The life of a person with osteoarthritis is divided into "before" and "after. "Before the disease, there were great joys, sometimes insignificant problems. After that, there was only a daily struggle and a quiet despair that normal life will never return. But you can solve the problem forever!
What is osteoarthritis
This is an articulation disease, when joint cartilage is destroyed over time, the joint ends of the bones are modified, the degenerate tissue and inflammation are actively flourishing.
Causes and development
Arthosis can be developed due to excessive loads or joint injuries. In any case, the process is accompanied by a decrease in the amount of proteoglycans (special complex proteins). Due to a decrease in the number of proteoglycans, the joint loses water, since it is these molecules that support it. As a result, the cartilage is "dry", loses elasticity and elasticity, becomes rough and dry. Because of this, abnormal friction occurs, as a result of the result. Due to friction, the Board is "erased", the cartilage becomes thinner, becomes thinner. Due to constant microdamines, growth-osteophytes are formed. The last stage is the complete disappearance of the cartilage.
By mistake, people take osteophytes by "salt", which must "disperse. "But they are not salt deposits, and there is nothing to disperse in the joints.
The risk factors for osteoarthritis determine its causes. Keep in mind that if there is a factor (for example, the age of 50), osteoarthritis may not occur, but the possibilities of its appearance increase in the presence of 2 or more reasons, for example, a 50 -year injury. All factors can be divided into non -general and genetic, external and internal.
Internal factors:
- Age. Over time, the body's ability to regenerate decreases and cell activity decreases. Because of this, collagen reproduction decreases, synovial fluid in the joints becomes lower.
- Metabolism violation. Several metabolic disorders can lead to osteoarthritis. The most common reason is a decrease in estrogen levels and diabetes. Several metabolic pathologies also lead to osteoarthritis.
Minerals and vitamins deficiency. Everything is clear here. If there is no receipt of the necessary substances, then collagen and other substances simply have nothing to synthesize. The pathology can be developed in the context of anomalies in the assimilation of substances. - Overweight. A little that affects reason, since osteoarthritis occurs only due to excess weight, a person must have a weight of more than 150 kilograms. But it also has an influence, it increases the probability of developing osteoarthritis.
- Violation of bone development, joints. Such anomalies may appear not only for inheritance, but also for other reasons. Development pathology is not a sentence, subject to certain osteoarthritis rules will never arise.
- Arthritis. In the inflammatory process, the blood supply to the joint is altered, the composition of the synovial fluid and the changes in the cartilage. Keep in mind that after getting rid of arthritis, the risk of developing osteoarthritis remains until the composition of the fluids and joints of the joint returns to normal.
- Set heart attack. Otherwise, the aseptic necrosis of the joint. It develops with thrombophilia - blood trends to the formation of blood clots. But generally thrombophilia does not lead to an joint articulation, therefore, the development of osteoarthritis requires the participation of other causes.
- Chronic stress. Depression and prolonged alarming conditions lead to a decrease in the level of regeneration, a decrease in body protective properties. The probability of developing any disease, not just osteoarthritis, increases.
External factors:
- Injuries. These include several types of dislocations, damage to the joint bag, the bone base of the joint. Such injuries rarely occur, and with proper treatment without a trace. But in the presence of other factors, osteoarthritis may occur.
- Excessive load in the joint. It occurs in professional athletes or among workers who pass long distances. But this factor, subject to the coach's recommendations and, in the absence of other factors, rarely leads to osteoarthritis.
- Surgical interventions(Menisctomy and others). After operations, patients receive pharmacological therapy, bed rest and other procedures to reduce the risk of complications. With its violation, it increases the probability of osteoarthritis.
The main symptoms
The diagnosis of osteoarthritis is quite simple, even an unprepared person can do it, it is enough to understand the types of joint pain.
Types of joint pain:
- The pain occurs and increases from the load, it weakens at rest;
- If the patient is placed and the other person will bend his limb, then the pain will occur as usual (due to the friction in the joint);
- Work pain gradually increases, with the course of the disease, intensifies.
