Treatment of intercostal neuralgia

Treatment of intercostal neuralgia is variable, as the etiology of this disease is also different. Between the ribs there is an unusual pain, which in sensations can be similar to cardiac pathology, and even to a heart attack. Insidious disease is carefully masked for angina pectoris, rheumatic and gastric diseases so skillfully that sometimes even an experienced doctor at a primary examination is difficult to determine intercostal neuralgia. In addition, the age of the patient is usually far from the young, in this age period many people already have a "bouquet" of chronic diseases, with which it is not difficult to confuse neuralgia.

The term "neuralgia" originates in ancient Greece, and the name itself denotes pain in the nerve - neuron and algos. Pain sensations are rarely localized in one strangulated nerve, usually they quickly pass to nearby nerve endings, so a person may have sensations of numbness and other neuropathic manifestations other than pain.

The factors that provoke neuralgia are so diverse that their full list can take up more than one page, but the main ones are:

• Physical injuries, bruises;
• Constant work in an uncomfortable, unphysiological position;
• Skvoznyaki, which provoke inflammation of the intercostal muscles against a background of reduced immunity;
• Excessive physical activity;
• Severe hypothermia of the body;
• Intoxications, including medicinal;
• Bacterial infection;
• Herpetic pathology, shingles;
• Tuberculosis;
• Cardiovascular diseases;
• Anemia;
• Insufficient supply of nerve trunks with oxygen;
• Pathological structure of the vertebral column (hernia, deformity, osteopathology);
• Scarring, degeneration of connective tissues;
• Hormonal pathologies;
• Hepatitis;
• Endocrine diseases (thyrotoxicosis);
• Tumor process.

Numerous reasons can be grouped into categories - inflammatory, compression and traumatic factors. Anyway, the pain with neuralgia develops according to a typical scenario:

• The first muscle suffers, there is a muscle spasm;
• Nerve endings react strongly to irritation;
• Nerve endings (roots) are squeezed, infringed in the zone of displacement of the muscle and vertebra;
• There is a persistent pain in the area of damage, irradiating to various organs - the liver, stomach, heart.

Treatment of intercostal neuralgia should take place according to the underlying disease. Different methods and methods of self-help, of course, are appropriate, but only as primary actions.

If the pain does not pass within 24 hours, you should seek more serious, skilled care so as not to miss a real, hidden disease that may pose a health hazard.

1. The first therapeutic stage is the removal of the pain symptom, and for this it is necessary to observe certain rules, including bed rest. The surface of the horizontal is better to choose a hard enough, hard, featherbeds and soft mattresses are excluded. As an anesthetic, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs (diclofenac, orthophen, voltaren, piroxicam) and analgesic drugs (spazgan, ketanov, sedalgin) are prescribed. Drugs are taken in the form of tablets, injections are possible, as well as suppositories. Medicines are taken according to the prescribed regimen, course, even in the absence of pain symptoms;
2. Provides immovability of the body with a special corset or bandaging with elastic materials. The fastening of the hull must not be prolonged to prevent a decrease in muscle tone.
3. In place of pain superimposed dry warm compresses, possibly a warmer, but warming up should appoint or exclude the doctor in order to avoid the development of concomitant purulent pathologies;
4. Vitamin therapy is necessarily prescribed, the vitamins of group B. A wonderful result is the preparation of milgamma, a combination of three powerful vitamins: thiamine (B1) - a neurotropic, energy-giving metabolizing substance, pyridoxine (B6) - a transporting amino acid and answering for the regulation of protein metabolism, cyanocobalamin (B12) - anti-anemic agent, regulator of carbohydrate-fat balance. Also in the composition of mildew is an anesthetic of local action - lidocaine.
5. Relaxation of spasms is provided with the help of drugs - mielorelaksantov (sirdalud, moldon, midokalm).
6. If intercostal neuralgia treatment involves urgent, aimed at coping with severe pain, an anesthetic blockade with lidocaine, novocaine is prescribed.
7. If neuralgia occurs in a chronic variant, in addition to NSAIDs - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticosteroid preparations may be prescribed. It is possible to connect auxiliary substances containing glucosamine, but such drugs do not have direct therapeutic effect, rather they are needed for the rehabilitation period. A more pronounced effect is produced by local applications with an aqueous solution of a local anesthetic - dimexide.
8. After an acute period, neuralgia responds well to physical therapy - electrophoresis, reflexotherapy sessions, and electrocution.
9. At home, regular exercises from the complex of exercise therapy, self-massage and warm baths with sea salt, decoction of the willow bark, containing acetylsalicylic acid (anti-inflammatory effect) are shown at home.

Treatment of intercostal neuralgia is long, term, which in no case can be stopped at the first sign of relief. Moreover, it would be more correct to prevent and prevent neuralgia. And if you have symptoms similar to intercostal neuralgia, you should as soon as possible contact a doctor who will conduct differential diagnosis and exclude heart disease, and appoint a timely, gentle treatment.