Many people over the age of 45 begin to experience pain in the heart area. This symptom puts a person in a state of panic, because it is not known exactly what caused this condition.
Thoughts often come to mind that serious heart problems have begun and that urgent help from cardiologists may be required. By doing a cardiogram and getting a completely satisfactory result, a person's confusion only increases.
What can cause heart pain? And, most importantly, what to do in such a situation? The answer is actually simple, although not everyone knows the answer. Heart pain often occurs due to other diseases. This situation occurs especially with thoracic osteochondrosis. Is it worth paying attention to pain of this nature?
How does osteochondrosis appear?
The mechanism is quite simple. Throughout life, a person performs a certain physical activity. Most of it "lies" on the back. To make it easier for the vertebrae to cope with the tasks assigned to them, there are intervertebral discs between them. The latter, on the other hand, act as shock absorbers, preventing the vertebrae from rubbing against each other.
Intervertebral discs tend to wear out. The main reason is the very intense stress on the spine. Poor nutrition of cartilage tissue can also cause their gradual destruction.
Microcracks appear on the surface of the cartilage, tissues are destroyed and as a result of this process, the vertebrae begin to touch. As a result of friction, an inflammatory process occurs, which is quite painful.
With thoracic osteochondrosis, active erosion of the intervertebral discs in the thoracic spine occurs. As a result of the pathology, the patient not only loses stamina, he is no longer able to perform physical activity in the same volumes. He begins to suffer from pain, which becomes stronger each time.
To alleviate the patient's condition, specialized treatment is required. If the therapeutic course is not completed on time, the patient may experience a number of health problems. In particular, various pathologies of the cardiac system may appear.
The main symptoms of osteochondrosis
There are several signs that will help identify thoracic osteochondrosis against the background of other diseases.
- First of all, it is worth understanding where exactly the source of the pain is. With thoracic osteochondrosis, the pain comes mainly from the chest. It can be sharp, as if squeezed from all sides. Often there is a feeling of difficulty in breathing and even shortness of breath with coughing. Sometimes the pain radiates to the shoulder area, where there is a feeling of dull pain. Unpleasant pain can "roll" after physical exercises; also felt after sitting in an uncomfortable position;
- Sometimes thoracic osteochondrosis can appear in the form of numbness in the arms, legs, shoulders and neck. Often the limbs freeze even in the summer, when there is no reason for it;
- Headaches and dizziness appear periodically.
These are the main signs of thoracic osteochondrosis that you should pay attention to. All these painful conditions are the result of the compression of blood vessels between the affected vertebrae due to thoracic osteochondrosis. It is believed that in women all these symptoms are more pronounced.
In addition to these three symptoms, which are considered the main ones, it makes sense to pay attention to the back pain that appears.This is a mild pain syndrome that appears in the area of the damaged vertebrae.
These pains are not intense, sometimes causing a feeling of muscle stiffness. In this case, there is a feeling that the source of the pain is in the stomach, liver or pancreas. In fact, this is a false feeling. Thoracic osteochondrosis has nothing to do with the digestive organs.
Sometimes thoracic osteochondrosis develops in parallel with the shape of the cervix. Then it is quite possible to feel a lump in the throat, especially after physical activity.
What are the differences between osteochondrosis and heart pain?
How to distinguish thoracic osteochondrosis from heart disease, if in many respects the symptoms are very similar? There are a number of signs that you should pay special attention to.
The nature of the pain
First of all, you should try to analyze the nature of the pain. Many heart diseases also begin with discomfort in the heart area. With osteochondrosis, the pain is compressive.
At the same time, it either grows or recedes, but more often it does not come off for a long time and is stable. The pulse often increases, which is even more deceiving. Sometimes there is a feeling of warmth inside the sternum.
With cervicothoracic osteochondrosis, the patient often complains of pain in the lower cervical vertebrae. Sometimes there is weakness of the muscles of the left hand, the use of the little finger is particularly problematic. Moving the hands does not bring relief, it only worsens the pain.
Sometimes the pain spreads to the entire left quadrant of the body, affecting not only the chest, but the neck, left arm and sometimes the face. This condition can last quite a long time, from several hours to several days.
With initial angina and heart attack, some pain sensations may be similar in nature. The main difference is that with osteochondrosis, the pain intensifies when you inhale. A tablet of a venodilating agent from the nitrate group or a vasodilator will relieve pain caused by heart problems. This method will not help in any way against osteochondrosis.
But when the anesthetic solution is injected into the area of the VI, VII vertebrae of the neck and the I thoracic vertebra, the pain goes away. If distilled water is given instead of an anesthetic, a tingling sensation appears in the chest area. This is a clear sign that the cause of the pain was osteochondrosis of the chest.
Duration of pain
This sign also requires closer consideration. If you have heart problems, the pain in its area does not last long, usually a few minutes. While the painful sensation caused by thoracic osteochondrosis can last for several days.
But here there is also a trap: if the pain does not go away for several days and there is obvious weakness in the whole body, immediately consult a doctor.
There are many possibilities that the cause of the disease is acute myocardial infarction.
Location of pain
Equally important is the location of the pain. In the case of heart disease, the source of pain is concentrated on the left side of the chest, sometimes the pain radiates to the neck, the back of the head and the shoulder. While with osteochondrosis, the pain syndrome affects the thoracic, lumbar and cervical spine.
Associated symptoms
Pay attention to accompanying symptoms. Heart pain in most cases does not go away without increasing the heart rate and breathing. Sometimes the veins in the neck can be swollen, for example, with pericarditis.
With osteochondrosis, such a symptom is not observed, but general stiffness in movement may appear.
Why does tachycardia and arrhythmia occur in osteochondrosis?
