful therapeutic effect, achieve increased blood supply and accelerate metabolic processes in the area of the intervertebral discs, joints, vertebrae, and muscles that surround the spine.

With sufficient persistence, you can not only stop degenerative processes, but also reverse them. With a competent approach to treatment, intervertebral discs can completely recover, and pain can completely go away.

Treatment

If you have been diagnosed with dorsalgia, treatment will depend on the cause of the pain. Diagnosis is, as they say, half of successful treatment. The primary diagnosis is made using manual therapy methods. But only computer or magnetic resonance imaging can show all the details.

Non-drug

Treatment for back pain includes various types of physiotherapy, acupressure, acupuncture, acupressure, osteopathy and others. In non-drug treatment, there are two main vectors - relaxation of muscles and their training so that the muscular frame of the spine can maintain the “column of life” in optimal condition and at the same time not only tense, but also relax in time.

Medication

Anti-inflammatory and painkillers are commonly used to treat back pain. Of course, treatment is not limited to this alone.

Treatment with drugs is usually combined with various types of therapy, wearing a corset, exercises to develop the muscular frame of the spine.

When you contact a good clinic, they will help you:

relieve pain and prevent inflammation;
increase the mobility of the spine;
improve your emotional state and increase physical activity;
prevent complications in spinal diseases;
improve the functioning of internal organs.

As you know, a healthy back is the key to performance. Experts unanimously say that early diagnosis will allow the course of treatment to be carried out as effectively as possible and achieve maximum results.

If dorsalgia is a regular guest for you, you should include a set of exercises to strengthen your back in your daily schedule. But under no circumstances should you overload your back.

An orthopedic corset, not too hard and not too soft, somewhat restricting movement, but not pressing, will be an excellent help in the fight against dorsalgia.

Conclusion

A person who cares about his own health should remember that identifying the causes of dorsalgia and comprehensive treatment will help maintain health for many years and get rid of even more serious problems.

It is better to start treatment with non-drug methods (if the situation allows) and combine various methods of physiotherapy and reflexology.

Excellent methods for strengthening the back muscles would be yoga, swimming, stretching, independent wall bars, and movement such as daily walking.
In this video, the specialist gives a couple more practical tips.

Everyone has experienced pain in various areas of the back at least once in their life. It is not surprising, since our spine carries a tremendous load every day. The main enemies of our back are sedentary work, laziness and neglect of physical activity and sports. And sometimes we ourselves cause harm to the spine: with weights and high heels. Knowledge about the characteristics of pain in the back, neck, and lower back—dorsalgia—will help to recognize the disease in a timely manner.

Back pain (dorsalgia) is a complex syndrome that manifests itself in many pathologies. It can accompany both diseases of the spine and damage to internal organs.

When turning to a specialist for help, you need to describe all complaints as accurately as possible: the nature of the pain, difficulty moving, convulsive manifestations, loss of sensitivity, and others.

Types of dorsalgia

The most important thing for making a diagnosis is to correctly classify the pain syndrome. Functional impairment can be easily restored if diagnosed early. Some types of pain are prone to chronicity, so the doctor’s task is to select the patient’s treatment that maximizes his quality of life.

Etiology of back pain

By nature, primary (mechanical) and secondary dorsalgia are distinguished.

Primary is caused by dystrophy - a metabolic disorder in the tissues of the spine. It is more common between the ages of 20 and 50, and women are more affected.
Secondary dorsalgia develops against the background of existing diseases and conditions. For example, pain due to infections, injuries and tumors. Secondary back pain is chronic and responds more slowly to therapy. Occurs in children or adult patients over 50 years of age.

Classification of pain

Based on the location of the process, the following types of pain are distinguished:

Local pain is usually constant, without a tendency to spread. The patient can indicate the exact boundaries of the lesion.
Projection pain, on the contrary, is diffuse, spreading or diffuse.
Radicular pain is described as piercing and shooting. Almost always it radiates and sharply intensifies with movement.
Muscular spastic pain is associated with a sharp increase in muscle tone. Patients usually describe it as cramps.

Based on its origin, dorsalgia is divided into:

1 vertebrogenic,
when dorsalgia is caused by existing spinal pathologies of various types (degenerative, traumatic, inflammatory);

2 nonvertebrogenic,
when back pain is provoked by muscle strain or spasm, somatic diseases, or psychogenic factors.

