About 80% of middle-aged people suffer from back problems. The most common disease of the spine in medical practice is cervical osteochondrosis.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is associated with deformity of the vertebrae and intervertebral discs caused by destructive processes in the bone and cartilage tissues. The development of the disease is promoted by a lack of physical activity, or vice versa - muscle overload, the habit of often poor posture, hypothermia, physical inactivity, postural problems, sleep in bed uncomfortable and many hereditary factors. The direct cause of the disease is increased salt levels in the blood lymph, which in turn causes changes in the cushioning of the spine, the loss of cartilage elasticity. Cervical spine problems can occur with obesity and metabolic disorders associated with an imbalance of mineral compounds in bone tissue.
It is better to entrust the process of diagnosing and treating the disease to medical professionals, but in the early stages of the onset of the disease, you can try treating cervical osteochondrosis at home.
Manifestation of cervical osteochondrosis
Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis most often occur at the stage when irreversible changes in the structure of the vertebrae occur and the physiological functionality of the intervertebral discs is lost. The space between them is reduced, the nerve roots and the vertebral artery passing through the cervical spine are compressed, and tenderness and characteristic unpleasant symptoms occur.
Signs of the disease to look out for:
- Pain in the neck, shoulders and forearms, arms.
- Dizziness.
- Migraine.
- Noise in my head.
- Insomnia.
- Limb numbness.
- Burning in the posterior interscapular part.
- Increase in blood pressure.
- Feeling of weakness, increased tiredness.
- Cardiac arrhythmias.
- Limited movement when turning the head, tilting the neck.
- Hearing and vision impairment.
Information on cervical osteochondrosis, symptoms, and home treatment helps to suspect the presence of the disease at an early stage and independent measures are taken in a timely manner to prevent its further development.
Therapy without leaving home
It is impossible to get rid of osteochondrosis if left untreated. Moreover, the therapeutic measures in this case are not so much aimed at eliminating the clinical symptoms of the disease as at overcoming the causes of the disease. Good results can be achieved with an integrated approach to healing, combining the use of drugs, physiotherapy, massages and folk treatment.
Folk remedies for the treatment of cervical osteochondrosis complement traditional treatments, help significantly alleviate the patient’s condition, and are welcomed by most physicians.
All of these methods have common goals:
- analgesia and antispasmodics;
- strengthening muscle tissue;
- normalization of brain blood flow;
- and the main task of folk treatment is to warm the affected area of the body.
However, none of the existing prescriptions for traditional medicine can cope with the accumulation of salt deposits in bone tissue. This should be taken into account in order to understand that folk remedies are good as a prophylaxis or in combination with drugs, but are not stand-alone therapies.
Healers use many folk recipes to treat cervical osteochondrosis. They are all based on the use of essential oils, plants, animal fats, roots and poisons. They are combined in some proportions with alcohol, vodka or moonlight, turpentine and iodine tincture, making it possible to obtain effective painkillers, anti-inflammatory and warming agents that can be used both externally and internally.
Traditionally, three groups of cervical osteochondrosis have been distinguished that have been used in folk medicine for centuries - decoctions and infusions, rubs and compresses. Most popular and available:
Herbal medicine
- bay leaf infusionis a proven prophylactic treatment for traditional medicine. It is necessary to place the main ingredient on the bottom of the pan and pour cold water on 0. 3 liters of liquid at a rate of twelve grams of leaves. Bring to the boil for five minutes, then cool and infuse for three hours, then fry on cheesecloth. Take four days between each meal, then take a week break and start over.
- Softwood broth.Pour two hundred and fifty grams of fresh spruce or pine needles with one liter of water, boil for half an hour. The volume of broth thus obtained is sufficient for three days, provided it is consumed twice a day, thirty minutes after a meal. The cure is a month.
- Sunflower root decoction- a cure for salts formed and stagnant in the joints. The main ingredient in the recipe is made in the fall, collecting, washing, drying and grinding the plant. Mix one hundred and fifty grams of root with 2, 7 liters of water, boil for half an hour. The amount of broth thus obtained may be sufficient for up to three days. Thirty minutes after eating, drink in large sips. The duration of the course is one month.
Within a few days, it will be possible to personally assess the effectiveness of the broth - with the hue of the urine. If its color has changed to orange, it means that the process of removing the salts has begun actively. As you continue the course, the color of your urine will gradually lighten.
Rubbing
- Red pepper:finely chop the pods, add 0. 2 liters of sunflower oil, cover tightly and leave in the dark for five days. Rub the resulting composition twice a day on the painful area to warm up and improve blood circulation.
- Butter and egg ointment:One hundred milliliters of vegetable oil + one chicken egg + twenty grams of flour + one tablespoon of vinegar essence, mix and leave for two days in a dark place, time to remove the formed filmcomposition on the surface. In the evening, rub the finished ointment on the areas where the manifestation of pain syndrome is recorded.
