Causes, symptoms and treatment of arthrosis

Arthrosis is a progressive joint disease in which a slow destruction of its cartilage occurs. If it is not treated, then the mobility in the joint ultimately deteriorates sharply and the person becomes disabled. The article considers information about what arthrosis is, its symptoms and treatment, characteristic signs and causes of appearance.

What you need to know about this disease

Distrophic destruction of the joint and cartilage is the most common joint disease on the entire planet. Statistical data is amazing: four out of five people throughout the globe 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 often found in men and women. For a long time it was believed that arthrosis was a disease of joints 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, annually the number of degenerative joint changes increases.

What is the difference between arthrosis and arthritis? With arthritis, inflammation of the intraarticular tissue occurs. But with arthrosis, a person suffers from a progressive deforming damage to the musculoskeletal system.

Why it arises

The main cause of arthrosis is a violation of metabolism in the joint. Because of this, cartilage gradually lose elasticity. The causes of this disease of the joints are:

• pronounced disorders of the metabolic process;
• hormone imbalance;
• decrease in the volume of blood that feeds the joint;
• rheumatoid arthritis;
• psoriasis;
• Increased physical activity on the joints (including athletes), due to which they begin to collapse, and this happens at a relatively early age.

The occurrence of arthrosis and its further progression may affect such factors;

• injuries (the more injuries and the more heavier they were, the degree of development of pathology higher);
• increased body weight (it leads to excessive load on the joint and, as a result, even faster development of the disease);
• purulent arthritis;
• age (in elderly patients, the disease occurs much more often);
• poor -quality, unbalanced diet;
• frequent hypothermia;
• penetration of infection into the joint;
• some autoimmune pathologies;
• general poisoning of the body, including alcohol and nicotine;
• specific infectious diseases - such as syphilis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis;
• some pathological states of the thyroid gland;
• hemophilia;
• Pertes syndrome.

Characteristic features

The most obvious and characteristic sign of arthrosis is pain. It subsides if the affected organ is at rest and intensifies if it is subject to intensive loads. We learn everything about arthrosis, more about these groups of signs, since in some cases they are the first to sign up about the development of bone lesions and cartilage.

Pain

If the joint begins to get sick, then this is the first sign of his defeat. Unpleasant sensations are intensified if a person makes sharp movements. Localization of pain symptoms of arthrosis - just in the place where the pain is. But in some cases, it can also apply to other sections 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 optimal position of the body, then he will calmly fall asleep. Closer to morning, they are activated, which forces a person to wake up. In the last stages of pathology, the pain becomes so severe that it deprives a person of peace.

Cryst in the joints

This is a distinctive symptom of 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 it can hear it at a distance.

The sound will be the brighter the more actively this disease progresses. And in any case, he will be significantly different from crackling.

Limitation of mobility

In the initial stage of the development of pathology, the volume of active movements is preserved. But if arthrosis progresses, then bone formations begin to germinate into cartilage tissue, which is why muscle spasm occurs. Active movements from this are violated, since the mobility of the joint is ensured by a sufficiently developed cartilage.

A decrease in the activity of movements also comes from the fact that the body cannot cope with conventional loads. That is why at the last stages of the development of this pathology, movement is almost impossible.

Deformation

This symptom appears from the fact that growths 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 affected by the disease to a large extent, and often conservative treatment does not bring results.

Stages of the disease

In total, doctors in the classification of the severity of the disease distinguish four stages (degrees) of arthrosis.

1. At 1 degree, osteophytes in the diagnosis are not detected. There is some narrowing of the joint gap.
2. With damage to the joint of the 2nd degree, the gap is slightly narrowed, and the osteophytes have already managed to hit the surface of the bone. With acute arthrosis, very severe pain is observed.
3. With damage to the 3rd degree, the gap is noticeably narrowed, and on the surface of the bone there is a large number of osteophytes. With exacerbation, the temperature rises.
4. The 4th stage of arthrosis of bones and joints is characterized by the fact that there is practically no joint gap, and the cavity is almost completely affected.

