Arthritis (osteoarthrosis) is a disease of the joints that leads to their destruction.It affects 10% of the world's population.
When arthrosis is diagnosed, the symptoms are severe and the treatment of the disease must be comprehensive.
It is necessary to reduce stress, normalize nutrition, eliminate inflammation and relieve muscle spasms.What are the characteristics of arthrosis, how to determine its occurrence and what treatment to choose?
Arthrosis - what is it?
Arthrosis of the joints is degenerative changes in their structure, which are accompanied by pain and visible deformation.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 the cartilage and its destruction.The inner cartilage layer thins, the joint loses strength, and the bone tissue fills with salts and growths (to compensate for strength).
That is why arthrosis is called deforming arthrosis - as it develops, the joint acquires an ugly "twisted" shape.
Deforming arthrosis has three stages of development:
- Osteoarthritis of the 1st degree - no noticeable symptoms, except for a slight crunch and periodic pain with movement;
- Osteoarthritis of the 2nd degree - accompanied by the formation of growths, the appearance of noticeable pain, increased crunching, weakening of muscles;
- Arthrosis of the 3rd degree is called an acute form of the disease.Acute arthrosis 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 limbs - hip joint, knee, toes (most often the thumb).Less often – ankles and fingers.
However, it is possible for the disease to develop in other parts of the body.
In coxarthrosis, the hip joints are affected (often the cause of coxarthrosis is untreated congenital dysplasia).Destruction of the spinal joints is called spondyloarthrosis, and destruction of the knee joints is called gonarthrosis.Damage to several joints is called polyarthrosis.
Symptoms of polyarthrosis are the severity of the general condition, the spread of the process, curvature and pain in several joints at the same time (legs, hands, fingers, spine).
Inflammation in polyarthrosis spreads asymmetrically, affecting different bone joints differently.Once polyarthrosis is diagnosed, treatment is of varying duration.
Causes of arthrosis
The formation of arthrosis is promoted by two reasons - stress and lack of complete nutrition, which supplies vitamins and minerals for tissue repair.Every person's joints bear stress.In 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 relaxed lifestyle, the supporting apparatus wears out more slowly, but also requires periodic tissue renewal.
Therefore, the main condition for the destruction and deformation of the joints is malnutrition and non-absorption of useful components, which often occurs due to metabolic disorders.
We list the factors that contribute to joint wear and metabolic disorders:
- Muscle weakness and improper joint loading.Weakness of one or more muscles increases the load on the joint and distributes it unevenly in the bone joint.Also, improper muscle loading occurs in flat feet and scoliosis, so in these "harmless" diseases, the cartilage tissue wears out with age and arthrosis appears.
The probability of arthrosis increases with intense physical activity.
If daily loads exceed the capabilities of bone tissues, they are formedmicrotraumas.In places of injury, thickenings appear, which over time grow and deform the joint;
- Metabolic disorders (gastrointestinal diseases - bile stasis, dysbacteriosis, gastritis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, metabolic disease - diabetes);
- Psychosomatic causes - the psychosomatics of arthrosis confirms that a negative emotional state also becomes the cause of the disease.Stress causes muscle spasms, constant stress disrupts the nutrition of all tissues (internal organs, bones, joints);
- Heredity (the type of metabolism and its possible disorders is inherited, a tendency to muscle weakness or improper formation of the bone apparatus, to poor digestion - which is the basis of the development of arthrosis in old age).
Osteoarthritis is a disease of worn joints that have lost a significant supply of minerals and the ability to withstand stress and destruction.
Therefore, susceptibility to the disease increases with age.After 70 years, arthrosis is diagnosed in every second pensioner.Since the maximum load falls on the legs (a person moves - walks, stands, runs, jumps), the first signs of arthrosis are formed here.
Symptoms of arthrosis
Joint disease can be diagnosed by a number of painful symptoms - pain, swelling, crunching.
Symptom #1: Pain
The main symptom of the disease is pain in the joints.Its appearance is associated with 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 they appear in an uncomfortable position and disappear when choosing a position that is comfortable for the leg and joint.In this way, arthrosis differs from arthritis, in which it hurts, on the contrary, more often at night, at rest, and hurts less during the day when a person "walks".
At the beginning of the disease, the pain appears periodically (when moving or in an uncomfortable position).As the disease progresses, the pain is felt more often and becomes stronger.It gets to the point that rest does not bring relief, the joints hurt even at rest.Since at that time blood circulation is already impaired, the joint becomes "sensitive" to changes in time ("twists", hurts).
