Cervical osteochondrosis is a widespread disease that is increasingly troubling young people. This is a degenerative-dystrophic change that affects the discs of the cervical spine. Its development is facilitated by a long stay in an uncomfortable tense pose. For example, working at a computer, an inactive lifestyle, the habit of leaning on one hand lying on a table when sitting, and incorrect posture. Symptoms of cervical osteochondrosis. Many patients rarely pay attention to the first signs of cervical osteochondrosis. These symptoms are taken for ordinary tiredness or the common cold. For many years a person has been drinking aspirin from the head or valerian from the heart, not even realizing that it is necessary to treat the neck. First of all, they complain of dizziness, pain in the back of the head, limited movement in the neck, crunch of the neck when turning or tilting the head to the sides. No less often there is numbness or dull pain in the left side of the chest, which extends into the arm. Another, perhaps, a burning sensation between the shoulder blades. Osteochondrosis can cause impaired vision and hearing, pain in the hands, impaired heart function, nausea or double vision. Facial spasm may also occur. There is a feeling that the face is skewed (paralyzed). As a rule, such symptoms are accompanied by a panic state, while the patient is tormented by a feeling of aches and burning. Sometimes the pain becomes so strong that it is simply unbearable to endure, and especially at night. These symptoms can occur in the morning, with an uncomfortable position during sleep, and in the evening due to an intense working pose, when a person is forced to spend a long time in the same position. Most people do not even try to find out the cause of the unpleasant symptoms, but simply remove them using medications. However, it should be understood that it is impossible to solve the problem in this way. The maximum that happens is to delay your visit to the doctor until the pain becomes unbearable. The disease is easier to prevent than to treat. Since the upper part of the spine is affected, soft tissues are injured: nerve endings, cerebral vessels, ligaments and muscles, of which a huge amount passes through the cervical part. All this can lead to serious illness. The sooner you start prevention, the longer you can avoid medications. Each person spends at least five hours a day in bed, and for many, bed is associated with relaxation and rest. Choosing the right posture and good bedding will contribute to full sleep and relaxation of the muscles of the spine, which is so necessary for progressive osteochondrosis. When we lie, the load on the spine is minimal. But when we take an upright position, it almost doubles. If you relax correctly, the intervertebral discs straighten out during the night, the space between them increases and the person “grows” by about 2-3 centimeters. Choose a pillow and bed for pain in the neck. The basic rule of comfortable sleep is that the neck line should be strictly parallel to the bed line. In this position, there is no threat of constricting the arteries that supply blood to the brain. The bed base must be flat and a little harsh. For a long and especially night rest, folding beds and hammocks are not suitable. The mattress needs a flat, elastic and semi-rigid. Only on such a bed will the vertebral column be able to maintain a natural physiological state, which means it can rest comfortably. Sagging mattresses do not support the most severe area of the body – the pelvis. This causes the spine to malfunction. It is important to observe the correspondence of body weight with the thickness of the mattress. So a person of elegant physique will enjoy a softer mattress, and a fat man can’t do without a relatively hard product. Now there are many mattresses with elements of light traction – traction. Hydrometras for osteochondrosis is not suitable. It is too elastic, and shaking and vibrations canlead to undesirable load on the disks, and as a result of their damage. The pillow should be low, elongated and small. If you already have problems with the cervical spine, then you need to select orthopedic pillows suitable for you. The pillow should fill all the free space between the head and shoulders. In this case, the shoulders should not be located on the pillow. When you lie on your back, only the back of the head should be in contact with the pillow. The head should be well supported without slipping or falling through in a dream. This is the only way muscles can fully relax. If your pillow is too big, it can be folded in half, the main thing is that it should not be very high. Too high a pillow causes the spine to bend strongly, displacing the cervical vertebrae, disrupting the blood circulation of the brain. Sleeping on her is one torment. But you should not sleep on too low a pillow, or, in general, without it. In this case, the head will be thrown back, and the muscles will be tense. Inflammation and severe pain may occur. An adult is not recommended to sleep on his stomach. When we lie on our stomach, abruptly throwing our heads back to the side, the blood supply in the vertebral arteries is disrupted, and there is a risk of stroke.