Causes of pain in the back and limbs

Most often, doctors are faced with the causes of vertebrogenic dorsalgia, when the nerve root extending from the spinal cord through the vertebral foramina is under pressure from bone growths on the bodies of adjacent vertebrae due to prolonged osteochondrosis or a deformed intervertebral disc when it bulges or herniates.

Other causes of vertebrogenic dorsalgia may include:

Nonvertebrogenic causes cause dorsalgia less frequently.

These could be:

chronic inflammatory and dishormonal processes, tumors of the genitourinary system (endometriosis, uterine fibroids, prostate adenoma);
pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract (ulcer perforation, inflammation and tumors of the pancreas, intestinal diverticulitis);
metastases of cancer tumors in the vertebrae;
psoriatic arthritis;
aortic aneurysm;
psychosomatic pain in depression and neuroses.

Pain syndromes in the back (dorsalgia) of a vertebrogenic nature

The predominance of compression or reflex syndrome depends on which structures are more involved in the pathological process.

Compression syndrome occurs due to compression of the spinal cord, nerve roots and blood vessels.
Reflex syndrome appears when tissues containing a large number of sensitive receptors are damaged.

Rich innervation is absent only in the bony part of the vertebral bodies and the vessels of the epidural membrane.

In the cervical region of the spine

Compression syndromes.

The level of compression of the nerve roots in the cervical spine determines the clinical symptoms of dorsalgia:

root C3 – pain and paresthesia (crawling sensation) in half of the neck on the affected side;
roots C4-5 – pain above the collarbone, unilateral atrophy of the neck muscles;
root C6 – pain in the cervical, supraclavicular and scapular regions, spreading along the edge of the hand to the thumb;
root C7 – pain in the same areas as with C6, only radiates along the outer surface of the hand to the middle and index finger of the hand;
root C8 – pain spreads along the inner surface of the arm to the little finger.

Compression of the spinal cord in the lower cervical spine leads to decreased tendon reflexes in the hand and forearm. If the vessels or spinal cord are subject to partial transverse compression, mixed paresis of the arms or upper spastic paraparesis develops - incomplete paralysis of both upper limbs, manifested by weakness and decreased severity of reflexes.

Reflex syndromes.

Clinical signs are lumbago and constant pain in the neck, radiating to the shoulder girdle and the back of the head. They appear immediately after waking up and get worse with movement, coughing, and sneezing. In this case, sensitivity and tendon reflexes do not change.

Anterior scalene muscle syndrome is common. It is characterized by a forced posture - the head is turned to the painful side and tilted forward. The patient cannot turn his head in the opposite direction due to intense arching pain.

Thoracic region

Compression syndromes.

This area is extremely rarely affected. Sensitivity disturbances, tingling and pallor of the hand are characteristic. In severe cases - weakness, numbness and cyanosis of the hand. The cause of compression in this area is often an additional rib. It is a skeletal malformation and is a fibrous or bony plate attached to the seventh cervical vertebra and the first rib.

Reflex syndromes.

They also appear in the area of the ribs. Intensifies with deep inspiration. Pain in the anterior chest wall occurs less frequently. Patients note increased pain when lifting heavy objects.

In the lumbosacral region

Compression radicular syndromes.

Better known as or, as older people say, sciatica.

The so-called radicular pain is easy to recognize because it has a number of distinctive features:

irradiation from the lower back along the entire lower limb to the foot;
increased pain when coughing and straining;
almost always accompanied by autonomic-vascular disorders (numbness, paresthesia, chilliness).

In the lumbosacral region, the following are most often subject to compression:

L5 root with symptoms of intense pain spreading from the lower back through the buttock and outer thigh to the big toe;
When pinched, the S1 root causes pain from the lower back along the back of the thigh and lower leg to the little toe.

Reflex syndromes.

– acute pain in the lower back, provoked by awkward bending. Usually covers the lower back on both sides. The pain syndrome decreases in the supine position and does not allow you to bend your back - string syndrome.

