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 what exactly caused this condition.
Often thoughts come to mind that serious heart problems have begun and that emergency help from cardiologists may be needed. After carrying out a cardiogram and obtaining a completely satisfactory result, a person's bewilderment only increases.
What could cause heart pain? And, above all, what to do in such a situation? The answer is actually simple, even if not everyone knows it. Heart pain often occurs due to other ailments. This situation occurs especially with thoracic osteochondrosis. Is it worth paying attention to pain of this nature?
What does osteochondrosis look like?
The mechanism is quite simple. Throughout life, a person performs a certain physical activity. Most of it "lies" on the spine. To make it easier for the vertebrae to cope with the tasks assigned to them, there are intervertebral discs between them. The latter, in turn, act as shock absorbers, preventing the vertebrae from rubbing together.
Intervertebral discs tend to wear out. The main reason is too much stress on the spine. Poor nutrition of the cartilaginous 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 each other. As a result of friction, an inflammatory process occurs, which is quite painful.
With thoracic osteochondrosis, active abrasion of the intervertebral discs in the thoracic spine occurs. As a result of the pathology, the patient not only loses endurance, but is no longer able to perform physical activity with the same volumes. He begins to suffer from pain, which becomes more intense each time.
To alleviate the patient's condition, specialized treatment is needed. If the therapeutic course is not carried out on time, the patient may experience a number of health problems. In particular, various pathologies of the cardiac system can arise.
Main symptoms of osteochondrosis
There are some 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 pain is located. With thoracic osteochondrosis, the pain comes predominantly from the chest. It can be sharp, as if squeezing from all sides. Often there is a feeling of difficulty breathing and even shortness of breath with coughing. Sometimes the pain radiates to the shoulder blade area, where a dull aching sensation is felt. An unpleasant pain can "curl" after exercise, it is felt even after sitting in an uncomfortable position;
- Sometimes thoracic osteochondrosis can manifest itself in the form of numbness in the arms, legs, shoulders and neck. Often the limbs freeze even in summer, when there is no reason;
- Headaches and dizziness occur periodically.
These are the main signs of thoracic osteochondrosis that you need to pay attention to. All these painful conditions are the result of compression of the 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 is also advisable to pay attention to the back pain that occurs.This is a mild pain syndrome that occurs in the area of damaged vertebrae.
These pains are not intense and sometimes cause a sensation of muscle stiffness. In this case, there is a feeling that the source of pain is in the stomach, liver or pancreas. In reality, this is a false sensation. Thoracic osteochondrosis has nothing to do with the digestive organs.
Sometimes thoracic osteochondrosis develops in parallel with the cervical form. 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 you should pay particular attention to.
Nature of pain
First of all, you need to 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 grows or moves away, but most often it does not let go for a long time and is stable. The pulse often increases, which is even more misleading. 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 weakness of the muscles of the left hand is noted, the use of the little finger is especially problematic. Movement of the arms does not bring relief, rather it only aggravates the pain.
Sometimes the painful sensation 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 a long time, from a couple of hours to several days.
With incipient 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. One 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 vertebra of the neck and the I thoracic vertebra, the pain disappears. If distilled water is administered instead of the anesthetic, a slight tingling sensation is felt in the chest area. This is a clear sign that the cause of the pain was thoracic osteochondrosis.
Duration of pain
This sign also requires more careful consideration. If you have heart problems, the pain in its area does not last long, usually a couple of minutes. While the painful sensation caused by thoracic osteochondrosis can last for several days.
But there is also a trap here: if the pain does not go away for several days and there is obvious weakness throughout the body, immediately consult a doctor.
It is quite possible that the cause of the malaise was an acute myocardial infarction.
Localization of pain
Equally important is the location of the pain. In case of heart disease, the source of pain is concentrated in the left side of the chest, sometimes the pain radiates to the neck, back of the head and shoulder. While with osteochondrosis, the pain syndrome affects the thoracic, lumbar and cervical spine.
Associated symptoms
Pay attention to associated symptoms. Heart pain in most cases does not go away without an increase in heart rate and breathing. Sometimes the veins in the neck can swell, for example in pericarditis.
With osteochondrosis, such a symptom is not observed, but general stiffness in movements may appear.
Why do tachycardia and arrhythmia occur in osteochondrosis?
