Many people over 45 begin to feel pain in the heart area. This symptom leaves the person in a state of panic, as it is not known exactly what caused this condition.
Often thoughts come to mind that serious heart problems have begun and that emergency help from cardiologists may be needed. After taking an electrocardiogram and obtaining a completely satisfactory result, the person's astonishment only increases.
What could cause heart pain? And, most importantly, what to do in such a situation? The answer is really simple, although not everyone knows the answer. Heart pain often occurs due to other illnesses. This situation occurs mainly in 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 certain physical activities. Most of it "resides" in the spine. To facilitate the performance of the vertebrae in the tasks assigned to them, there are intervertebral discs between them. These, in turn, act as shock absorbers, preventing the vertebrae from rubbing together.
Intervertebral discs tend to wear out. The main reason is very intense stress on the spine. Poor nutrition of cartilaginous tissue can also cause its 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, a rather painful inflammatory process occurs.
In thoracic osteochondrosis, active abrasion of the intervertebral discs in the thoracic spine occurs. With the pathology, the patient not only loses resistance, but is no longer able to perform physical activities in the same volumes. He begins to feel pain, which becomes more and more intense.
To alleviate the patient's condition, specialized treatment is necessary. If the therapeutic course is not completed on time, the patient may face various health problems. In particular, various pathologies of the cardiac system may arise.
Main symptoms of osteochondrosis
There are certain signs that will help identify thoracic osteochondrosis against the background of other diseases.
- Firstly, it is worth understanding where exactly the source of the pain is. In thoracic osteochondrosis, the pain comes predominantly from the chest. It can be sharp, as if squeezing from all sides. There is often a feeling of difficulty breathing and even shortness of breath when coughing. Sometimes the pain radiates to the shoulder blade region, where there is a dull aching sensation. Unpleasant pain can "increase" after physical exercise, but it is 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 limbs freeze even in summer, when there is no reason for it;
- 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, considered the main ones, it also makes sense 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, sometimes causing a feeling of muscle stiffness. In this case, there is a feeling that the origin 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 cervical form. It is quite possible to feel a lump in your 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 ways the symptoms are very similar? There are several signs that you should pay special attention to.
Nature of the 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 region. In osteochondrosis, the pain is compressive.
At the same time, it grows or decreases, but most often it does not give up for a long time and remains stable. The pulse often increases, which is even more misleading. Sometimes there is a feeling of heat inside the sternum.
With cervicothoracic osteochondrosis, the patient often complains of pain in the lower cervical vertebrae. Sometimes weakness in the muscles of the left hand is observed; the use of the little finger is especially problematic. Movement of the arms does not bring relief, it only worsens the pain.
Sometimes the painful sensation spreads throughout the entire left quadrant of the body, affecting not only the chest but also the neck, left arm, and sometimes the face. This condition can last for a long time, from a few hours to several days.
With incipient angina and heart attack, some pain sensations may be similar in nature. The main difference is that in osteochondrosis the pain intensifies when inhaling. A tablet of a nitrate group venodilating agent or a vasodilator will relieve pain caused by heart problems. This method will in no way help against osteochondrosis.
But when the anesthetic solution is injected into the region of the VI, VII neck vertebrae and I thoracic vertebrae, the pain goes away. If distilled water is administered instead of anesthetic, a slight tingling sensation appears 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 detailed consideration. If you have heart problems, the pain in the area does not last long, usually a few minutes. 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, see a doctor immediately.
It is quite possible that the cause of the malaise was an 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, back of the head and shoulders. While with osteochondrosis, the pain syndrome affects the thoracic, lumbar and cervical spine.
Associated symptoms
Pay attention to accompanying symptoms. In most cases, heart pain 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, this 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 untreated thoracic osteochondrosis. With this disease, compression of the artery that runs along the entire spine often occurs.
Compression can occur both from bone growth and from hypertonic muscles. As a result, the pressure inside the vessels increases. The body requires more effort to "push" the blood through the curve. Against the background of this phenomenon, the heart rate increases.
Arrhythmia can manifest itself in different ways. Alternatively, it may result in sinus tachycardia. But how to find out what exactly caused 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, tachycardia occurs with increased physical activity;
- Heart rate can increase when a person takes an uncomfortable position, especially if the spine is under increased stress at this time;
- With osteochondrosis, tachycardia maintains a certain rhythm, the interval between contractions does not change, it is the same all the time;
- As soon as targeted treatment of osteochondrosis begins, tachycardia begins to disappear and the problem self-liminates.
If a symptom such as tachycardia is left unattended and timely treatment is not started, the heart muscle may not be able to cope with the increased load.
As a consequence of this negligence, extrasystole may occur.
Extrasystole due to thoracic osteochondrosis?
This disease can occur bypassing tachycardia. It occurs much less frequently than tachycardia and occurs in advanced forms of osteochondrosis. The disease is also a consequence of an abnormal heart rhythm. It is caused by premature accelerated contraction of the heart muscle, which immediately follows normal.
A person may not feel bad. Sometimes you may feel as if your heart has stopped for a moment or, conversely, accelerated. In this case, a very weak pulse is observed. May not be traceable.
If you do not pay timely attention to these symptoms, chronic myocardial hypoxia is likely to 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 disorders 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 legible pulse;
- The muscles between the shoulder blades are constantly tense;
- A person often feels dizzy, weak and dizzy;
- There is often a feeling of increased heat, sweating increases;
- Do not give up the feeling of internal discomfort;
- The increase in heart rate occurs periodically, is unstable and works on the principle of a wave - now intensifying, now almost dying;
- The extrasystolic ejection volume exceeds the norm - this indicator can be determined using a tonometer.
These symptoms can be felt constantly, but most often they intensify at night or when the patient is in a horizontal position. Elementary limb movements intensify symptoms.
This feeling can last for several hours. All attempts to stabilize the heart with cardiac medications do not give positive results. An attempt to identify the causes of heart disease using an ECG also does not answer the question.
Whether 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 trying to palpate the thoracic vertebrae, the pain in the heart also increases.
Hypertension as a consequence
Thoracic osteochondrosis often goes hand in hand with hypertension. The reason for this duet is compression of the vertebral artery. This can occur due to muscle spasms, 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 in thoracic osteochondrosis.
For the simple reason that it is the vertebral artery that is responsible for supplying oxygen and other useful components to the brain, it lacks substances necessary for normal functioning. Brain cells are in a state of starvation.
To provide the brain with the proper 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 for adequate nutrition of the brain but leads to hypertension.
If you do not draw a parallel between osteochondrosis and hypertension and begin to treat hypertension as an independent phenomenon, such treatment is unlikely to give a sustainable long-term result. Such experiments can only aggravate the situation, adding even more problems to the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
How to determine hypertension caused by osteochondrosis?
- Periodically, the patient experiences dizziness, more 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 to save energy;
- Constant weakness is also a consequence of the brain not receiving enough oxygen;
- Disturbance, confusion;
- The appearance of "floaters" before the eyes - this symptom is often noticed by people with hypertension, 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 deficiency;
- With a significant lack of oxygen, fainting may occur - this is the body's protective reaction.
Diagnosis
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 economical way is to perform an ECG. This study will make it possible to quickly determine whether the cause of pain in the heart region is a malfunction in the cardiovascular system or whether this disease has another pathology.
If the ECG confirms that the heart is working well, 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 make it possible to quickly and accurately determine whether a person has back problems.
If suspicions of osteochondrosis are confirmed, treatment should be started immediately.