Osteoarthritis of the hip, shoulder, knee and ankle joints is a disease caused by the wear and tear of the cartilage tissue, as well as the deformation of the bones.In this case, the patient feels pain of varying intensity (depending on the form of the disease).As a result, the disease causes problems with motor functions, partial or complete immobility and disability.It is important to determine whether arthrosis can be treated without surgery.
Lesion definition
Knee joint disease occurs mostly in women;It can happen for many reasons.Older people experience more arthrosis in the knee than others.
If treatment for arthrosis is not started in time, the bones that form in the joint will be exposed and damaged.In this case, it will not be possible to do without surgical intervention.When the first unpleasant symptoms appear, it is important to seek help from a doctor as soon as possible.It will not be possible to completely eliminate arthrosis, but it will help to slow down the process of deformation of the knee joint and stop the degeneration.Early identification of the lesion and properly formulated treatment will help prevent negative consequences and prevent early disability.
What are the common causes of arthrosis of the knee joint and can the disease be treated?The main reasons include:
- Straight legs.
- Vascular diseases.
- Diabetes and other lesions associated with metabolic disorders.In this case, it will be difficult to get rid of arthrosis, because all drugs and physical procedures are not allowed to be used.
- Overweight - people with weight problems are more likely to develop osteoarthritis than people with a normal body weight.
- Adolescence is a time when a person's metabolism and hormonal levels change, which leads to a degenerative process.
- Carrying a child - at this time, a woman gains weight, as a result of which the load on the knee increases significantly.Hormonal levels are disturbed, which contributes to the appearance of arthrosis of the knees.
- Changes in the body associated with the patient's age.
- He gets some injuries.About 30 percent of knee osteoarthritis is caused by an injury.Injury causes a change in the normal structure of the tissue that triggers the destruction process.
- Regular physical activity on the lower legs, where the body does not adapt.
- The beginning of the inflammatory process in the body.
- Hereditary tendency.
- The onset of cramps in the muscle tissues of the thigh.
The disease can be treated only if you contact a treatment specialist.In this case, it is forbidden to start any treatment.Only a specialist will be able to prescribe effective therapy, which includes physiotherapy and medication.
Preventive measures
It is important to remember preventive measures even before the appearance of the main disease.Arthrosis can be divided into two types.First, it occurs due to the disturbance of the metabolic process in the body and the age characteristics of the patient.
The second type appears as a result of injury or infection.To prevent the second type of arthrosis, it is important to avoid possible injuries, bruises and fractures.This applies even more to those involved in any sport or dance.For such people, such a disease is often professional and prevents them from doing what they love.This also applies to children who are very active and behave recklessly on the street;It is important for them to handle carefully to avoid dangerous injuries.
The main factor that will help prevent arthrosis of the deforming knee joint is mobility.The best way to prevent osteoarthritis is moderate exercise.This is especially important for people whose work activities involve mainly sedentary work.In this case, it is important to remember that we are talking about an average load in different combinations.
The main stages of the disease
Osteoarthritis can be divided into four different stages according to its development.The more the stage develops, the more difficult the process of treatment and symptom relief will be:
- At the first stage, the symptoms are mild, but the process of tissue destruction is already spreading rapidly;
- The destruction of the cartilage continues, which causes a decrease in the mobility of the leg in the joint area and is accompanied by severe pain;
- In this case, the cartilage tissue is thin, the joint bones begin to actively grow and be damaged;
- At the final stage of the disease, the cartilage is almost completely destroyed, bone deformation causes a change in the axis of the diseased extremity, while this joint causes the leg at the knee to completely lose mobility.
First-degree knee extensor arthrosis can be diagnosed with short-term pain that occurs when a person walks.There is no noticeable deformity that can be detected during the examination, and radiography does not provide the necessary amount of information about the state of the joints to make an accurate diagnosis.
If the disease is detected in time and proper treatment is started, the process of cartilage tissue destruction can be completely stopped and the diseased areas can be restored.
Is it possible to treat arthrosis of the 2nd degree?In the 2nd stage of the development of arthrosis, treatment is aimed at eliminating unpleasant symptoms and slowing down the degenerative-dystrophic process.In this case, it is not always possible to restore tissue, but you can save what remains intact.
Is it possible to treat arthrosis of the 3rd degree?When arthrosis reaches the 3rd stage of development, attempts to slow down the destructive process and bone damage do not bring the most results, the disease most often reaches the 4th stage of development (for this reason, some experts distinguish only three stages of this disease).
