Arthrosis is a progressive disease of the joints, with a slow destruction of its cartilage. If left untreated, then mobility in the joint eventually worsens and the person becomes disabled. The article looks at information about what arthrosis is, its symptoms and treatment, characteristic signs and causes of appearance.
The distribution of joint and cartilage distribution is the most common joint disease on the entire planet. The statistics are incredible: four out of five people around the world suffer to one degree or another from the lesion of the joint tissue and all the consequences of such a pathological process.
The disease is equally common in men and women. For a long time, arthrosis was thought to be a joint disease in the elderly. But recently the joints began to be affected by people under the age of 30.
Such arthrosis is very dangerous because it can quickly lead to the development of immobility in a person. Unfortunately, the number of degenerative changes in the joint is increasing annually.
What is the difference between arthrosis and arthritis? With arthritis, inflammation of the intra -articular tissue occurs. But with arthrosis, one suffers from progressive deformation of damage to the musculoskeletal system.
Why it arises The main cause of arthrosis is a disorder of metabolism in the joint. Therefore, cartilage gradually loses elasticity. The causes of this joint disease are:
pronounced disorders of the metabolic process; hormonal imbalance; reduction of blood volume that feeds the joint; rheumatoid arthritis; psoriasis; Increased physical activity on the joints (including athletes), which is why they begin to collapse and this happens at a relatively early age. The onset of arthrosis and its more progression may affect such factors;
Injuries (the more injuries and more severe they were, the degree of development of the pathology higher); increased body weight (leads to excessive joint strain and as a result even faster development of the disease); purulent arthritis; age (in adult patients the disease is much more common); Poor quality, unbalanced diet; frequent hypothermia; penetration of infection into the joint; some autoimmune pathologies; total body poisoning, including alcohol and nicotine; specific infectious diseases - such as syphilis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis; Some pathological conditions of the thyroid gland; hemophilia; Perter syndrome. Characteristics The most clear and characteristic feature of arthrosis is pain. It disappears if the affected organ is at rest and increases if it is subject to intense loads. We learn all about arthrosis, more about these groups of characters, since in some cases they are the first to register for the development of bone lesions and cartilage.
Pain If the joint begins to become ill, then this is the first sign of its defeat. The unpleasant sensations intensify if one performs sharp movements. Localization of the symptoms of arthrosis pain - exactly where the pain is. But in some cases it can also be applied to other areas of the musculoskeletal system, which are not affected by the pathological process.
It is characteristic that at night a person almost does not experience pain. If he finds the optimum position of the body, then he will calmly fall asleep. Closer until the morning they are activated, which forces a person to wake up. In the last stages of the pathology, the pain becomes so intense that it deprives a person of peace.
Crysty in the joints This is a distinctive symptom of a degenerative lesion: due to the fact that the elasticity of the organs is reduced, the bones begin to rub against each other, which is accompanied by a characteristic sound. Sometimes he can hear it at a distance.
The sound will be the more bride, the more active this disease progresses. In any case, it will differ significantly from cracking.
Mobility Restriction In the initial stage of the development of the pathology, the volume of active movements is preserved. But if arthrosis progresses, then bone formations begin to germinate in cartilage tissue, which is why muscle spasm occurs. The active movements of this are disturbed as the mobility of the joint is provided by sufficiently developed cartilage.
Reducing the activity of movements comes from the fact that the body cannot cope with conventional loads. Therefore, in the last stages of the development of this pathology, movement is almost impossible.
Deformation This symptom occurs by the fact that the outgrowths appear on the surfaces of the bone, cartilage. Due to constant irritation, the production of synovial fluid is activated, which is why the organ swells.
Important! Deformation is one of the late symptoms of arthrosis. The joint is already influenced by the disease largely and often conservative treatment does not carry results.
Stages of the disease In general, doctors in the classification of the severity of the disease distinguish four stages (degrees) of arthrosis.
