A pinched nerve in the chest – causes, diagnosis, treatment

The Term "pinched nerve" the doctors called a pinched nerves muscles, or the body of the vertebrae or intervertebral discs. Most often happens the pinched nerve or its branches in the cervical and lumbar spine, in more rare cases it happens in the thoracic region. Low probability of pinching in the spine stems from the fact that in comparison with cervical and lumbar it is inactive.

Symptoms

The Main symptom of a pinched in the thoracic spine intercostal neuralgia is accompanied by pain zoster nature in the chest, worse in the spine. If you struck a nerve, may be feeling some tightness in the chest. Pain can be different depending on the type and intensity (dull aching pain or sharp). Pain pristupoobrazny, sometimes there is spasm and twitching of the intercostal muscles. In some cases, may change the sensitivity of the skin in this area.

Sometimes the patient may confuse the symptoms while pinched in the chest with symptoms of specific organs, for example, in heart, in the region of the stomach, in his hand. Pain in the stomach is almost indistinguishable from the symptoms of gastritis or stomach ulcers. Difficult to distinguish from intercostal neuralgia neuralgia of the heart, this calls for serious examinations to exclude the possibility of violations of the heart.

Causes

Thoracic part of the ridge consists of a dozen vertebrae, which are located from the center of the back of the neck. The problem in this section of the ridge can be caused by mechanical damage to the vertebrae, degeneration of the nerve branches that runs along the spinal cord, in particular, due to sedentary lifestyle, improper posture or excessive weight.

The Main cause of this disease remains osteochondrosis of spine, which is often triggered by spasms of the back muscles, which induce the problem. Complications of osteoarthritis, in particular, disc protrusion and herniation can also lead to the problem.

Disorders of vegetative-vascular system provoked most of the pinched nerve roots in the chest and in other parts of the spine. Taking into account the fact that the vegetative-vascular dystonia today affects almost everyone, many are at risk for the development of neuralgia.

The Autonomic nervous system is very sensitive to the psychological and moral surge. Very often people who call themselves healthy, suffer from headaches and pain in the chest, which appear only after being in a stressful condition.

Consequences of infringement

A Pinched nerve, in addition to constant discomfort, can cause serious disruptions in the work of some internal organs and systems. As a result, the signals of the brain do not reach the peripheral nervous system.

The Consequence of this phenomenon can be the development of neurological deficits in the body, muscle weakness in the lower extremities. For severe course of the disease may develop temporary paralysis.

Diagnostic pathology

As mentioned above, the symptoms of a pinched nerve in the chest can be confused with other diseases, so there must be a thorough examination. For the primary survey should be addressed to the neuropathologist. To prevent all sorts of disorders in the internal organs examination of the following parameters:

• analysis of blood chemistry
• complete blood count
• fluoroscopy
• electrocardiogram.

In Addition to the above measures, the doctor will perform diagnostic and visual inspection, which can be detected syndrome tension of the muscles in the area of pinching in the thoracic region of the spine. The doctor prescribes an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) selected area of the spine. If MRI is not possible, the doctor sent the x-rays in three projections.

treatment Methods

Ways to treat a pinched nerve depend entirely on pathology, which was the cause of this disease. But there are a number of General measures that can be done to alleviate the condition of the patient. For example, you can try to release the nerve and restore its function. This can be achieved with manual therapy, acupressure, which can lead to reduced activity of muscles. Often just one session of massage can correct the problem and relieve a person from severe pain and discomfort.

If the nerve in chest pinched due to osteoarthritis, the patient should be taken under constant control.

usually, when a pinched thoracic nerve is assigned to drug treatment, including drugs to strengthen blood vessels, improve blood flow, and antispasmodics. To removepain doctor prescribes pain medication and vitamins for extra nutrition of tissues. Can be assigned to the gels, which include bee or snake venom.

After relieving pain the patient is assigned to a special set of exercises and massage course. It is held in order to resume normal operation of the spine and preventing future muscle spasms.

If the standard treatment doesn't work, the doctor prescribes surgery. Operation, usually performed during advanced illness, when response to medication and massage can't help.

we Must remember that a late appeal to the doctor and self-medication can lead to serious consequences, in particular, to partial paralysis and disability. So when the first symptoms of the disease as soon as possible to consult a specialist.