Diagnostic measures

A preliminary diagnosis for dorsalgia is established on the basis of a survey, anamnesis and neurological examination. Sensitivity, muscle strength, and severity of movement disorders are examined. To clarify the causes and boundaries of the lesion, an X-ray examination of the relevant parts of the spine is performed. If this is not enough, resort to more informative examinations:

computed tomography (CT) and discographic examination for suspected disc herniations;
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for suspected stenosis, tumors and pathology of the spinal cord membranes;
radioisotope to detect metastases; non-contrast MR angiography for visualization of neck vessels;
myelography for spinal cord compression.

Treatment of dorsalgia

The choice of treatment tactics and course duration is best left to a vertebrologist or neurologist. Pathogenetic drug treatment is aimed at:

Self-medication can be dangerous, since the use of these drugs requires mandatory medical supervision and dose adjustment!

They also use auxiliary non-drug and preventive measures - physiotherapy, physical therapy. Gives good results. If the above remedies are ineffective, the issue of surgical treatment is decided.

Competent diagnosis and a rational approach to the treatment of dorsalgia almost always lead to a positive result.

If you want to understand what dorsalgia is, you have come to the right place. But you will have to make some mental efforts to understand this issue in detail.

What is dorsalgia?

Dorsalgia (Latin Dorsum - back; Greek algos - pain) - back pain. This is a short definition. In fact, this term includes many categories, which we will discuss below. The term dorsalgia includes pain syndromes in the neck, trunk and limbs (in cases where displacement of the intervertebral discs is excluded).

Main, how can you distinguish dorsalgia, this is that the symptoms of dorsalgia are not accompanied by loss of functions of the spinal roots and spinal cord. The main symptom is pain. And all the rest depend on the specific disease that caused the disease.

Types and forms

Divided by origin:

Vertebrogenic(lat. Columna vertebralis - spinal column), which is caused by pathology of the spine.
Nonvertebrogenic, caused by myofascial pain syndrome, muscle and ligament sprains, fibromyalgia, referred pain in diseases of internal organs, neoplasms and metastases, syringomyelia, psychogenic pain, etc. If ? — read the answer to the question here.

By localization they distinguish:

Cervicalgia(Latin cervix - neck, Greek algos "- pain) - pain in the neck, which is often accompanied by tension, muscle soreness, limited neck mobility, as well as dizziness, autonomic dysfunction.
(Latin torax - chest, Greek algos - pain) - a syndromic diagnosis that corresponds to back pain at the chest level.
Lumbodynia(Latin Lumbus - lower back, Greek algos - pain) - acute pain in the lumbosacral region, which is provoked by irritation of nerve endings, roots, and muscle fibers. Read about here.

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What kind of pain is there?

The International Association for the Study of Pain gives the following definition: pain is an unpleasant sensation and emotional experience that is combined with existing or theoretical tissue damage, or described by the patient as damage.

Pain happens: spicy.

Reasons: diseases, injuries, dysfunction of muscles or internal organs. It gives us the opportunity to identify, localize and delimit tissue damage.

Subdivided:

Superficial pain provoked by a skin impulse, an impulse from subcutaneous fatty tissue and mucous membranes. The patient can localize and describe the pain with the following characteristics: sharp, stabbing, throbbing, burning.
Deep somatic pain occurs when receptors that are located in tendons, muscles, joints and bones are irritated. The patient characterizes it as more dull, aching, and cannot determine a clear localization. The more intense and prolonged the impact, the larger the area where pain is perceived. For example, with a short period and not expressed intensity of painful stimulation of the knee joint, the pain is felt localized, and with a long period and more intense, it is perceived throughout the entire limb.
Visceral pain is formed in diseases and dysfunctions of internal organs and their membranes.
Chronic pain- persists after an acute period of illness or a period of time sufficient for recovery (on average 1-6 months). Chronic pain may be caused by peripheral nociceptive effects, or dysfunction of the PNS and CNS. Disturbances in the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness and affective disorders may occur.

Read about here.

Causes of dorsalgia

Factors that can lead to the development of dorsalgia:

Back muscle strain.
Physical overexertion.
Performing work in a non-physiological body position.
Injuries to the skeletal muscles.
Working in unfavorable health conditions.
Hypothermia and overheating.
Mental stress.
Diseases of internal organs and joints.

Pain and crunching in the back can lead to dire consequences over time - local or complete limitation of movements, even disability.

People, taught by bitter experience, use natural remedies recommended by orthopedists to cure their backs and joints...

