Intercostal neuralgia is a serious disease characterized by severe painful attacks. The pathology is associated with damage to peripheral nerve endings, which can be caused by a variety of reasons. As a rule, it is treated with conservative methods, including massage. What does massage do for intercostal neuralgia, and can it be done at home?
Massage for intercostal neuralgia
Causes
A person's lifestyle influences the development of this disease.
Lack of sufficient physical activity, incorrect posture, prolonged static position in an awkward position, alcohol and smoking, tight clothing, stress - all this causes the development of clinical manifestations. The key link in the development of neuralgia is osteochondrosis, in which nerves are pinched due to degenerative processes in cartilage tissue.
Concomitant diseases affect: tumors, injuries, deficiency of B vitamins.
Symptoms
Neuralgia can be recognized by its characteristic symptoms, the main of which can be called pain. An unpleasant sensation occurs suddenly; a person may not even expect this to happen.
Significant discomfort occurs, which makes it difficult to carry out usual activities. The pain intensifies when the patient begins to cough or communicate emotionally. Discomfort is also felt when turning the body.
Other characteristic symptoms can be identified:
- Impaired skin sensitivity. As a rule, a person may experience numbness in the problem area. At the same time, when palpating, unpleasant sensations arise and intensify.
- Pale skin or, conversely, redness. This is often observed in situations where a person has problems with blood circulation.
- Increased sweating. It can be observed not only in hot weather, but also in winter.
- Loss of consciousness. This is observed in people with a low pain threshold. Fainting is quite rare, but still possible.
In most cases, pain begins in the chest and then spreads along the ribs. Depending on the cause of neuralgia, the symptom may radiate to other parts of the body.
In particular, it can spread to the back, shoulder blades and lower back. Diagnosis problems often arise because a medical specialist may suspect other diseases.
Diagnostics
The main thing is to distinguish this pathology from diseases of the cardiovascular and digestive systems.
A neurologist can correctly differentiate neuralgia. Unlike heart diseases, intercostal neuralgia has characteristic symptoms: increased pain with movement, lack of effect from cardiac medications, for example, nitroglycerin. Additionally, an ECG or ECHO KG is performed according to indications. Pain in the chest area when coughing resembles pneumonia. To avoid missing this pathology, a chest x-ray may be required.
It is better not to self-medicate, as there is a risk of missing a serious illness. A competent doctor, using the necessary medical equipment, will make a diagnosis correctly and quickly.
Rules for massage
For intercostal neuralgia, it is necessary to massage both the back and chest, regardless of where the pain is localized. To achieve a lasting positive result, a minimum of 10 procedures lasting up to 20 minutes are prescribed. Massage is performed daily or every other day, depending on the patient’s condition and the use of other therapeutic techniques. During treatment, experts recommend adhering to certain rules in order to obtain a high therapeutic effect from the procedures.
- Before a massage, you should not take painkillers or muscle relaxants, as their effect interferes with perception during the procedure. Painful manifestations that occur during massage indicate the specialist to the affected areas, allowing you to choose the right massage technique and force of influence. If the patient does not feel anything, the massage therapist may accidentally touch the damaged nerve and further injure it. So if the pain or spasms are severe enough, massage should be avoided until the pain is relieved.
Do not take painkillers before the massage - It is not recommended to do a massage immediately after eating, since during the procedure you will need to lie on your stomach, and the stomach will be compressed. This negatively affects digestion, gives some discomfort, and makes it difficult for the patient to relax. It is best to conduct a session 1-1.5 hours after a meal or before a meal.
- If the massage is carried out at home, the room should be ventilated, with a comfortable air temperature. For massage, you need a strong, stable couch or a wide chair with a back on which the patient can rest his hands. Often pain due to neuralgia does not allow one to lie normally on the back or stomach, and in such cases it is more convenient to massage while sitting.