Arrhythmia is probably the most common consequence of unattended thoracic osteochondrosis. With this disease, compression of the artery that runs along the entire spine often occurs.
Compression can occur from both bony growths and hypertonic muscles. As a result, the pressure inside the vessels increases. The body requires more effort to "push" the blood through the bend. Against the background of this phenomenon, the heart rate increases.
Arrhythmia can appear in different ways. Otherwise, it can result in sinus tachycardia. But how to find out what exactly caused the tachycardia - heart disease or thoracic osteochondrosis?
- Tachycardia with spinal problems is a constant phenomenon. The number of beats is approximately 90 per minute. It is observed even in a state of complete rest, while in diseases of the cardiac system, rapid heartbeats appear with increased physical activity;
- Heart rate can increase when a person takes an uncomfortable position, especially if the spine at this moment receives increased stress;
- With osteochondrosis, tachycardia maintains a certain rhythm, the interval between contractions does not change, it is the same all the time;
- As soon as the targeted treatment of osteochondrosis begins, the tachycardia begins to disappear, the problem is self-liquidating.
If a symptom such as tachycardia is left unattended and treatment is not started in time, the heart muscle may not be able to cope with the increased load.
As a result of such neglect, extrasystole may develop.
Extrasystole due to thoracic osteochondrosis?
This disease can occur by bypassing tachycardia. It occurs much less often than tachycardia and appears in advanced forms of osteochondrosis. The disease is also a consequence of abnormal heart rhythm. It is caused by the accelerated premature contraction of the heart muscle, which immediately follows the normal one.
A person may not feel well at all. Sometimes you may feel as if your heart has stopped for a moment, or, conversely, it has accelerated. In this case, a very weak pulse is observed. It may not be traceable at all.
If you do not pay attention to these symptoms in time, it is likely that chronic myocardial hypoxia will develop - this is one of the most serious diseases characterized by insufficient oxygen saturation of the heart muscle. And this is already fraught with more serious problems.
For example, insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, which will also lead to a number of serious disruptions in the functioning of the central nervous system.
The first signs of extrasystole are observed only during physical activity. At rest, the heart rate returns to normal on its own. What signs can be used to determine the presence of extrasystole in osteochondrosis?
- Rapid heartbeat with a barely readable pulse;
- The muscles between the shoulder blades are constantly tense;
- A person often feels stubborn, weak and dizzy;
- Often there is a feeling of increased heat, sweating increases;
- It does not release the feeling of inner restlessness;
- The increase in heart rate occurs periodically, is unstable and works on the wave principle - sometimes intensifying, sometimes almost dying;
- Extrasystolic ejection volume exceeds the norm - this indicator can be determined using a tonometer.
These symptoms can be felt constantly, but more often they intensify at night or when the patient is in a horizontal position. Elementary movements of the limbs intensify the symptoms.
This feeling can last for several hours. All attempts to stabilize the heart by taking cardiac medications do not give a positive result. An attempt to identify the causes of heart disease through an EKG also does not answer the question.
If attempts to administer an anesthetic between the VI and VII vertebrae of the cervical spine and the I vertebra of the thoracic spine gave a positive result, there is no doubt. The cause of heart disease in this case was precisely thoracic osteochondrosis.
When you try to palpate the thoracic vertebrae, heart pain also increases.
As a result of hypertension
Very often, thoracic osteochondrosis goes hand in hand with high blood pressure. The reason for this duet is compression of the vertebral artery. This can occur due to muscle spasm, resulting in significant swelling of the muscle tissue. The reason for the compression of the artery can also be the displacement of the vertebrae - such a violation also occurs with thoracic osteochondrosis.
For the simple reason that it is the vertebral artery that is responsible for supplying the brain with oxygen and other useful components, the substances necessary for normal functioning are missing. Brain cells are in a state of starvation.
To provide the brain with the right amount of food and to "push" blood flow through the bend, the body is forced to increase the speed of blood flow. With this mode of operation, the body begins to automatically release substances that help increase blood pressure.
This allows proper nutrition of the brain, but leads to hypertension.
If you do not draw a parallel between osteochondrosis and high blood pressure and start treating hypertension as an independent phenomenon, such treatment is unlikely to give a stable long-term result. Such experiments can only worsen the situation, adding further problems to the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
How to determine hypertension caused by osteochondrosis?
- Periodically, the patient experiences dizziness, most often in moments of overwork;
- Frequent sleepiness, due to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, the body tries to "save" nutrients to keep the vital organs in working condition. The state of sleep helps to save energy;
- The constant weakness is also a consequence of not getting enough oxygen from the brain;
- Anxiety, confusion;
- The appearance of "floaters" before the eyes - this symptom is often observed by people with high blood pressure, not knowing that the cause of this pressure is most likely not in the bad condition of the blood vessels, but in osteochondrosis;
- Periodically, all objects begin to see double;
- Deterioration of vision often occurs, the reasons are the same - little oxygen;
- hearing impairment;
- With significant oxygen starvation, fainting may occur - this is the body's protective reaction.
Diagnosing
Knowing the signs of diseases is good, but the most accurate diagnosis can only be made by a doctor using modern diagnostic tools. The simplest and most affordable way is to perform an EKG. This study will allow us to quickly determine if the cause of pain in the heart area is a malfunction of the cardiovascular system or if this disease has another pathology.
If the EKG confirms that the heart is working properly, it makes sense to prescribe an MRI. This method allows you to get a layer-by-layer image of the entire spine or parts of it. These images will allow you to quickly and accurately determine if a person has problems with the spine.
If suspicions of osteochondrosis are confirmed, treatment should be started immediately.