Spinal diseases

This group includes many diseases, but the most common cause is osteochondrosis and its complications, so let’s take a closer look.

Osteochondrosis -, which occurs against the background of an imbalance between the processes of biosynthesis and the destruction of important structures. During physical overexertion, tension on the intervertebral discs increases, metabolism increases, and this leads to an increase in hyaluronidase, which changes the properties of hyaluronic acid.

This leads to the fact that an excessive amount of liquid enters the disc, the disc swells and loses its shock-absorbing properties. Cracks in the annulus fibrosus form and the nucleus pulposus penetrates and becomes deformed. This leads to the occurrence of prolapses or hernias intervertebral discs. The consequences are compression of the nerve roots and blood vessels, scar-adhesive changes in the membranes of the spinal cord, which will cause pain.

Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine:

Reflex syndromes: cervical myalgia, dyscalgia, anterior scalene syndrome, glenohumeral periarthrosis, Strainbrocker's syndrome (shoulder-arm syndrome). Read about here.
Radicular syndromes- characterized by pain and hyperesthesia (increased sensitivity) in the radicular zone of a certain dermatome, muscle wasting and weakness, decreased or loss of tendon reflexes, paresthesia.
Vascular spinal syndrome- reflex and compression syndromes.
Visceral syndromes. For example, the most common is cervical angina (cardiac syndrome), associated with sympathetic innervation in the neck, or more precisely, with its disruption.

Osteochondrosis of the thoracic spine:

Protrusions.
Prolapse.
Disc herniation.
Interscapular sympathalgia is a burning, aching or dull pain between the shoulder blades.
Pseudoangina, abdominal pain and many other symptoms.

Read about here.

Osteochondrosis of the lumbar spine.

Reflex syndromes:

Lumbago- acute pain in the lower back, which is also called “lumbago”. It is the first clinical symptom of osteochondrosis. The cause of lumbago is pinching of the nucleus pulposus in the fissure of the fibrous ring.
Lumbodynia- subacute or chronic low back pain.
Sciatica- a pathological condition characterized by pain along the sciatic nerve and in the lumbosacral region.

Read about it here.

Radicular syndromes:

Ankylosing spondylitis(Strumpell-Bekhterev-Marie disease) is an inflammatory systemic disease of autoimmune origin with a chronic course. The process involves the sacroiliac joints, the joints of the spinal column and the soft tissues that are located near them.
Facet syndrome(facet pain syndrome, arthrosis of intervertebral joints, spondyloarpathic syndrome) is a condition that often accompanies the dysfunctional or unstable phase of spondylosis. The whole problem lies in the intervertebral (facet, facet) joints; they are formed by the lower articular processes of the overlying vertebra and the upper articular processes of the underlying one.
Vertebral instability– a pathological condition of the spine when it cannot be maintained in a physiological position at rest and during movement. The vertebrae are displaced in the anteroposterior and lateral directions. This pathological condition can occur at any age; it is important to seek help in time, as it can lead to disability.

Other:

Spinal injuries.
Osteoporosis.
Spinal tumors.

Treatment

General tasks:

It is necessary to identify the factors that led to dorsalgia.
Eliminate neurological disorders.
Relieve pain syndrome.

Drug treatment

Read about here.

Of course, for quality treatment you need to contact a specialist, he will identify the cause, the possibilities of its elimination and treatment.

Painkillers:

The first drug for pain in the musculoskeletal system is. Diclofenac has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antirheumatic, anti-ageing properties. The mechanism of action is that it inhibits COX, which leads to a block of the arachidonic cascade reaction and disruption of the synthesis of prostaglandin E2, prostaglandin F2alpha, thromboxane A2, prostacyclin, leukotrienes and the release of lysosomal enzymes. It also inhibits platelet aggregation. With long-term use it has a desensitizing effect. Use orally: for adults - 75–150 mg/day.
Ketorolac has a strong analgesic effect when administered at a dose of 30 mg IM every 3-5 days.
You can also use analgin, paracetamol.

But remember, if you have a peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, a tendency to bleeding, then non-selective NSAIDs are contraindicated for you. Then you need to take selective COX-2 inhibitors, for example celecoxib 200 mg 3 times a day.

