Osteoarthritis (osteoarthritis) is a disease of the joints that leads to their destruction.It affects 10% of the world's population.
When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, the symptoms are severe and the treatment of the disease must be comprehensive.
It is necessary to reduce stress, normalize nutrition, relieve inflammation and relieve muscle spasms.What are the characteristics of osteoarthritis, how to determine its appearance and what treatment to choose?
Osteoarthritis: what is it?
Osteoarthritis of the joints are degenerative changes in their structure, which are accompanied by pain and visible deformations.The second name of the disease, which is used in the international classification, is osteoarthritis.Let's look at the reasons why it occurs and how it is diagnosed.Osteoarthritis: what is it?
The disease begins with malnutrition of cartilage and its destruction.The inner layer of cartilage becomes thin, the joint loses strength, and the bone tissue fills with salts and growths (to compensate for the strength).
That is why osteoarthritis is called deforming osteoarthritis: as it develops, the joint acquires an ugly "twisted" shape.
Deforming osteoarthritis has three stages of development:
- First degree osteoarthritis: no notable symptoms except for a slight cracking sound and periodic pain when moving;
- Osteoarthritis of the second degree - accompanied by the formation of growths, the appearance of noticeable pain, increased crunching and weakening of the muscles;
- Third degree osteoarthritis is called the acute form of the disease.Acute osteoarthritis is accompanied by the appearance of joint deformities and limited mobility.
What joints does osteoarthritis affect?
Deformation and inflammation most often affect the joints of the lower extremities: hip, knee and toes (usually the big toe).Less frequently – ankles and fingers.
However, it is possible for the disease to develop in other parts of the body.
With coxarthrosis, the hip joints are affected (often the cause of coxarthrosis is untreated congenital dysplasia).The destruction of the vertebral joints is called spondylarthrosis, and the destruction of the knee joints is called gonarthrosis.Damage to multiple joints is called polyarthrosis.
The symptoms of polyarthrosis are the severity of the general condition, the prevalence of the process, curvature and pain in several joints at the same time (legs, arms, fingers, spine).
Inflammation in polyarthrosis spreads asymmetrically and affects different bone joints in different ways.Once polyarthrosis is diagnosed, treatment varies in duration.
Causes of osteoarthritis
The formation of osteoarthritis is facilitated by two reasons: stress and lack of adequate nutrition, which provides vitamins and minerals for tissue restoration.Every person's joints endure stress.For athletes and dancers, during physical work the load on the legs is greater, which means that the bone joints wear out faster and require high-quality nutrition.With a calm lifestyle, the supporting apparatus wears out more slowly, but it also requires periodic renewal of the tissues.
Therefore, the main condition for the destruction and deformation of the joints is malnutrition and the inability to absorb useful components, which often occurs due to metabolic disorders.
We list the factors that contribute to joint wear and metabolic disorders:
- Muscle weakness and inadequate loading of the joints.Weakness of one or more muscles increases the load on the joint and distributes it unevenly within the bony joint.In addition, with flat feet and scoliosis, inadequate muscle loading occurs, therefore, in these "harmless" diseases, the cartilage tissue wears out with age and osteoarthritis appears.
The likelihood of osteoarthritis increases with intense physical activity.
If daily loads exceed the capabilities of bone tissues, they are formed.microtraumas.Thickenings appear at the injury sites, which grow over time and deform the joint;
- Metabolic disorders (gastrointestinal diseases - stagnation of bile, dysbacteriosis, gastritis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, metabolic diseases - diabetes);
- Psychosomatic causes: The psychosomatics of osteoarthritis confirms that a negative emotional state also becomes the cause of the disease.Stress forms muscle spasms, constant stress disrupts the nutrition of all tissues (internal organs, bones, joints);
- Heredity (the type of metabolism and its possible disorders are inherited, a tendency to muscle weakness or inadequate formation of the bone apparatus, to poor digestion, which is the basis for the development of osteoarthritis in old age).
Osteoarthritis is a disease of worn joints that have lost an important supply of minerals and the ability to resist stress and destruction.
Therefore, with age, susceptibility to the disease increases.After 70 years, one in two pensioners is diagnosed with osteoarthritis.Since the maximum load falls on the legs (a person moves: walks, stands, runs, jumps), this is where the first signs of osteoarthritis form.
Osteoarthritis symptoms
Joint disease can be diagnosed by a series of painful symptoms: pain, swelling and cracking.
Symptom #1: Pain
The main symptom of the disease is joint pain.Its appearance is associated with the deformation of the joint capsules and the formation of growths.
If you have osteoarthritis, pain symptoms will increase with movement and decrease with rest.
Or appear in an uncomfortable position and disappear when choosing a comfortable position for the leg and joint.In this, osteoarthritis differs from arthritis in that it hurts, on the contrary, more often at night, at rest, and hurts less during the day, when the person is "walking."
At the beginning of the disease, pain appears periodically (with movement or an uncomfortable position).As the disease progresses, the pain is felt more frequently and becomes more intense.It reaches the point where rest does not provide relief, the joints hurt even at rest.Since at this time blood circulation is already disturbed, the joint becomes "sensitive" to weather changes ("spins", it hurts).
