Intercostal neuralgia, symptoms and treatment at home

Intercostal neuralgia - pain syndrome is reflex which occurs when squeezed, irritation or inflammation of the intercostal nerves. Otherwise, it's also called torakalgiey. This phenomenon is unpleasant as it is accompanied by intense pain.

The clinical manifestations are very similar to symptoms of some diseases of internal organs, especially the heart. That is why many patients fearful of attack intercostal neuralgia, turn to a cardiologist or begin to self-medicate, taking heart medications. Recently, along with the lack of proper diagnosis and adequate treatment, it does not bring relief, but only aggravates the patient's condition.

Since torakalgiya quite common among older people and the elderly, the full awareness of it will ensure the health and well-being in these stages of life.

What it is?

Intercostal neuralgia - a collective term, which is usually denoted by the state, accompanied by pain in the chest area. This type of pain can be observed in various pathological conditions resulting from the defeat of various organs and systems.

Causes and risk factors

Intercostal neuralgia inherently independent disease is not. From a medical point of view, it is a complication, which gives the underlying disease or flowing in the body the pathological process.

Human thorax has twelve pairs of ribs, which are attached to the back of the thoracic vertebrae of the spine. Thoracic nerves leaving through the intervertebral (foraminal) and branching holes are disposed between the ribs.

The mechanism of occurrence of intercostal neuralgia is simple. Seizures can be caused by:

• infringement of inflammation or nerve endings in the intercostal space;
• infringement thoracic spinal nerve root at the point of exit from the spinal canal.

The most common causes of neuralgia intercostal nerves are:

• low back pain, spondylitis, ankylosing spondylitis and other diseases of the thoracic spine;
• excessive exercise;
• thoracic spinal cord tumors;
• chest trauma;
• sudden failure of the movement;
• total body hypothermia, hypothermia chest and back;
• diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract;
• forced an awkward position of the body;
• herpes infection.

As contributing factors are:

• age-related changes in blood vessels;
• metabolic disorders (diabetes);
• nervous system diseases;
• infectious and inflammatory diseases;
• immunodeficiency;
• intoxication;
• an awkward workspace.

Women intercostal neuralgia can be caused by wearing tight underwear, as well as underweight. In children and adolescents intercostal neuralgia can occur during intense skeletal growth.

The symptoms of intercostal neuralgia

The main symptom of intercostal neuralgia is pain along the intercostal space. The intensity of pain can be different from the sharp, acute, severe, shooting (often) to a constant average intensity. Pain increases with movement of the patient, through coughing and sneezing, and even breathing. Often, a person takes a forced situation: tilted to the affected side, to minimize the amount of movement in it. Some patients with coughing, laughing or sneezing firmly pressed against the palm to the affected intercostal space for the same purpose: to reduce the amount of movement in this area to less sore.

With the defeat of the left intercostal nerve pain often mimics the sensation of angina patients evaluated pain as baking, with irradiation (spread) to the left arm, shoulder, spine. However stenokardicheskie pain still independent of movements, coughing, laughing, and others, and, besides, is reduced after receiving patients nitroglycerin tablets or analogues thereof. However, in order not to miss such an important cardiac pathology in cases of doubt, the doctor prescribes the patient ECG. It is important not to confuse intercostal neuralgia with myocardial infarction, as well as the pain of it is not reduced by nitroglycerin. Therefore, when suddenly arisen pain in the heart is not worth taking chances, hoping for the best, and you need to be safe: to call the ambulance and undergo electrocardiography.

Differential diagnosis of clinical manifestations - an important step in the treatment of patients. First of all, it is necessary to exclude a pathology of the heart as well as the treatment of intercostal neuralgia and heart diseases require different methods of treatment, and misdiagnosis and missed time with heart disease may be critical for the state patient. The differences are primarily in the fact that:

• neuralgia chest pain persists for a long time, and day and night;
• the pain increases when changing body position in space, coughing and sneezing, deep breaths, sharp movements, when probing or squeezing chest.