Vitamin therapy- It is mandatory to take B vitamins.
Vascular therapy- actovegin, sermion, nicotinic acid, trental, detralex, pentoxifylline, troxevasin, ascorutin.
- , tizalud, tizanil, baclofen.
Chondroprotectors- chondroitin sulfate, mucosate, arthrone complex.
Biological stimulants- aloe, plasmol, FIBS
If you are concerned about anxiety and depressive disorders, you should take antidepressants: amitriptyline - from 25 to 75 mg/day for 2-3 months.
It is possible to use blockades: radicular, articular, epidural with glucocorticoids.

Non-drug treatment

Massage, manual therapy, exercise therapy, ultrasound, magnetic therapy, radon, pine, salt, hydrogen sulfide baths, diadynamic currents, microwave fields, acupuncture, laser magnetic therapy, light therapy, kinesitherapy, UV irradiation, osteopathy, electrophoresis, apitherapy, mud therapy, recreational swimming.

Surgical treatment

Surgical intervention is indicated only in cases where drug and non-drug treatment has proven ineffective.

Surgical treatment should be justified by such research methods as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, myelography and others.

For osteochondrosis, surgical methods are indicated in stages 3-4 of the disease under the following criteria:

Persistent pain syndrome.
Severe static disturbances, even with moderate pain.
Resumption of radicular syndromes after conservative treatment.

Modern treatment consists of:

Elimination of vertebro-medullary conflict.
Removing a functionally unusable disk.
Spinal stabilization.
Laminectomies.
Hernia removal.
Removal of sequesters along with a degeneratively changed disc and subsequent corporedesis with corundum or porous ceramics.
Treatment for vertebral instability involves fixing the vertebrae with special structures or grafts to create different types of articulations.
To treat arthrosis of the intervertebral joints, radiofrequency denervation of the problem joint, coagulation of nerves, restoration of the normal volume of joint fluid, and injections of drugs into the joint are used.
Surgical treatment for trauma and tumors varies greatly depending on the individual case, and this requires a separate article.

Prevention

Normalization of the work-rest regime. That is, while working, try not to overload, perform less twisting body movements (such as, for example, reaching with your right hand to your left heel). If you have hard physical work, then it is necessary to take short rest breaks.
It is advisable to give up bad habits, since due to alcohol and smoking, metabolism in organs and tissues is disrupted, and this leads to degenerative changes in the intervertebral discs, and their functional activity is very important for back health.
Normalization of diet. It is imperative to monitor the consumption of foods that contain sufficient amounts of B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and antioxidants.
Regular exercise, strengthening the muscle frame, swimming, follow the rules of sitting at the table and at the workplace, do warm-ups for 5 minutes for each hour worked, rationally and evenly distribute a heavy load when lifting it with your hands.
Seek help from a doctor promptly if suspicious symptoms occur.

So, if you eat right, lead a healthy lifestyle, regularly follow the points written in prevention and promptly seek help from a doctor, you will have a very good chance of preventing the disease. If the diagnosis is already reliable, be sure to contact a highly qualified specialist.

It is difficult to distinguish it from other diseases due to the similarity of accompanying symptoms with other diseases of the spine, as well as internal organs.

Characteristics of dorsalgia and its types

Depending on the cause of its occurrence, dorsalgia is divided into:

vertebrogenic– occurs due to pathological changes in the components of the spine, which are accompanied by an inflammatory process, are a consequence of trauma to the spinal column, or are neoplastic in nature (malignant tumors);
nonvertebrogenic– occurs against the background of muscle strains, prolonged stress and other psychogenic factors, as a result of muscle spasms and prolonged tension in the back muscles.

Based on the location of painful sensations, the following types of pain syndrome are determined::

cervicalgia– pain in the cervical spine;
thoracalgia– pain in the thoracic spine;
lumbodynia– pain in the lumbar spine.

Dorsalgia can be combined and simultaneously affect two or three parts of the spine.

At-risk groups

The following categories of people may be susceptible to dorsalgia::

those who lead a sedentary lifestyle (for example, office workers, drivers);
having an underdeveloped muscular corset of the back;
those who have suffered spinal column injuries;
having malignant tumors of the spine;
those suffering from spondylosis;
those suffering from scoliosis;
having displacement of the vertebrae from their anatomically correct position;
exposed to infectious diseases;
having diseases of internal organs;
those suffering from osteoporosis;
are overweight;
those exposed to hypothermia of the back muscles (myositis);
people with congenital diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

A neurological examination allows you to determine the safety of all physiological reflexes and identify the presence of pathological reactions.