Symptom number 2: creaking
The crunching occurs due to the mutual poor arrangement of the bones of the diseased joint with each other.
However, slight cracking sounds are also possible in healthy joint capsules (with weak ligaments, with hereditarily mobile joints).
The osteoarthritis crisis is characterized by growth.Over time, it intensifies, becomes stronger and more distinct.
Symptom No. 3: joint deformation and reduced mobility
This symptom appears as the disease progresses.It progresses along with an increase in pain and is associated with the growth of salt accumulations, which prevent the joint from bending and straightening completely.The deformity becomes noticeable in the later stages of the disease.First, the joint swells, then "bumps" appear, an unhealthy curvature, "torsion" of the joint capsule is formed.
Treatment of joints with osteoarthritis.
The treatment of osteoarthritis (osteoarthrosis) is based on two postulates: eliminating stress and providing the joints with adequate nutrition.How to treat osteoarthritis to achieve sustainable improvement and stop cartilage destruction and bone tissue degeneration?The treatment of deforming osteoarthritis uses a complex approach.The patient is prescribed tablets and injections, compresses and physiotherapy.
When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, treatment cannot be unilateral.
You cannot simply nourish the cartilage tissue with chondroprotectors or simply relax the muscles.Unilateral measures will not help to deal with such a serious disease.
How to correctly treat osteoarthritis?During treatment, several areas of therapy are selected:
- Drug therapy: pills, injections, blockages.In the case of osteoarthritis, treatment with tablets, powders and capsules provides the body with chondroprotectors.Preparations with chondroitin improve the synthesis of collagen, which nourishes and restores cartilage tissue.These are glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.They are produced in the form of tablets for osteoarthritis, capsules or powders.They help in the initial stages of the disease and lose effectiveness in advanced conditions, when the cartilage is almost completely worn or destroyed.In this case, the patient undergoes surgery (endoprosthesis), replacing the destroyed joint with artificial tissue.Injections with anti-inflammatory and analgesic components (blockades) are also prescribed.And injections into the joint.In case of osteoarthritis, with its help gels are introduced into the bone joint, simulating intra-articular fluid, as well as analgesics and anti-inflammatory substances.
Injections into the joint ensure that the medication reaches the center of the inflammation.
The use of such injections allows you to reduce the number of tablets for osteoarthritis.Additionally, vitamin and mineral complexes are prescribed to nourish tissues;
- exercise therapy.For osteoarthritis, the treating doctor selects a series of gymnastic exercises to perform independently at home.You can learn how to do them in the clinic's physical therapy classes.
Gymnastics for osteoarthritis helps to restore muscle tone and eliminate one of the causes of the disease - weakness of muscle fibers;
- Physiotherapeutic treatment.This includes shock wave therapy (destroys large salt deposits, normalizes blood flow, activates the synthesis of its own collagen), oxygen therapy (saturation of the joint with oxygen), massage (relaxation of muscles and unloading of the joints), electrotherapy, wave techniques;
- diet food.When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, the course of the disease depends on nutrition.In case of osteoarthritis, the diet excludes nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplants).Additionally, nutrition for osteoarthritis limits alcohol, sugar, baked goods and confectionery;
- Use of additional amplifiers.(orthopedic corsets to support joints - orthoses);
- Alternative treatments.These include acupuncture (acupressure on reflex points that activate blood flow in certain parts of the body), homeopathic treatments and hirudotherapy.
To successfully treat osteoarthritis, it is necessary to apply the entire complex of listed procedures and measures for several months (from 4 to 7).
Who treats osteoarthritis?
Which doctor is a specialist in the treatment of osteoarthritis?We list the specialists who can provide you with effective assistance:
- A rheumatologist is a doctor who treats with therapeutic methods (pills, injections, physiotherapy);
- An arthrologist is a doctor specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of joint diseases, masters conservative and surgical treatment methods, unfortunately a rare specialty;
- Orthopedist - most often works with patients on an outpatient basis, but in specialized research institutes orthopedic surgeons perform surgical treatment;
- Therapist and surgeon are doctors who are available in any clinic;They are the ones you should contact to receive a referral for initial examination and treatment.
Treatment of osteoarthritis with home remedies.
What can you do yourself?When diagnosed with osteoarthritis, treatment with folk remedies at home can often reduce pain and maintain mobility.
Osteoarthritis is often treated with gelatin (which the body uses to restore cartilage tissue).
Osteoarthritis prevention
Prevention of deforming osteoarthritis consists of the following measures:
- Load limitation;
- Massage after physical activity;
- A complete and healthy menu with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and bacteria (fermented dairy products), carbohydrates, fats and proteins;
- Control of excess weight.
When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, the course of the disease depends on preventive measures, nutrition and the presence of physical (emotional) stress.
Prevention of the disease is recommended for those people whose work and daily activities involve increased load on the joints.And also for those whose age is over 45 years.
Osteoarthritis is easier to prevent than to treat.It is easier to maintain a joint in good condition than to restore cartilage tissue after its destruction.