Osteochondrosis (one of the types of dorsopathy) is a common disease of the spine that leads to chronic pain and neurological disorders. Periodically, pain and other symptoms worsen, and such situations require emergency care, often causing hospitalization and long-term disability. As a rule, osteochondrosis can be treated with conservative methods, while minimally invasive procedures or spinal surgery are less commonly required. You are welcome to visit the Booking Health website if you want to get medical care at one of the foreign hospitals. On our website, you can find out the cost of treatment and make your treatment appointment at a hospital at the best price.
Content
- What is osteochondrosis?
- Conservative treatment for osteochondrosis
- Conservative treatment for osteochondrosis
- Stem cells in the treatment of osteochondrosis
- Why to undergo your diagnostics and treatment of osteochondrosis abroad?
What is osteochondrosis?
Osteochondrosis is a term that implies degenerative changes in the spine, primarily in the intervertebral discs. They are located between the vertebrae, which allow them to move relative to each other, provide mobility to the spine, and soften the shock load. The term "osteochondrosis" is common in post-Soviet countries, while it is not used in Western medicine. A closely related term is dorsopathy. The disease is usually treated with conservative methods to relieve symptoms, but sometimes doctors may resort to surgical interventions.
The concept of osteochondrosis usually includes the following degenerative changes in the spine:
- spondylosis deformans is a pathology of the annulus fibrosus of the disc that does not cause it to change height;
- hyaline (cartilaginous) disc end plate pathology with the formation of hernias in the vertebral bodies (Schmorl's hernias);
- protrusions and herniated discs;
- spondylarthrosis due to intervertebral joint lesions.
Conservative treatment for osteochondrosis
Treatment of osteochondrosis mostly includes conservative therapy, which can be provided with or without medicines. Drug therapy is further classified as systemic or local.
Systemic drug therapy is the oral administration of drugs. Patients are prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve pain in the spine, the main symptom of osteochondrosis. During periods of exacerbation of the pain syndrome, drugs are taken over the course of several days or even several weeks. The rest of the time, medicines are used on demand in the case of pain development or intensification.
Short courses of glucocorticoids can be used to treat severe pain, inflammation of the spine, and tissue swelling.
External local therapy involves the use of drugs in the form of creams, ointments, gels, and lotions. They usually have a warming (locally irritating) effect.
In the event of an attack of acute pain, paravertebral blocks are performed. Doctors inject local anesthetics with glucocorticoids into the spine. The drugs quickly suppress inflammation and instantly eliminate pain by blocking the conduction of pain impulses along the nerves. Depending on the site of anesthetic injection, blocks can also be para-articular (in the region of the intervertebral joints) or epidural (in the region of the dura mater).
Additional tools that can be used if clinically indicated include the following:
- muscle relaxants to eliminate muscle tension;
- diuretics for severe nerve root swelling;
- vitamins;
- antidepressants.
Non-drug methods of treatment of osteochondrosis of the spine include physiotherapy, therapeutic exercises, spinal traction, and manual therapy.
Stem cells in the treatment of osteochondrosis
Stem cells (SCs) have a high potential in the treatment of osteochondrosis, as they can improve intervertebral disc trophism and accelerate metabolic processes, providing tissue regeneration. Cell therapy has shown promising results as part of clinical trials, but it is not yet considered a standard treatment and is not used in most patients.
If you want to have this new treatment, you can go abroad. The specialists from the Booking Health company will select for you a hospital that uses cell therapy for osteochondrosis.
The essence of the method is that a patient is injected with his own stem cells. They are previously harvested from blood, adipose tissue, or bone marrow. Stem cells can be administered both intravenously and directly into a damaged intervertebral disc. Even with intravenous administration, stem cells achieve their target since they have the ability to migrate to the lesion and accumulate in it, providing the necessary therapeutic effects.
Stem cells treat diseases of the spine through the following two mechanisms:
- they become embedded in the damaged areas and mature into specialized cells, thereby replacing defects;
- they secrete growth factors that stimulate tissue regeneration.
As a result of the use of stem cells, back pain and other symptoms are relieved, further disc degeneration is prevented, and even partial restoration of spinal structures occurs. Stem cells can be combined with other methods of conservative treatment. Their use often helps avoid surgery for osteochondrosis or significantly delay the need for it.
Puncture methods for osteochondrosis
Puncture methods involve an impact on the intervertebral discs through a skin puncture. Unlike surgery, this type of treatment does not require any large incisions in the spine and bone tissue excision. Puncture methods are minimally invasive and often performed in a day hospital or with a short hospital stay. Within 3 hours after the procedure, a person can walk, and the next day, patients begin therapeutic exercise sessions.
So here is what a doctor can do using puncture methods:
- destroy sensory nerve endings to eliminate pain for a long time (the effect lasts for several months);
- destroy small protrusions of the intervertebral disc;
- strengthen the annulus fibrosus to prevent the development of new protrusions and hernias.
A needle can be used to insert a laser diode and a radiofrequency probe, deliver liquid nitrogen, or inject chemicals. The simplest method of treatment is chemical denervation. Doctors inject 70% ethyl alcohol with a local anesthetic into the intervertebral disc. Doctors can also freeze the nerve endings (cryolysis), destroy them with high temperature (radiofrequency denervation), vaporize the disc protrusion with a laser (laser vaporization), and strengthen the disc with high temperature (laser or radiofrequency nucleoplasty).
Why to undergo your diagnostics and treatment of osteochondrosis abroad?
If you have problems with your spine, you can undergo your diagnostics and treatment abroad at one of the best hospitals in the world. After a course of therapy, you will get rid of your pain for a long time and be able to avoid severe complications of osteochondrosis that require surgical treatment.
Treatment abroad has the following benefits:
- accurate diagnostics will help specify your diagnosis as doctors will find out which particular structures of the spine are affected and which treatment methods should be best used;
- rapid elimination of pain of any intensity;
- innovative treatment methods are available abroad, including minimally invasive puncture procedures and the use of stem cells;
- an integrated approach is applied that involves methods with and without the use of medicines, such as blocks, physiotherapy, gymnastics for spine muscles, exercises on special fitness equipment, etc.;
- long-term result after the course of treatment, so you do not have to constantly take painkillers.
You are welcome to use the Booking Health website to find out prices and choose a program for your diagnostics and treatment of osteochondrosis abroad. On our website, you can see the cost of treatment of the spine and compare prices at different hospitals. When you make your appointment through Booking Health, the cost of treatment will be lower than when you contact the hospital directly, due to the absence of taxes for foreign patients. You will receive insurance against unforeseen medical expenses. For you, this means that the initial cost of treatment will not increase after the start of your treatment, even if additional procedures are required. Our specialists will help you select a hospital and organize your diagnostics and treatment abroad, so you can fully focus on restoring your health.
Authors:
The article was edited by medical experts, board certified doctors Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova and Dr. Sergey Pashchenko. For the treatment of the conditions referred to in the article, you must consult a doctor; the information in the article is not intended for self-medication!
Sources:
Healthline
Web MD
The Lancet