Arrhythmia is perhaps the most common consequence of neglected 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" blood through the bend. Against the background of this phenomenon, the heart rate increases.
Arrhythmia can manifest itself in several ways. Alternatively, it may cause 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, a rapid heartbeat occurs with increased physical activity;
- Heart rate may increase when a person takes an uncomfortable position, especially if the spine receives increased stress at this time;
- With osteochondrosis, tachycardia maintains a certain rhythm, the interval between contractions does not change, it is always the same;
- As soon as targeted treatment of osteochondrosis begins, tachycardia begins to disappear, the problem self-liquidates.
If a symptom such as tachycardia is left unattended and timely treatment is not initiated, the heart muscle may not be able to cope with the increased load.
As a consequence of such neglect, extrasystole may develop.
Extrasystole due to thoracic osteochondrosis?
This disease can occur by bypassing tachycardia. It occurs much less frequently than tachycardia and occurs in advanced forms of osteochondrosis. The disease is also a consequence of abnormal heart rhythm. It is caused by the accelerated and premature contraction of the heart muscle, which immediately follows the normal one.
A person may not feel bad at all. Sometimes you may have the feeling that your heart has stopped for a moment or, on the contrary, has accelerated. In this case a very weak pulse is noted. It may not be traceable at all.
If you do not pay timely attention to these symptoms, 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 barely readable pulse;
- The muscles between the shoulder blades are constantly tense;
- A person often feels dizzy, weak, and dizzy;
- Often there is a feeling of increased heat, sweating increases;
- Does not let go of the feeling of internal discomfort;
- The increase in heart rate occurs periodically, is unstable and works on the principle of a wave - sometimes intensifying, sometimes almost dying out;
- The volume of extrasystolic ejection exceeds the norm - this indicator can be determined using a tonometer.
These symptoms can be felt constantly, but very often intensify at night or when the patient is in a horizontal position. Elementary limb movements intensify symptoms.
This sensation can last for several hours. All attempts to stabilize the heart by taking cardiac drugs are unsuccessful. Even trying to identify the causes of heart disease through an ECG does not answer the question.
If attempts to administer anesthesia between the VI and VII vertebrae of the cervical spine and the I vertebra of the thoracic spine have been successful, there is no doubt. The cause of the heart problems in this case was precisely thoracic osteochondrosis.
When trying to palpate the thoracic vertebrae, heart pain also increases.
Consequently hypertension
Very often thoracic osteochondrosis goes hand in hand with hypertension. The reason for this duet is compression of the vertebral artery. This can occur due to a muscle spasm, resulting in significant swelling of the muscle tissue. The reason for 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 responsible for supplying oxygen and other useful components to the brain, it lacks the substances necessary for normal functioning. Brain cells are in a state of starvation.
To provide the brain with the right amount of nutrition and "push" blood flow through the curve, 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 to the brain, but leads to hypertension.
If you do not draw a parallel between osteochondrosis and hypertension and start treating hypertension as an independent phenomenon, such treatment is unlikely to give a sustainable long-term result. Such experiments can only aggravate 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 drowsiness, due to insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, the body tries to "save" nutrients to keep vital organs functioning. The sleep state helps save energy;
- Constant weakness is also a consequence of the brain not receiving enough oxygen;
- Disorder, confusion;
- The appearance of "floaters" before the eyes - this symptom is often noticed by people with high blood pressure, not knowing that the cause of this pressure most likely lies not in the poor condition of the blood vessels, but in osteochondrosis;
- Periodically all objects begin to see double;
- Vision deterioration often occurs, the reasons are the same: little oxygen;
- Hearing problem;
- With a significant lack of oxygen, fainting may occur - this is the body's protective reaction.
Diagnostics
Knowing the signs of diseases is useful, but the most accurate diagnosis can only be made by a doctor using modern diagnostic tools. The simplest and cheapest way is to conduct an ECG. This study will allow us to quickly determine whether the cause of pain in the heart area is a malfunction of the cardiovascular system or whether this disorder has another pathology.
If the ECG confirms that the heart is functioning properly, it makes sense to prescribe an MRI. This method allows you to obtain a layer-by-layer image of the entire spine or its parts. These images will allow you to quickly and accurately determine whether a person has spinal problems.
If suspicions of osteochondrosis are confirmed, treatment should be started immediately.