The osteophytes are not detected at 1 degree. There is some narrowing of the gap of the joints. With the joint damage to the 2nd degree, the difference is slightly narrowed and the osteophytes have already managed to hit the surface of the bone. Acute arthrosis has very severe pain. With a 3 -degree damage, the precipice is noticeably narrowed and there are a large number of osteophytes on the surface of the bone. With exacerbation, the temperature rises. The fourth stage of bone and joint arthrosis is characterized by the fact that there is virtually no gap of joints and the cavity is almost completely affected. Depending on the type and site of damage to the joints of the disease:
Osteoarthrosis is a degenerative dystrophic disease of a cartilage -coated maintenance apparatus; multiple degenerative joint damage; He spoke a bone lesion; lesion of the shoulder joint; Coxarthrosis is knee arthrosis; Reactive arthrosis is a joint damage after an infectious disease; wandering - transitional arthrosis; Lesions of the ankle joint, wrist; Degenerative diseases of the hands. What is the danger of arthrosis Without the desired treatment, this disease is a dangerous multiple complications:
complete destruction of the organ; Significant deformation; damage to the peripheral joints; almost complete inability to perform any movements that threaten the development of damage; Spinal disturbance, the development of intervertebral hernias in it; Significant reduction in the quality of life of the patient. Diagnostic methods The diagnosis of joint disease includes:
General inspection; palpation; a procedure that allows you to diagnose the volume and amplitude of the movements performed; blood test (general and biochemical); urine analysis; Joint X -Ray; Study of a fragment of cartilage tissue under a microscope; Ultrasound; MRI. How to treat the joint You need to start treating arthrosis as early as possible - this is the only way to stop the development of the pathology and prevent complete immobilization of the patient. The main task of the doctor and the patient is to eliminate the causes of destruction, elimination of inflammatory processes, pain. Remember that it is impossible to fully restore the joints, but treatment can improve its condition.
The principles of treatment of the disease are as follows:
get rid of excessive loads; Medical Gymnastics classes in arthrosis; Physiotherapy recipe; the purpose of walking on the knees; spa treatment; oxygen therapy; treatment with drugs; Diet optimization. Such medicines have been prescribed by medicines for the treatment of arthrosis.
No -gossip anti -inflammatory drugs. With their help you can effectively relieve pain, reduce the intensity of inflammatory processes. In addition, prescribing ointment drugs will be most effective -they eliminate damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa. Corticosteroid drugs relieve inflammatory phenomena and pain at the stage of exacerbation of the process. An internal and articular administration of drugs is shown (such a procedure is performed only under clinical conditions). Such products can be used for rheumatoid arthrosis. Arthrosis tablets that help to repair the cartilage tissue of the joint. Such agents should be used until pronounced and increase the volume of joint movements. It has been shown to use all hyaluronic acid -based medicines. The use of these drugs is often justified in the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint. Arthrosis indicates the use of other agents. Improvement after the start of treatment with such drugs is not found early, as after a month, provided that the drug is permanently administered. Effective treatment with these drugs is possible if the patient adheres to all the prescriptions of the physician and, most of all, has discarded excess weight. With very severe pain, the doctor can prescribe analgesics in the Narcotic series. However, their use is limited due to the risk of complications.
Treatment of arthrosis with folk remedies can be used as an auxiliary type of therapy. In addition, the doctor chooses the most effective instrument individually for each patient. An important place in such therapy is occupied by proper nutrition.
Pay attention! Cures arthrosis, including deformation of knee arthrosis is completely impossible. With the help of effective treatment, it is possible to stop the further destruction of the tissues and to prevent the patient's immobilization.
Eating and arthrosis With the progressive chronic destruction of the articular cartilage, a great deal of attention should be paid to proper nutrition. The subtle is strictly forbidden as excess body weight can cause the joint to be destroyed. In order to lose weight, flour products should be excluded from the diet, sweet. It is forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages and mostly beer.
But the fish should be on the table with arthrosis every day. It is best if it has low fat. Particularly useful in the destruction of the joint is jelly. Contains a large amount of collagen health. It is very quickly absorbed by the body and replenishes the lack of cartilage tissue. The regular use of this delicious and healthy dish makes the joints mobile and the cartilage makes it elastic.
The daily menu should have more products and dishes containing vitamin B6 - pyridoxine. It is located in legumes, nuts, potatoes, greenery. It is useful to eat eggs, liver, dairy products - they are rich in riboflavin.
Prevention of arthrosis The methods of preventing this disease are the following:
Normalization of motor activity, elimination of hypodynamia; Occupation only those sports that do not require excessive loading (fitness and aerobics will be very useful for such a person); avoiding heavy physical labor, leading to intense destruction of the joints; Prevention of overeating, fighting overweight in all available and harmless ways; Liquidation of all bad habits; regular walks in the fresh air; Swimming; Excluding stressful situations. Arthrosis is much easier to warn than to treat later. At the first onset of pain in the joint, crunching and restrictions of your doctor, you should visit your doctor immediately to check the joints. Timely onset of treatment will prevent the development of complications. Arthrosis is dangerous because a person can be disabled because of him.