Another characteristic symptom is a dry crunch in the joint when it moves. Normally, the joints also creak, but the sound of a healthy joint is sound and sharp, the joints do not hurt. With osteoarthritis, the crunch is dry, at first it is heard badly, but accompany the movement constantly. At the same time, a person experiences severe pain.
With the development of the disease, other characteristic symptoms appear: low mobility, joint deformation. Image X -Ray shows a decrease in the joint gap, bone growths in the heads of the bones, their deformation.
Arthrosis often occurs in the knee and hip joints, since it is they who experience greater loads. Less frequently, it occurs in the shoulder and elbow joints, on the fingers or legs. There is a variety of disease: generalized osteoarthritis, in which all joints in the body are affected at the same time.
Stages of the disease
With osteoarthritis, joint cartilage, bones and tissues adjacent to them are damaged. The stages of osteoarthritis are distinguished depending on the degree of damage to the joint.
First stage
At this stage, degenerative processes affect only collagen fibers and proteoglycan molecules in the cartilage. Due to the change in the composition of the cartilage or synovial fluid, pathological friction occurs, which leads to painful sensations. Pain occurs after intense physical effort, at rest disappears. The joint movements are not yet difficult, the changes are not related to the muscle fibers, the joint bag and the surrounding blood vessels. At this stage, the changes are not visible in the X -rays or are insignificant.
Stage 2
Due to abnormal friction, the cartilage loses the properties of elasticity and resistance, gradually thinner and no longer protects the heads of the bones. As a result, they are flattened, due to which the area of your contact increases. At the edges of the joint platform, growth is formed: osteophytes that are clearly visible in an X -Ray image.
At this stage, pain pursues the patient not only with loads, but also with minor movements. Peace does not give total relief, although it can reduce pain. The joint partially loses mobility, the patient also tries not to load the affected limb.
Due to the lack of mobility, the blood supply to the articulation worsens. As a result, the composition of the synovial fluid changes, becomes viscous, loses lubricating properties, which accelerates the course of the disease. The radiography shows a decrease in the light of the articular gap by 50-70%, the joint deformation becomes remarkable.
Stage 3
At this stage, the cartilage disappears totally or partially. The mobility of the joint disappears, the patient experiences severe pain not only when moving, but also at rest. The joint gap and synovial fluid disappear, and the articulation bag wrinkles and atrophy. At this stage, only surgical treatment is possible with the replacement of the joint with an artificial prosthesis. If this is not done, the ancillosis will occur with the impossibility of movement.
Treatment methods
Even with the 100% dedication of the doctor and the patient, the articulation is completely restored only in 1 stage of osteoarthritis. In 2 stages, bone deformation is observed, so it will not work to return the joint to the joint. But it can delay the operation for a long time, or even avoid it completely. Stage 3 of osteoarthritis is treated exclusively surgically.
In the treatment of 1 and 2 stages of osteoarthritis, many methods are used. First, it is drug treatment. Various physiotherapy, biological methods of treatment, massage are also used. Overweight, food standardization is required.
Symptomatic therapy
To eliminate pain, non -steroidal anti -inflammatory drugs are used. All funds have many contraindications, in addition, they are not recommended for prolonged use, since they worsen the synthesis of proteoglycans in the articulation.
For pain relief, it is better to use selective anti -inflammatory medications. They do not cause complications, they have few contraindications and can be accepted vaguely for a long time. To improve blood circulation, you can use vasodilatory drugs or local irritating ointments.
Specific therapy
It consists of taking condoprotector (glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate) - drugs for cartilage restoration. Glucosamine stimulates the activities of chondrocytes, in addition, it is a raw material to create proteoglycan molecules. Condroitin sulfate increases proteoglycan capacity to grab and maintain water. In addition, it stimulates the formation of collagen fibers and blocks the enzymes that dissolve them.