- Ginger Ointment:Chopped one ginger root + three cloves of garlic + thirty grams of butter mixture, add your favorite essential oil to the pleasant aroma and apply in the evening to the affected neck area to relieve pain if necessary.
- Pharmacy:One hundred and fifty milliliters of medical alcohol + five milliliters of iodine + five milliliters of camphor alcohol + five tablets of analgin, stirring smoothly, rubbing into sore areas of the neck, gently avoiding contact with damaged skin.
Compress
- Kerosene:Soak a thickening cloth in household kerosene liquid, apply to the affected area and cover with polyethylene for 2-3 hours. The warming effect of the compress helps to eliminate pain urgently and relieve cramps.
- Potatoes:Mix the raw potatoes with honey in a 1: 1 ratio, put on a dress and place on the neck area. A three-day course of treatment is recommended.
- Sour Sour Cream:Place 50 grams of sour cream and pie mixture on a cloth and leave on the sore zone for 40 minutes. The course lasts 10 days.
- Honey:Mix honey and fine salt in a 1: 1 ratio, apply with a cloth made of natural fibers, lay on the sore area of the neck, wrap in a scarf. Repeat daily until the patient's condition resolves.
- Horseradish:Dip the horseradish leaf in boiling water, cool slightly and apply to a sore area of the body, cover with a warm cloth, repeat up to five times. The principle of action is similar to treatment with mustard plasters, the feelings are painful and unpleasant. There is a risk of burns.
It is worth noting that some of the ingredients used in folk recipes for cervical osteochondrosis should not be combined with medications! There are medications that cause severe allergies or poisoning. They usually contain toxic fruits of plants or herbs.
Therefore, after you have decided to supplement your traditional treatment with “grandmother’s” methods, you should inform your doctor so that you can receive individual recommendations and choose safe procedures.
Physiotherapy
Improving Physical Education - Practicing cervical osteochondrosis at home has undoubted benefits in the treatment process. The use of different tools and simulators is allowed to increase the impact of the procedures. Properly chosen physical exercises help the patient to quickly weaken or even relieve from exhausting pain, to stretch the ligament apparatus, and to relax the neck muscles. Individual recommendations for performing home gymnastics osteochondrosis can be obtained from your doctor, but there are also universal training methods. For example, therapy for cervical osteochondrosis, according to Bubnovsky.
Professor Bubnovsky's method is widely used in physiotherapy to treat many diseases without surgery and without medication, and gives very impressive results.
To solve cervical spine problems, your doctor offers a simple series of exercises 20 times for each point:
- alternately tilts the head up and down.
- Slanted head slowly left and right.
- Head rotation.
- Lower your head to a position where your chin touches your chest.
- Raise your shoulders and fix the position for 10 seconds.
- Sit on the floor with your knees bent and touch your forehead to fix the position for 1 minute.
Massage and self-massage
Massage of the osteochondrosis of the neck as an effective means of relaxation helps to relax the muscles, relieve tension and relieve the stiffness of the body.
Contact a professional massage therapist for high quality service, but you can also learn the secrets of self-massage if you wish.
It's simple - there are no universal techniques, there are only three rules for massage:
- Use only your fingers to massage your neck.
- Direct movement from the center to the periphery.
- Drive at a smooth pace and a soft rhythm.
Of course, it is impossible to massage the treatment of osteochondrosis, but if done correctly and regularly, it will help relieve symptoms, improve the patient's well-being and mood.
Using applicators
An alternative method of treating cervical osteochondrosis with folk remedies is to use applicators. From the 1980s to the present day, there are many fans of this technique. An applicator is a specially designed device that presents an object with a needle-like surface. Among patients with osteochondrosis of the neck, the most common applicators are Lyapko and Kuznetsov.
Development of Kuznetsov is a plastic product in the form of a carpet with sharp buttons on the surface. Lying on such a device, the patient undergoes massage and acupuncture therapy through the reflex zones. An improved version of the Lyapko applicator in which, in addition to reflex and acupuncture effects, a galvanic-electrical effect is also applied due to the metal needles built into the tubercles. Such therapy at home allows activating blood circulation in the problem area, speeding up metabolic processes in the body, increasing the removal of toxins, reducing muscle tone, but this alone is not enough to successfully treat osteochondrosis.
Treating osteochondrosis of the neck at home is both simple and very difficult. On the one hand, all therapies are available to most people and are relatively easy to repeat. On the other hand, it takes some time, patience, self-control, and regularity of repetition. And whatever the expectations for alternative therapy, it is worth remembering that if the symptoms of osteochondrosis have not disappeared and become less severe within a week of starting treatment with home remedies, you should definitely see a doctor so as not to aggravate the already severepositionHealth.