After collecting a medical history and a neurological examination, the doctor refers the patient for additional examination, which will help establish an accurate diagnosis and without the results of which it is impossible to prescribe the correct treatment.

Methods for diagnosing dorsalgia include:

X-ray– performed in two projections: anterior and lateral. This method allows us to identify compression fractures (can be caused by osteoporosis, etc.), vertebral displacements and other deformities of the spinal column. This research method also allows specialists to assess the condition of the patient’s spinal canal.
Myelography– X-ray using a contrast agent. Myelography allows you to determine the condition of the spinal cord.
Computed tomography (CT)– allows you to obtain layer-by-layer images, with the help of which you can more accurately determine the location of the disease or injury, the presence or absence of spinal cord damage.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)– this research method is the most accurate and effective of all of the above. It allows you to identify all types of injuries to the spinal column, spinal cord, spinal nerves and blood vessels.
Spinal tap– cerebrospinal fluid is collected if the patient is suspected of having benign or malignant tumors in the spine. This method allows you to find out about hemorrhages in the spinal cord and identify the presence of purulent or inflammatory processes.

Treatment of dorsalgia and prognosis for recovery

Did you know that...

Next fact

If a patient has acute back pain, treatment of dorsalgia must be comprehensive. Then the patient is prescribed drug therapy and is recommended to visit a physiotherapy room and exercise therapy room. In some cases, surgical intervention may become necessary.

Drug therapy for dorsalgia involves the use of the following groups of drugs:

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)	They play a vital role when the patient has severe pain. For severe pain, they are prescribed as intramuscular injections. For mild or moderate pain, they can be used in the form of tablets or capsules. For greater effectiveness, gels and ointments can be used simultaneously with drugs of this group in tablet form or in injection form.	Indomethacin Analgin Nimid Ibuprofen
Muscle relaxants	Prescribed to relax the back muscles, as well as the smooth muscle fibers of the blood vessels. Drugs in this group help to get rid of pain (sometimes not completely), which allows you to restore the mobility of the spinal column, normal gait and posture.	Mydocalm Sirdalud Tizalud
Chondroprotectors	They help restore damaged cartilage tissue, but treatment with these drugs should be carried out over several months.	Chondroitin sulfate Mucosat
Glucocorticosteroids	They are used to enhance the effect of drugs from other groups (especially NSAIDs). Helps get rid of pain and swelling of soft tissues. Glucocorticosteroids help restore physiological processes in the body.	Prednisolone Dexamethosone
Angioprotectors	Prescribed to improve metabolism between blood and body tissues, improve the patency of blood vessels. Allows you to get rid of swelling of soft tissues.	Troxevasin Detralex Askorutin
Biostimulants	They are prescribed to stimulate metabolic processes in the body, improve blood circulation and transmit nerve impulses. Helps speed up the restoration of body tissues. Strengthen the body's resistance to diseases.	Plazmol
Vitamins	Vitamin complexes help strengthen the body, slow down the progression of the disease, accelerate the exchange between blood and body tissues, and stimulate the restoration of damaged tissues. For dorsalgia, vitamin B complexes (B1, B2, B6, B12) are needed.	Milgamma

Attention! Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are not recommended for use for treatment longer than 5-7 days. Drugs in this group can cause complications, in particular diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Physiotherapy for dorsalgia involves the use of the following treatment methods:

apitherapy (use of bee venom and bee products in treatment);
acupuncture;
magnetic therapy;
manual therapy;
electrophoresis.

For the treatment of dorsalgia, it is also used manual therapy. But massage should only be performed by a qualified specialist.

During the massage, the chiropractor acts on the deep subcutaneous layers, improving blood circulation in the muscular corset of the back and returning displaced elements of the spinal column to their places.

Exercise therapy is also effective for the treatment of dorsalgia. A set of exercises is selected by a physical therapy instructor individually for each patient, taking into account the cause of back pain.

Surgical intervention is used extremely rarely– in cases where complex therapy does not give a positive result. In some cases, vertebroplasty is used - a gentle surgical method that allows you to strengthen the elements of the spinal column percutaneously, using special equipment and medical cement.