Heart diseases, particularly angina resulting pain quickly run through for 5-10 minutes or removable intake of nitroglycerin. Movement and change in body position, coughing and deep breathing does not cause increased heartache, but may be accompanied by a violation of heart rate and blood pressure changes. To eliminate the risk of heart disease in the presence of pain in the chest or under the left scapula is an urgent need to make an electrocardiogram, sometimes - radiography.

Localization of pain

1. Referred pain. Referred pain, as a rule, is a consequence of the pathological process in the internal bodies (retroperitoneal disease, aortic aneurysm, diseases of the digestive tract, CHD).
2. Radiating pain. The mechanism of this pain today is not fully understood. According to experts, the nervous system departments may misinterpret the source of pain because of the common ways in which conducted both visceral and somatic pain. Radiating pain resulting from tension, irritation or compression of the somatic nerve or nerve root are more intensity. During physical exertion, coughing or sneezing, pain can be amplified, and can often spread it on the affected area of ​​the body.
3. Local pain. Its cause can be any pathological process aimed at nociceptors various tissues, muscles, ligaments, skin, tendons, bones, joints and other joint. In this case, the pain developed directly in the damaged area.

Diagnostics

Once the doctor has collected patient complaints and medical history of the disease, to confirm the diagnosis is necessary to conduct additional inspections.

Most informative and used ones:

1. Chest X-ray - detects irregularities in the structure of the bone as the main causes of neuralgia;
2. Bacteriological examination of blood - if the cause is an infection torakalgii reveals the causative agent, in other cases, the analysis remains unchanged;
3. Complete blood analysis - typical normal values, or small increase of leukocytes in the case of inflammatory response in the nerve;
4. Magnetic resonance imaging - detects bone and cartilage changes, swelling, or inflammation of the intercostal pinched nerve;
5. Computed tomography - a more accurate method compared with X-rays reveals a minor irregularities in the structure of bone;
6. Ultrasound - used to differentiate neuralgia from other pathologies in torakalgii remains unchanged;
7. Elektrospondilografiya - determines pathology of intervertebral disc and spine;
8. Myelography - spinal cord and intercostal nerves are inspected using a contrast agent for X-ray apparatus, and identifies changes in the nervous tissue;
9. Electromyography - determines disorders in the muscle fibers in the course of the affected nerve.

How to treat intercostal neuralgia?

Treatment of intercostal neuralgia can be divided into medical and physiotherapy. With the combination of these treatments disease duration and recovery processes are reduced to a few times.

medication

For neuralgic pain medication at home is the main thing. Usually neuralgia is prescribed such drugs:

1. Anti-inflammatory drugs: piroxicam, diclofenac, indomethacin, ibuprofen and Voltaren. Externally, these drugs are used in the form of ointments, and inwardly in the form of capsules, tablets and injections.
2. Means, relieving the main symptom - pain: spazgan, sedalgin or analgin.
3. Muscle relaxants sirdalud, baclofen, clonazepam (remove one of the causes of neuralgia - muscular spasm).
4. Such drugs as viperalgin, vipratoks, and Apizartron virapin containing bee and snake venom, greatly facilitate patients' condition.
5. Anesthetics (lidocaine, procaine), which in acute conditions operate blockade introducing them intramuscularly.
6. B vitamins, a deficiency which adversely affects the nervous system and stimulates intercostal neuralgia.
7. Sedative medications prescribed for insomnia, provoked by painful neuralgic pains.