Symptom No. 2: Crunching
The crunch occurs due to the loose mutual arrangement of the bones in the diseased joint relative to each other.
However, slight crunching is also possible with healthy joint capsules (with weak connections, with hereditary mobile joints).
Osteoarthritis cartilage is characterized by growth.Over time, it intensifies, becomes stronger and more distinct.
Symptom No. 3: deformation of the joint and reduced mobility
This symptom appears when the disease progresses.It progresses along with increased pain and is associated with an increase in salt deposits that prevent the joint from fully flexing and straightening.The deformity becomes noticeable in the later stages of the disease.First, the joint swells, then "bumps" appear, an unhealthy bend, "twisting" of the joint capsule is formed.
Treatment of joints with osteoarthritis
The treatment of arthrosis (osteoarthrosis) is based on two postulates - removing stress and ensuring adequate nutrition of the joints.How to treat osteoarthritis to achieve lasting improvement and stop cartilage destruction and bone degeneration?The treatment of deforming arthrosis uses a complex approach.The patient is prescribed tablets and injections, compresses and physiotherapy.
With a diagnosis of arthrosis, the treatment cannot be one-sided.
You can't just feed the cartilage tissue with chondroprotectors or just relax the muscles.Unilateral measures will not help to deal with such a serious disease.
How to treat arthrosis correctly?During treatment, several areas of therapy are selected:
- Drug therapy: pills, injections, blockades.In arthrosis, treatment with tablets, powders and capsules supplies the body with chondroprotectors.Preparations with chondroitin enhance the synthesis of collagen, which nourishes and restores cartilage tissue.These are glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.They are produced in the form of arthrosis tablets, 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 out 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 arthrosis, with their help, gels simulating intra-articular fluid, as well as pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory substances, are introduced into the bone joint.
Injections into the joint ensure that the drug reaches the center of the inflammation.
The use of such injections allows you to reduce the number of tablets for arthrosis.Vitamin-mineral complexes are also prescribed to nourish tissues;
- Exercise therapy.In case of arthrosis, the attending physician chooses a set of gymnastic exercises to perform independently at home.You can learn how to perform them in physical therapy classes at the clinic.
Gymnastics for arthrosis helps restore muscle tone and eliminate one of the causes of the disease - the weakness of muscle fibers;
- Physiotherapy treatment.This includes shock wave therapy (destroys large salt deposits, normalizes blood flow, activates the synthesis of own collagen), oxygen therapy (saturation of the joint with oxygen), massage (relaxation of muscles and unloading of joints), electrotherapy, wave techniques;
- Diet food.When arthrosis is diagnosed, the course of the disease depends on nutrition.In osteoarthritis, the diet excludes any night plants (potatoes, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplants).Also, nutrition in arthrosis limits alcohol, sugar, bakery products, confectionery;
- Use of additional amplifiers(orthopedic corsets for joint support - orthoses);
- Alternative treatments.These include acupuncture (acupressure on reflex points that activate blood flow in certain parts of the body), homeopathic treatment and hirudotherapy.
For the successful treatment of arthrosis, it is necessary to apply the entire complex of the listed procedures and measures for several months (from 4 to 7).
Who treats arthrosis
Which doctor is a specialist in the treatment of arthrosis?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 specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of joint diseases, he knows methods of conservative and surgical treatment, unfortunately, a rare specialty;
- Orthopedist - most often works with patients on an outpatient basis, but in specialized research institutes orthopedists perform surgical treatment;
- The therapist and the surgeon are doctors available in every clinic;they should be contacted to receive a referral for initial examination and treatment.
Treatment of arthrosis with folk remedies
What can you do yourself?When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, home remedies can often reduce pain and maintain mobility.
Osteoarthritis is often treated with gelatin (which the body uses to repair cartilage tissue).
Prevention of osteoarthritis
Prevention of deforming osteoarthritis consists of the following measures:
- Load limitation;
- Massage after exercise;
- A complete healthy menu with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and bacteria (fermented dairy products), carbohydrates, fats and proteins;
- Overweight control.
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 are associated with an increased load on the joints.And also for those whose age exceeds 45 years.
Osteoarthritis is easier to prevent than to treat.It is easier to maintain the joint in a healthy state than to restore the cartilage tissue after its destruction.