At home, only exercise therapy can be used to treat dorsalgia. Other methods are cold or hot compresses, wrapping, heating, tinctures, etc. can only worsen your health if the exact cause of the pain is not established.

In 90% of cases, dorsalgia and the underlying disease that caused the pain syndrome are successfully treated. In 5% of cases, back pain can be accompanied by complications and treatment can take about 3 months. In only 2% of cases, surgery may be necessary to treat dorsalgia.

Video: "Exercises for the spine for osteochondrosis"

Conclusion

Dorsalgia– not a disease, but a pain syndrome that arose against the background of some disease of the musculoskeletal system. For its treatment, only a comprehensive technique is used.

If the cause of pain is not treated promptly, this can lead to serious consequences:

to impaired blood circulation in the spinal cord and brain;
to partial or complete paralysis of the body;
to impaired back mobility;
to a significant decrease in performance;
to disruption of the functioning of the pelvic organs.

To avoid the occurrence of dorsalgia, it is recommended to adhere to the following preventive measures:

strengthen your back muscles with exercises;
stretch your back from time to time during prolonged sedentary work;
control the weight of the weights being lifted and evenly distribute the load on both upper limbs;

Main symptoms:

Dorsalgia is essentially the fact of the presence of pain of varying degrees of intensity in the back. It follows from this that this is not a separate pathology, but a syndrome that occurs in any age category and regardless of gender.

In almost all cases, the source of such a disorder is the course of one or another disease affecting the skeletal system or spinal column. In addition, clinicians also identify a category of predisposing factors.

As for the symptoms, they will be dictated by the disease that served as the source of dorsalgia. The main clinical manifestation is, against the background of which other symptoms gradually develop.

The clinician will be able to make a diagnosis of dorsalgia based on data from instrumental examinations of the patient, which can also be supplemented by a physical examination and laboratory tests.

Treatment tactics are dictated by the etiological factor, but are often based on conservative techniques.

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, has allocated a separate meaning for such a syndrome. The ICD 10 code is M 54. However, it is worth noting that unspecified dorsalgia has a value of M 54.9.

Etiology

A large number of predisposing factors can cause the appearance of pain in the back or dorsalgia, which is why they are usually divided into several groups.

– this is an infectious-inflammatory disease that primarily affects the bone marrow area, after which it spreads to the bone tissue;
benign or malignant neoplasms, as well as cancer metastasis;
– in this case, a herniated disc is formed;
– this pathology is characterized by increased fragility of all bones;
– in such cases, there is a displacement of one vertebra in relation to the others;
narrowing of the lumen of the spinal canal;
fractures and injuries.

The second group of reasons includes muscle diseases, among which it is worth highlighting:

muscle strain;
muscle spasms.

Dorsalgia can also be caused by:

hemorrhages in the pelvic area;
hematomas located in the retroperitoneal space, in which a purulent process occurs;
injuries and ailments of the pelvic organs;
pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys;
rheumatological disorders.

In addition, there are the following risk factors:

extensive injuries;
lifting weights by a physically weak person;
prolonged stay in an uncomfortable position;
prolonged hypothermia of the body.

In addition, in female representatives, dorsalgia can be caused by the period of gestation and menstruation.

Classification

Depending on the location of pain, there are the following forms of this syndrome:

cervicalgia– has the second name “dorsalgia of the cervical spine”;
lumbodynia– in this case, the pain is localized in the lumbar area, which is why the disorder is also known as dorsalgia of the lumbar spine;
thoracalgia- differs in that the main symptoms do not extend beyond the sternum, which means that in such cases dorsalgia of the thoracic spine will be diagnosed.

Depending on the duration of expression of unpleasant sensations, the syndrome can occur in several forms:

acute dorsalgia– is such if pain bothers patients for no more than one and a half months. It differs in that it has a more favorable prognosis in comparison with the sluggish variety;
chronic dorsalgia– diagnosed if pain in one or another part of the spine persists for more than twelve weeks. Such a course is fraught with loss of working capacity or disability of a person.

By origin, this violation has two types:

vertebrogenic dorsalgia– characterized by the fact that it is directly related to injury or diseases of the spine;
non-vertebrogenic dorsalgia– the occurrence of this type is caused by other etiological factors, for example, somatic ailments or psychogenic causes.

