How to sleep with cervical osteochondrosis

The treatment of any disease involves a set of measures that should be taken to bring the body back to normal. Cervical osteochondrosis is no exception. In order to get rid of the disease, you need to not only take medicine, but also do massage, use external medications, observe the regime of work and rest, monitor the position of the body. But the main thing is a dream. Proper sleep with cervical osteochondrosis plays a fundamental role. Indeed, with this disease, some vital vessels and blood flow can be blocked, and the correct posture can correct this situation. In this article you will learn what cervical osteochondrosis is, get acquainted with the basic postures for sleeping with this disease, and also read about the treatment of this disease.

What is cervical osteochondrosis

Osteochondrosis is a disease of the spine, consisting in the degeneration of articular cartilage, small bone tissue, intervertebral discs. Osteochondrosis can be thoracic, cervical, lumbar - depending on localization. This is a fairly serious disease that should not be neglected. In severe cases, it can lead to severe and unbearable pain, as well as irreversible consequences and damage to the spine. In rare cases, osteochondrosis can cause disability. Therefore, if you encounter this disease - do not delay the trip to the doctor, contact a specialist as soon as possible. After all, the earlier the disease is diagnosed, the more effective its treatment will be.

The main symptom of cervical osteochondrosis is pain in the neck, which intensifies during motor activity. Not many people attach great importance to this factor and justify it with the words "froze, stayed in one position." At later stages of the development of the disease, the patient may experience dizziness, general weakness of the body, nausea, vomiting, changes in blood pressure and even fainting. All this is due to the fact that inflammatory processes simply block the blood supply, the outflow of blood is disturbed. Cervical osteochondrosis is considered the most dangerous, because when the blood supply is disturbed, the brain loses.

The causes of cervical osteochondrosis are diverse. Most often, osteochondrosis develops due to excessive load on the spinal column. This is observed when lifting heavy loads, with excess body weight, when wearing heels or difficult work that requires constant standing on your feet. Dystrophy of the muscular skeleton, flat feet, a sedentary lifestyle, poor posture - all this can provoke the development of osteochondrosis. Cervical osteochondrosis can develop after injuries of the spinal column, with hormonal changes (pregnancy and menopause), with a lack of certain vitamins. In any case, a neuropathologist should deal with osteochondrosis. And one of the main conditions for recovery is a competent sleep technique.

How to sleep with cervical osteochondrosis

Here are the rules and recommendations that will help make the dream full and painless.

1. The posture during sleep for any disorders of the musculoskeletal system should be as natural and physiological as possible. This means that the neck should be slightly extended forward. To do this, you must use a pillow. Sleeping is recommended on the back and side. If you sleep on your back, you need to put a towel or blanket under your knees so as not to create additional stress on the lumbar. Lying on your side, bend your knees to accept an embryo pose.
2. With cervical osteochondrosis, in no case should you sleep on your stomach, because in this position the cervical blood flow is compressed even more, the blood flow is disturbed.
3. Pay attention to the quality of the mattress. It should be sufficiently resilient and soft at the same time. Orthopedic mattresses of medium hardness are best suited.
4. It is very important to correctly choose a pillow. It should be dense and rigid enough so that the head does not fall and the neck is not in weight. Pay attention to the size of the pillow - its edges should end before the shoulder line, that is, on the pillow should be only the head and neck, but not the shoulders.
5. The pillow should be 10-12 cm high, no more, otherwise the head will be in an unnaturally elevated position. The pillow should be rectangular and wide enough so that the edges are wider than your shoulders. Oval and round pillows are best left to decorate the interior.
6. When choosing a pillow, pay attention to its filling. Buckwheat husk is an excellent alternative to an orthopedic pillow - it enhances blood flow due to massage effects. A pillow with small helium balls is also perfect for patients with cervical osteochondrosis, since this filler perfectly keeps the head and neck in a natural position. Pillows with bamboo fibers can be purchased for the long term - they not only hold the position of the head, but also retain their original shape for many years.
7. As a rule, the quality of sleep is more dependent on the pillow, and with cervical osteochondrosis - even more so. If you want to raise the pillow with your hands, if you often toss and turn in your sleep, and in the morning you wake up in a broken mood and with petrified shoulders - most likely the thing is in the pillow - you need to change it.

Follow these simple guidelines so that your sleep is healthy and your relaxation is complete. But sleep alone in the fight against osteochondrosis is not enough, you need to know some more ways to treat it.

How to cure osteochondrosis

Osteochondrosis is a complex disease that cannot be cured by taking one pill. Treatment of cervical osteochondrosis is a complex of measures that should be followed for a long time - from several months to a year. Here are some tips and tricks to help you deal with this unpleasant disease.

1. Drug treatment. Medication is aimed at strengthening bone tissue, which will stop the process of damage to cartilage joints. In addition, well-chosen medical therapy will stop pain, which can sometimes be simply unbearable. With cervical osteochondrosis, various therapeutic blockades are effectively used.
2. Physiotherapeutic procedures. They are aimed at improving blood circulation in the affected tissues, at relieving the pain symptom. In the treatment of osteochondrosis, Dorsonval, exposure to magnetic fields, ultrasound, a laser, etc. are used.
3. Physiotherapy. Physiotherapy exercises is the main condition for recovery and largely depends on the integrity and patience of the patient. The exercises are aimed at improving blood circulation in the affected tissues, at strengthening the muscle corset, at restoring the distance between the vertebrae. The load should be moderate, distributed throughout the musculoskeletal system. Doing exercises for the first time is better under the supervision of a physiotherapist.
4. Massage. This is another way to improve blood circulation in the tissues. Massage can be performed by the doctor or the patient himself. I would also like to say about manual therapy - a competently performed set of procedures will significantly speed up recovery. Hydromassage is also effective against osteochondrosis of the cervical spine - when water is supplied to the affected areas under high pressure. This is a rather serious, but at the same time a delicate massage that activates metabolic processes in cartilage and bone tissues.
5. Ointments and gels. You can get rid of pain with osteochondrosis with anti-inflammatory and warming ointments and gels.
6. Horizontal bar. In the fight against osteochondrosis, a procedure such as spinal traction is very important. It is usually performed on special medical equipment. This allows you to increase intervertebral space, relieve inflammation and pain. But at home, you can stretch the spine with a simple hang on the horizontal bar.
7. Nutrition. I would also like to say about nutrition. A proper diet will help make up for the deficiency of many vitamins and minerals. Eat more dairy products to saturate your body with calcium. Vitamin D, which is needed to prevent rickets, is found in oil, fatty fish, and butter. Eat jellied meat - it is very useful for any thinning of cartilage.
8. Folk recipes. This is another missing puzzle, without which the treatment of osteochondrosis would be long and ineffective. Various folk recipes allow you to affect the structure of cartilage, relieve pain, provide a warming effect. It is very useful to apply rye dough, a compress of black radish, vodka and honey, tincture of saberfish to the neck. Effectively smear the neck with turpentine.

These are the main areas in which you should act if you want to get rid of osteochondrosis once and for all.

The quality of sleep plays a very important role, especially if a person suffers from cervical osteochondrosis. Healthy full sleep is the key to a successful and productive working day. And the wrong posture, mattress or pillow will make your day broken, you will feel bad, there can be no talk of productive work. Therefore, when choosing a mattress and pillow, you should not look at the price tag - the quality of products should be fundamental to you. And then the sleeping accessories will pay off in the shortest possible time. After all, health is most expensive!

Video: how to get rid of cervical osteochondrosis