What are the symptoms of female thoracic spondylosis

Female thoracic spondylosis generally manifests itself in symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty in back movement, and shoulder pain. These symptoms are mainly caused by factors such as excessive fatigue and cold back. This is mainly because excessive moisture in the back affects the mobility of the vertebrae. Therefore, when women develop thoracic spondylosis, they should rest more and then choose physical therapy to help expel moisture from the body. In severe cases, surgery is required for treatment.

1. Back pain and intercostal radiating pain

Back pain and intercostal radiating pain are symptoms of thoracic spondylosis. Initially, they are mostly localized pains that worsen after physical labor, so that you have to change your body position frequently to relieve the pain. In addition, patients are often awakened by pain during sleep at night and feel abnormal discomfort in the back, mainly soreness, heaviness, dull pain or burning pain between the shoulder blades, and a feeling of pressure in the chest.

As the disease progresses, it may often begin to radiate to the corresponding back, shoulders, abdomen or visceral areas after a trauma, overwork or cold, and is often characterized by severe stabbing or burning pain. Flexion and extension, rotation, bumps, vibrations or coughing can induce and aggravate pain.

During physical examination, it is common to find limited thoracic spine mobility, especially extension, tightness of the longus dorsi and mild lateral wrist injury in the pectoralis muscle. There is usually radiating tenderness around the spinous processes of the vertebrae. The affected root area often shows hyperesthesia, or occasionally hypoesthesia. Hyperreflexia of the lower limb tendons and decreased abdominal wall reflexes may also be seen.

2. Precordial pain

Precordial pain is the cause of patients' fear, and they may suspect that they have angina pectoris. The characteristic is that precordial pain occurs together with back pain. The pain is mostly oppressive and tight, mostly distributed in a band-like manner, from the left back to the precordial area, and radiates to the left armpit. Precordial pain usually subsides on its own after 15-20 minutes, but often takes several days to completely disappear. Even after the pain disappears, there is still tenderness generally in the 2nd to 5th intercostal space and even in the left armpit.

In addition to the above characteristics, the following situations are helpful in distinguishing it from angina pectoris: the pain in the cardiac area caused by thoracic vertebrae pathogens is milder than angina pectoris and lasts longer. Taking nitroglycerin drugs is ineffective; electrocardiogram examination shows no abnormalities; sometimes percussion or compression of thoracic spinous processes 2-7 can induce symptoms.

3. Abdominal pain

Diseases of the lower thoracic vertebrae can cause abdominal pain, which is often misdiagnosed as acute cholecystitis or appendicitis. The manifestations of radiating abdominal pain caused by thoracic vertebrae are characterized by paroxysmal abdominal pain that is often related to sprains and strenuous labor, and the pain area is generally distributed in a band-like manner. In addition, this type of abdominal pain is often accompanied by severe heartburn and constipation, but there is no acid reflux.

4. Urogenital symptoms

When the lower thoracic vertebrae are damaged, there are occasionally symptoms such as renal colic-like pain, difficulty urinating, decreased libido, and male impotence.

5. Spinal cord symptoms

It is relatively rare, mainly caused by thoracic disc herniation, and often occurs acutely or subacutely after trauma. Its manifestations are quite similar to compression syndrome caused by spinal cord tumors or localized adhesive spinal meningitis. The main symptoms are typical intercostal neuralgia or band-like abdominal pain, lower limb weakness and numbness, as well as sphincter and sexual dysfunction.