Symptoms

Clinical manifestations of dorsalgia consist in the expression of pain, which can be either constant or paroxysmal in nature, aching or sharp. However, in all cases the pain intensifies with physical activity.

Given that such a syndrome develops due to the course of various diseases, it is natural that the symptoms in each specific case will be different.

In the course of rheumatological pathologies, clinical manifestations will be as follows:

localization of pain in the lumbar area;
irradiation of unpleasant sensations to the area of the buttocks and thighs;
increased pain with prolonged rest;
bilateral spinal lesions.

In cases where the source is infectious processes, then among the characteristic symptoms will be:

severe pain throughout the spinal column;
foci of pain in the lower back, buttocks or lower extremities;
swelling and redness of the skin in the problem area.

For muscle pathologies that cause spinal dorsalgia, the symptoms will be as follows:

spread of pain along the left or right half of the body;
increased pain with climate change or in cases of exposure to stressful situations;
the occurrence of painful points located in various areas of the body, which are detected when accidentally pressing on them;
muscle weakness.

For osteochondrosis and spondyloarthrosis, clinical signs are presented:

back pain - aggravation occurs when turning or bending;
discomfort that occurs when staying in one position of the body for a long time;
numbness or tingling in the hands or feet;
decreased muscle tone;
headaches and dizziness;
impaired hearing or vision;
tonic syndrome;
motor function disorders.

In cases of damage to other internal organs, the following will be expressed:

abdominal pain and frequent urination - with kidney pathologies;
girdling nature of pain – in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
pain in the chest and under the shoulder blades - with lung diseases.

Diagnostics

If you experience back pain or dorsalgia, you should seek qualified help from a neurologist. It is this specialist who will conduct the initial diagnosis and prescribe additional examinations.

Thus, the first stage of diagnosis includes:

collecting a life history and analyzing the patient’s medical history - this will help determine what pathological condition provoked the appearance of such a syndrome. Symptoms and treatment will vary depending on the disease identified;
general physical examination aimed at palpating the spine and assessing the range of movements in it;
a detailed survey of the patient - to establish the nature of pain, the presence and severity of additional symptoms.

Laboratory diagnostic measures are limited to general clinical analysis of blood and urine.

The most valuable in establishing the correct diagnosis are the following instrumental examinations of the patient:

radiography - to detect pathological changes in the vertebrae;
electromyography – will detect muscle pathologies;
densitometry – determines bone density;
CT and MRI – to obtain a more detailed picture of the spine. It is thanks to this that it is possible to distinguish non-vertebrogenic dorsalgia from the syndrome of vertebrogenic genesis;
radioisotope osteoscintigraphy - in this case, a radiopaque substance is distributed over the bones. The presence of foci of excess accumulation will indicate the localization of the pathology, for example, the sacral spine.

In addition, you may need consultation:

vertebrologist;
rheumatologist;
orthopedist

Treatment

In the vast majority of cases, eliminating the underlying disease is sufficient to relieve back pain.

Nevertheless, the treatment of dorsalgia involves the use of a whole range of conservative techniques, including:

compliance with bed rest for two to five days;
wearing a special bandage designed to relieve stress from the spine;
taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - orally, by injection or used as ointments;
the use of muscle relaxants are medications that relax muscles;
therapeutic massage course;
physiotherapeutic procedures;
performing physical therapy exercises - but only after the pain subsides.

The issue of surgical intervention is decided individually with each patient.

Prevention and prognosis

To reduce the likelihood of developing a syndrome such as dorsalgia, it is necessary:

monitor correct posture on a regular basis;
engage in timely treatment of those diseases that can lead to back pain;
rationally arrange the working and sleeping space;
completely eliminate hypothermia;
prevent injuries to the spine, back and pelvic area;
eliminate the influence of heavy physical activity;
monitor body weight indicators - if necessary, lose a few kilograms or, conversely, increase your body mass index;
undergo a full preventive examination at a medical facility several times a year.

Dorsalgia itself does not pose a threat to the patient’s life. However, we should not forget that each disease that causes back pain has its own complications. The most unfavorable prognosis is observed with vertebrogenic dorsalgia, since in such cases it is possible that the patient will become disabled.

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