Depending on the type and place of damage to the joints of the disease:

• osteoarthrosis is a degenerative dystrophic disease of a supporting motor apparatus with damage to cartilage;
• multiple degenerative damage to the joints;
• talked bone lesion;
• defeat of the shoulder joint;
• Coksartrosis is the arthrosis of the knee;
• reactive arthrosis is damage to the joints after an infectious disease;
• wandering - transient arthrosis;
• lesions of the ankle joint, wrist joint;
• Degenerative diseases of the hands.

What is the danger of arthrosis

Without the desired treatment, this disease is dangerously multiple complications:

• complete destruction of the organ;
• significant deformation;
• damage to the peripheral joints;
• almost complete impossibility of carrying out any movements that threatens the development of disability;
• Violation of the spine, the development of intervertebral hernias in it;
• A significant decrease in the quality of the patient's life.

Diagnostic methods

Diagnosis of joint diseases 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

It is necessary to begin to treat arthrosis as early as possible - this is the only way to suspend the development of pathology and prevent the patient's complete immobilization. The main task of the doctor and the patient is to eliminate the causes of destruction, the elimination of inflammatory processes, pain. Remember that it is impossible to completely restore the joints, but the treatment can improve its condition.

The principles of treatment of the disease are the following:

• getting rid of excessive loads;
• Classes of medical gymnastics in arthrosis;
• prescription of physiotherapy;
• the purpose of walking on the knees;
• spa treatment;
• oxygen therapy;
• drug treatment;
• Diet optimization.

Such drugs are prescribed from medications for the treatment of arthrosis.

1. Non -steroidal anti -inflammatory drugs. With their help, you can effectively relieve pain, reduce the intensity of inflammatory processes. Moreover, the prescription of ointment drugs will be the most effective - they eliminate damage to the gastrointestinal mucosa.
2. Corticosteroid drugs relieve inflammatory phenomena and pain at the stage of exacerbation of the process. Intra -articular administration of drugs is shown (such a procedure is performed only in clinic conditions). Such products can be used for rheumatoid arthrosis.
3. Arthrosis tablets that help restore the cartilage fabric of the joint. Such funds must be used until a pronounced improvement and increase in the volume of the joint movements performed. It is shown to use all drugs based on hyaluronic acid. The use of these drugs is often justified in the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint.
4. With arthrosis, the use of other means is indicated. Improvement after the start of treatment with such drugs does not occur earlier, as in a month, provided that the medicine is applied constantly. Effective treatment with these drugs is possible if the patient complies with all the doctor’s prescriptions and, above all, dropped excess weight.

With very severe pains, the doctor can prescribe analgesics of 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. Moreover, the doctor selects the most effective tool individually for each patient. An important place in such therapy is occupied by proper nutrition.

Pay attention! Cure arthrosis, including deforming arthrosis of the knee joint is completely impossible. With the help of effective treatment, it is possible to suspend further destruction of tissues and prevent the patient's immobilization.

Nutrition and arthrosis

With progressive chronic destruction of joint cartilage, great attention should be paid to proper nutrition. Overbearing is strictly prohibited, because excess body weight can cause further destruction of the joint. To reduce weight, flour products must be excluded from the diet, sweet. It is forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages and primarily beer.

But the fish should be on the table with arthrosis every day. It is best if it is low -fat. Particularly useful in destruction of the joint is jellied. It 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 tasty and healthy dish makes the joints mobile, and cartilage makes it elastic.

The daily menu should have more products and dishes containing vitamin B6 - pyridoxine. It is found in legumes, nuts, potatoes, greens. It is useful to eat eggs, liver, dairy products - they are rich in riboflavin.

Prevention of arthrosis

The methods of preventing this disease are as follows:

• normalization of motor activity, elimination of hypodynamia;
• an occupation only of those sports that do not require excessive load (fitness and aerobics will be very useful for such a person);
• avoidance of heavy physical labor, which leads to intensive destruction of the joints;
• prevent overeating, fighting overweight in all available and harmless ways;
• eradication of all bad habits;
• regular walks in the fresh air;
• Swimming;
• Exclusion of stressful situations.

Arthrosis is much easier to warn than to treat it later. At the first appearance of pain in the joint, crunch and restrictions of the doctor, you must immediately visit the doctor in order to check the joints. The timely start of treatment will prevent the development of complications. Arthrosis is dangerous because a person can become disabled because of him.