Massage can be done while sitting if pain prevents you from taking a lying position - You need to start with light stroking movements aimed at warming up the muscles. The intensity of the effect is increased gradually, and the healthy side of the body is massaged first. If the lesion affects both the right and left sides, first massage where the pain is felt less. In the most painful points, the impact should be minimal, so during the procedure the greatest attention should be paid to the patient's reaction. Exceeding the pain threshold can cause serious health complications.
Important! After completing the session, you should not get up immediately, much less go out into the cold. It is advisable to remain in a lying position for another 5-10 minutes, completely relaxing the muscles. To enhance the therapeutic effect, it is recommended to combine massage with physiotherapy and therapeutic exercises.
Treatment
The therapy is carried out by a neurologist.
The choice of medications is carried out for each patient separately, taking into account concomitant diseases, his age, and allergic history. Therapy consists of several stages:
- Rest to relieve swelling of the nerves and muscles and reduce pain. It is better to limit physical activity in the first 3 days and maintain bed rest. Sports and other strenuous activities should be avoided.
- Prescribing painkillers orally or intramuscularly. Among the anti-inflammatory drugs used are NSAIDs - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
- To eliminate spasm of the intercostal muscles, muscle relaxants are used.
- Outside of exacerbation, exercise therapy, massage, acupuncture and swimming are indicated (in the absence of contraindications for the patient).
Compress recipes
Compresses help relieve inflammation of nerve endings and dull pain. There are several recipes for their preparation:
- It is necessary to pour 100 g of turpentine with the same amount of boiling water and mix the ingredients thoroughly. You will need to soak the gauze with the resulting mixture and squeeze out the excess liquid. After this, the material should be placed over the problem area, covered with paper and wrapped with a terry towel. The compress should be applied for 3-5 minutes daily. After this time, you need to put on warm clothes and lie down under a blanket for 1-2 hours. The duration of treatment is 1-2 weeks. Turpentine warms up soft tissues, improving blood circulation. When sufficient oxygen and nutritional compounds are supplied, the affected nerves recover faster.
You can use salt compresses. For this, 1 tbsp. salt, preferably sea salt, should be dissolved in a glass of warm water, gauze moistened in the solution and applied to the problem area, securing it on top with a woolen cloth.
You need to apply the compress for 2-3 hours. If the pain syndrome is localized on the back, the duration of the procedure should be increased to 4 hours. Salt will help draw out excess fluid from the soft tissues, which will reduce swelling. You can repeat the procedure no more than 2 times a week.
You need to prepare 1 tsp. turmeric, 2 tsp. ginger powder, 0.5 tsp. ground chili pepper. All components will need to be mixed in 100 ml of warm water. The resulting mass must be heated to +40°C, then applied to gauze or cloth. The finished compress should be placed on the sore area and kept for 15-20 minutes. You can use a bandage to secure it. It is necessary to continue treatment every day for 10 days. The compress has a warming effect, improving tissue microcirculation. Thanks to accelerated blood flow in the capillaries, inflammation of the nerves goes away. Place an alcohol solution of iodine and glycerin in equal proportions in a dark glass container. The ingredients need to be shaken. Moisten cotton wool with the resulting mixture and lubricate the affected areas before going to bed. In this case, you should not rub the ingredients into the skin or smear areas near the spine. After applying the product, you need to bandage your chest, put on cotton clothes and go to bed. There is no need to cover your body with a blanket. It is necessary to repeat the procedure 15 times. The product should be used every other day. It has a warming effect and saturates the tissues with useful components.
Physiotherapy for intercostal neuralgia
During the period when the severity of the process subsides, preventive measures are recommended.
Massage of the back and neck-collar area has proven itself well. It improves blood circulation in the affected area and causes relaxation of spasmed muscles and a reduction in pain. Another useful method is physical therapy (PT). An individual set of exercises strengthens the chest muscles and makes them more elastic. A durable muscle corset is a way to prevent intercostal neuralgia.