Intra -articular injections of hyaluronic acid are also used. It is a raw material for collagen fibers and an integral part of the synovial fluid. The treatment method is common and has demonstrated its effectiveness. To obtain the effect of specific therapy, it has been 1-1 for a long time. 5 years, until the cartilage is completely restored.
Surgical surgery
The last and most radical method to treat osteoarthritis. During the operation, the affected joint is disconnected, the head of the joint and the joint bed are eliminated. Instead, an artificial joint is placed with a titanium head and a cabin made of high strength polyethylene. The entire structure is fixed in the bones with the help of the pins.
The operation to replace the joint or knee joint is complex and dangerous. Often leads to complications (pulmonary thromboembolism, infectious diseases). Even with a successful operation, the prosthesis "breaks" over time and requires replacement. This happens in a maximum of 10-15 years, and the minimum period is 1 to 3 years.
Other procedures
Many procedures aim to eliminate harmful friction in the joint, improving the blood supply. Treatment methods, many of them must be used in an integral or alternative way. We will analyze only some of the most effective treatment methods:
- Manual therapy. In the process, the manual therapist "stretches" the joint, reducing the pressure with the cartilage. The procedure must be carried out frequently and regularly, but its effect seems immediately.
- Another way to leaching the joint -Hardware traction. It is effectively used in the knee joint, the knee stretches on a special table using the device. There are enough 2 courses per year for 10-12 sessions per course.
- Therapeutic massage. After the procedure, the circulation of the joint fluid improves, increases the blood supply and the plasticity of the joint increases. The massage is contraindicated in inflammatory processes.
- Ultrasound therapy. With ultrasonic vibration, "massage" of muscles, blood vessels and cartilage tissue is produced. Ultrasound accelerates metabolism due to biochemical exposure. It also has a thermal effect when the mechanical energy of sound enters thermal energy.
- INExercise therapyWith osteoarthritis, many exercises are included, including unusual training, which are used exclusively for osteoarthritis.
Here is an example of exercises that the doctor of specialized arthrologists speaks with explanations for each exercise.
Eaten
For a long time it was believed that irregular nutrition leads to osteoarthritis and that it can be cured with a diet. Today it was completely clear that nutrition was not directly related to osteoarthritis.
Of course, excess weight is one of the factors that accelerate the course of osteoarthritis, so diets are useful, but only for a certain circle of people. It should be understood that the normalization of nutrition for osteoarthritis is taken from excess weight.
Weight reduction is especially important for people suffering from gonarrosis, because the main weight of the body is on their knees.
When losing weight, you must understand and use several rules that will simplify the task and give a guarantee of the result:
- Psychological work. The desire to "eat with force" arises due to certain psychological attitudes, as well as the desire to reward or calm the nerves with the help of Sweet. Such psychological problems are deprived of weight loss and the increase in stress exacerbates the situation. Losing weight without solving psychological problems will only give a temporary effect.
- No weight loss, but food standardization. The main cause of excess weight is inadequate nutrition. If you lose weight from the body, but do not eliminate the unbalanced diet, then after a while, the person gains weight again. It is necessary to eliminate the root of the problem. That is, it is necessary to normalize nutrition not to a certain "period of weight loss", but forever.
- Gradual introduction of all rules. It is very difficult to lose weight psychologically, so all the rules of a healthy diet must be gradually introduced. First, a rule is introduced (for example, not after 19: 00), after it is accustomed to a rule, introduce another.
- It must be lifted outside the menuFried meat, any dish prepared in oil, confectionery products made of white flour. You need to eat more vegetables, fruits, simple cereals in the water. It is advisable to divide the daily diet by 5-6 meals, refuse to eat 3-4 hours before bedtime, drink more water.
Arthrosis is a terrible disease, but with a systematic and timely approach to treatment, it is withdrawn. To defeat it, you need to know its essence, development mechanisms, risk factors and development causes. If you use all the recommended therapy methods, the cure of osteoarthritis will be quite simple.