Intercostal neuralgia in women manifests itself as a sharp pain in the chest, which has the character of "shooting". It often occurs on one side. Due to its localization, neuralgia is often confused with other diseases – lungs or heart. That is why, with complaints of chest pain, doctors send patients to an ECG or fluorography. Of course, it is better to play it safe and prevent a serious illness. However, if everything is in order with the heart and lungs, you should not relax.
Neuralgia is dangerous with its attacks, when a person tries not to move once again, so as not to provoke acute pain.
The editors of estet-portal.com will tell how to recognize neuralgia, why it occurs and how to treat it.
- Intercostal neuralgia in women: symptoms and features
- Diversity of causes of intercostal neuralgia in women
- Intercostal neuralgia in women: treatment and prevention
Intercostal neuralgia in women: symptoms and features
First of all, the disease manifests itself as painful sensations in the intercostal space – they occur when you sneeze, take a deep breath, or bend over to the side. As a result, I want to limit mobility so as not to provoke the appearance of pain – which is quite natural. Painful areas are also located in the spine and under the arms.
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Neuralgia symptoms:
- pain covers the entire chest;
- painful sensations last from several seconds to several minutes, they are especially pronounced in the area of the ribs;
- pain is aggravated by turning the torso, swallowing, sudden movements of the body;
- the pain also increases when probing the sternum;
- pain may radiate to the right shoulder.
Read also: What does the pain under the right shoulder blade mean
As you can see, the symptoms are similar to those that occur with problems with the work of the heart. Therefore, if pain in the chest is accompanied by the same sensations in the shoulder blade with simultaneous numbness of the fingers, use cardio drugs and call a doctor to check the heart. If everything is in order with him, in other cases, pain in the sternum – these are most likely signs of neuralgia.
In intercostal neuralgia no changes in pressure or pulse rate are observed. Instead, it can encircle a person in the lumbar region, which often leads to suspicion of renal colic. With physical exertion, the pain intensifies, and its source can be detected with the help of palpation – this section will be especially painful.
Diversity of causes of intercostal neuralgia in women
Pain in the chest occurs when the nerve endings between the ribs are compressed. It often accompanies osteochondrosis or various pathologies of the spine. At the same time, the cartilage between the vertebrae becomes thinner, and the bone tissue clamps the nerves – pain occurs.
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The following factors can cause neuralgia:
- presence of an inflammatory process;
- inflammation due to hormonal osteoporosis;
- kyphosis or curvature of the upper part of the spinal column;
- Bechterew's disease;
- oncological diseases in the spine;
- reflex compression;
- Spine injury.
Physiotherapy for osteochondrosis – is the treatment effective
Also, neuralgia can develop against the background of excessive physical exertion, stress, acute respiratory infections, severe hypothermia. An additional risk factor is in women – this is the wearing of improperly selected underwear, which squeezes the skin, mechanically affects the nerve endings. Especially often this problem is observed in slender women – they have a thin layer of fat, and the nerves are closer to the skin. Therefore, they need to be especially careful in choosing underwear, avoiding too tight corsets.
Intercostal neuralgia in women: treatment and prevention
First of all, the treatment is aimed at eliminating pain – and for this you will be prescribed pills, injections, suppositories. Muscle relaxants will also be prescribed to relieve muscle spasm in the affected area. They help tense muscles relax to relieve pain. If the pain attacks are particularly severe, blockades with lidocaine may be necessary.
Another component of therapy – the fight against tissue edema. For this purpose, venotonics and diuretics are prescribed. They improve microcirculation, due to which excess fluid is excreted from the body.
The most important task of treatment – repair of the damaged nerve. To do this, they resort to physiotherapy, B vitamins – the latter strengthen the nerve sheath. At the time of treatment, you will need to give up tight-fitting clothing and physical exertion, stress. This rest mode should be maintained during the entire period of treatment and for some time after.
If the cause of neuralgia is osteochondrosis, then it will be necessary to improve the condition of the spine through massage, swimming, gymnastics.
To avoid the recurrence of neuralgia, do not wear too tight clothes, do not overcool, properly organize your workplace at the table. All this will help to forget what intercostal neuralgia is in women.
Read also: Vagus nerve: symptoms of inflammation and how to deal with them
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