After pain relief, you can go swimming and lead an active lifestyle to prevent relapses of the disease.
Acupuncture can be used even during periods of exacerbation of symptoms. Impact on certain points relaxes deep muscles and improves well-being.
Massage technique
To perform a massage at home, it is enough to watch how an experienced specialist does it 1-2 times. The massage technique is quite simple and includes standard techniques - stroking with fingertips, kneading, rubbing painful areas.
Table. Stages of performing a massage
| Illustration | Description |
| Step 1 | The patient lies on his stomach and places his hands in front of him. Massage begins on the side where there is no pain or is felt weaker. The fingertips are applied to the skin between the ribs and smoothly moved in the direction from the spine to the abdomen. Stroking is carried out with both hands, alternately running your fingers from top to bottom. |
| Step 2 | After warming up the muscles on the healthy side of the back, move to the sore side. The movements are the same: fingers are placed on the back at an angle of 35-40 degrees, pressed with pads to the skin and passed between the ribs for 2-3 minutes. |
| Step 3 | Switch over to the healthy side again and begin rubbing. The fingers are placed in the same way as before, but now the movements are more intense. For convenience, you can massage with one hand, pressing from above with the palm of your second hand. They rub not only the ribs, but also the area of the shoulder blade. Then repeat in the same way on the sore side of the back. |
| Step 4 | The next stage is kneading. Again, start from the healthy side: place both palms on the ribs, then alternately raise and lower them, grasping the folds of the skin. The movements are intense, quite fast, and involve the area of the ribs and shoulder blade. |
| Step 5 | Move to the sore side of the back. Here you should rub more carefully, but still quite actively. |
| Step 6 | The next technique is called vibration. To do this, grab the skin on the back with your fingers, lift it up and release it, that is, perform frequent pinching throughout the entire area being worked on. Having completed on one side, do the same on the other. |
| Step 7 | After vibration, they again move on to stroking the intercostal space with their fingers. The movements are smooth, with light pressure, in the direction from the spine to the stomach. |
| Step 8 | The patient should roll over onto his back and extend his arms along his body. Begin chest massage with classic stroking: apply palms to the skin and move from the middle of the chest to the back, then to the collarbones and at the same time with both hands from the neck to the stomach. |
| Step 9 | Now stroking is done with the fingertips, moving between the ribs in the direction from the middle of the chest to the back. |
| Step 10 | Start kneading. The movements are fast, active, from the lower line of the ribs to the collarbone. When properly kneaded, the skin should begin to turn red. |
| Step 11 | After kneading, vibration is performed alternately on each side. The pinching should be moderately intense, but not painful. |
| Step 12 | The massage is completed by stroking the entire treated area - from the stomach to the neck. The movements are very light, relaxing, smooth. |
If the patient feels pain in a specific point, it is necessary to work on this area separately. You need to massage carefully, first performing stroking, then rubbing and kneading movements. It is not advisable to use pinches here, so as not to cause suffering to the patient. The duration of such work should not exceed 4-5 minutes. After this, the person should lie quietly for 10 or 20 minutes so that the muscles calm down. Instead of classical massage, cupping and acupressure massage can also be used for intercostal neuralgia.
Types of massage for intercostal neuralgia
Video - Massage for intercostal neuralgia
Massage is also effective for other types of neuralgia, for example, facial or sciatica. Depending on which part of the body is affected, the massage technique has certain differences, but the procedure does not present any particular difficulties. You can read about all the intricacies of massage and related methods of treating neuralgia on our website.
Prevention
There are several important principles that can be followed to prevent the development of the disease:
- Regular physical activity.
- Balanced diet.
- Correct body position at the table, straight posture.
- Avoid long static poses, do a short warm-up every 30-60 minutes.
- Quitting bad habits: alcohol and smoking.
- Avoid hypothermia.
- Learn to properly cope with stressful situations.