Non-pharmacological therapy

Treat intercostal neuralgia possible without the use of medicines using the following techniques:

• With the help of massage movements hands from warming ointment or cream inflicted on them is reached deep warming-muscle relaxation, creates a protective "corset" (or vice versa, leading to compression of the intercostal nerve). Produced in a sitting position with the rubbing and stroking intercostal spaces fingertips and then kneading all the back muscles.
• Unlike the previous method, pressing is performed at physiologically chest massage and bioenergetically kletkisvyazannye with acupressure body point with the patient, leading to the removal of pain and relaxation in a rapid effect by stimulating their own defense mechanisms body.
• Similarly physiologically bioenergetically justified and exposure methods are needling (acupuncture), cautery, laser therapy to rapidly counteract muscular imbalance in the deep muscles of the back with the elimination of pain.
• Treatment of intercostal neuralgia statement on the back of massage cans pursues the same objectives as being simple and harmless to the organism procedure (assuming no contraindications to its application).
• By manual techniques resort after the acute period. They are due to return to the place shifted from them in the course of disease of bone structures and serving their muscles and ligaments and made exclusively after manual diagnosis. As a result of the narrowed diameter tunnels (bone-tendon-muscle and bone) bounces back and uschemlonnogo nerve function is restored.

As well as all the above-stated method, as broadly applicable and is particularly relevant in the case of a pregnant intercostal neuralgia methods of physiotherapy effects using:

• magnetic or electromagnetic field;
• ultrasonic, ultraviolet and infrared radiation;
• electricity and iontophoresis, with minimal risk to the fetus dose of the drug.

Treatment of intercostal neuralgia folk ways

There are many popular recipes that can be used for home treatment of intercostal neuralgia. However, I want to note that, since the causes of it are serious enough, you should not self-medicate and to check whether the disease to pass itself. Secondly, the need to accurately confirm the diagnosis by excluding diseases of the cardiovascular system and other disorders. Otherwise, you can run the underlying disease.

1. Relieve tension and help to reduce pain sage bath with sea salt.
2. Effectively trituration valerian tincture or extract of birch buds - their action does not yield ointments industrial production. However, on the night of alcohol compresses better not to apply - prolonged exposure to alcohol can cause burns.
3. Warming up also helps, but the thermal effects in the intercostal neuralgia should not be direct, that have not put a heating pad, hot potato and egg, and bundle up feather shawl, knitted wool thing. If strongly heated painful place, the pain go away for a short time and then these effects will only increase soft tissue edema, and will bring even more pain.
4. For topical application to the affected area using black radish juice or the juice of horseradish. Well help compress on the basis of the steamed flax seeds.

For prevention hronitizatsii neuralgia important to avoid harmful effects associated factors, such as the psycho-emotional over-voltage, heavy physical exertion, alcohol abuse, as well as to treat existing diseases of the nervous system, and systems and other organs.

Exercises

Physiotherapy (physical therapy) - an effective way to treat neuralgia due to the anatomical structure of the human body. Nerves edges located in grooves, which are covered with muscles. Spastic muscles press on the nerve trunks, which causes pain. Exercise relaxes the muscles of the back and chest, improve blood circulation, as a result of the pain goes away. Gymnastics is appointed only after the relief of acute pain.

During exercise is necessary to consider some rules:

1. Classes begin with a light workout - the body must be warmed up.
2. The load should be increased gradually.
3. You can not do through the pain.
4. Movements should be careful smooth.
5. Exercises should be aimed at strengthening the back muscles and spine stretching.
6. Doing the exercises, it is necessary to maximally relax the back muscles.
7. You need to engage on a daily basis, without any gaps.

Very effective exercises for the method of Dr. Bubnovskaya. The essence of his method: no medication, drugs will be exercises, including running on special simulators. These exercises increase blood circulation, relaxes the deepest muscles.

prevention

Specific prevention of neuralgia intercostal nerve is not designed to help prevent the development of disease restorative measures. recommended:

• avoidance of hypothermia;
• hardening of the body;
• a healthy lifestyle that includes regular moderate exercise and management of a balanced diet;
• measures to promote the prevention or treatment of spinal curvature existing curvature;
• timely treatment of diseases of the spine, chest injuries and internal organ pathologies;
• work in comfortable conditions, prolonged forced position of the body to take a break for a small workout.

complications

The disease has no serious complications, especially when a person is timely appealed to the doctor. The only possible complication of the disease is considered to be a painful shock, which appears in the acute phase of the disease. In such cases, the patient is necessary as an analgesic drug as soon as possible and take any sedative.