If there are serious changes in the structure of the joint, it is necessary to use a prosthesis;This method of surgical correction is called endoprosthetics.
In some cases, it is used in the 2nd stage of the 2nd stage of surgical intervention.In this case, minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery, dead tissue is removed, as well as damaged cartilage pieces, through a small incision.With the help of this operation, the range of motion increases, pain symptoms and inflammation go away.But we must remember that the treatment does not end there.This operation will help to eliminate the unpleasant symptoms of the disease for several years.
Treatment
Is it possible to treat arthrosis of the knee joint?Treatment of any disease can be carried out in three main areas:
- etiotropic - elimination of the root causes of the lesion;
- symptomatic - relief of the main symptoms;
- Pathogenetic - intervention in the process of disease progression.
To carry out effective treatment or at least stop the development of arthrosis, it is important:
- activate the process of blood supply and improve the condition of tissues;
- to compensate for the lack or excess of enzymes in the body;
- Give the body everything it needs to reproduce cartilage tissue;
- Restore the volume and composition of synovial fluid.
Many physiotherapeutic procedures and topical ointments lead to the improvement of tissues and normalization of blood supply.Tissues can be saturated with special enzymes during electrophoresis.But the main way to treat such a disease is to take a chondroprotector.Recently, hyaluronic acid injections have mainly been used to treat osteoarthritis.Biological treatment methods are considered more aggressive.
Use of chondroprotectors
Is it possible to cure arthrosis completely?For complete treatment, chondroprotectors are drugs that inhibit the natural components of cartilage tissue or their synthetic analogues, which cause the synthesis of certain components or prevent their breakdown.
Chondroprotectors can be found in the following forms:
- tablets, capsules and powders for oral administration;
- solutions for intramuscular injections;
- Special ointments for external use.
Medicines for external use should be used as an additional treatment in complex therapy.
Is it possible to treat arthrosis deformity?First of all, you should consider the features of treatment with chondroprotectors:
- Many chondroprotectors help to get rid of severe pain and inflammation, but this is not the main benefit for carrying them;For symptomatic therapy, it is better to use a more convenient NSAID;
- Therapeutic measures have a special effect in the 1st and 2nd stages of the development of the disease, when the cartilage has not yet been destroyed to an extreme state;
- It is important to take a long, systemic drug during treatment;It is necessary to take a break after each course;One course includes 6 months, so the treatment lasts for years.
If a patient is prone to the appearance of arthrosis of the knees, he should start taking chondrotropectors in advance for the purposes of prevention, before the first symptoms of the disease develop.Chondroprotectors cannot be called a panacea, because they protect the cartilage and do not restore its condition.It is easier to prevent arthrosis than to start treatment later.
The main difficulty of treatment
Is it possible to cure arthrosis forever?The main difficulty of the treatment is that until today, drugs that can permanently and completely eliminate arthosis have not been developed.But it is important to remember that there are very effective comprehensive treatment methods that help to get rid of pain and slow down the progression of the disease.
Osteoarthritis of the hip joint
Arthrosis of the hip joint is a degenerative-dystrophic process in which the cartilage structures covering the surface of the femoral head, as well as the surface of the acetabulum, are damaged.In order to keep the cartilage in good condition, it is important to determine if arthrosis of the hip joint can be treated.
Treatment with drugs
There are many ways to treat this disease.Most treatment specialists prescribe a complex that includes many therapeutic measures.
Is it possible to treat arthrosis of the hip joint?For 1 and 2 arthrosis, drugs are allowed to be used for treatment.The most effective drugs in this case are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, vasodilators that improve blood supply to the joints, relax muscles and help relieve spasms.
Chondroprotectors are also used to help protect cartilage tissue.In the first and second stages of the development of the lesion, experts allow the use of local agents: patches, applications, ointments and gels - they will stimulate normal blood circulation.
It is important to remember that without effective and timely treatment, arthrosis of the hip joint can provoke ankylosis.Ankylosis is a complete fusion of the femur and pelvis.In this case, the leg completely loses its mobility.
Arthrosis of the ankle joint
Can arthrosis of the ankle joint be treated?Before treating ankle arthrosis, it is important to make an accurate diagnosis.Often, a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis either by examining the patient's foot or by taking an X-ray.
Depending on the stage of development of the disease, the specialist will choose the most suitable treatment.Before starting a specialist, the patient should significantly reduce the load on the affected joint, avoid hypothermia, as well as overloading.The doctor prescribes a comprehensive treatment for the patient: physiotherapy, balnovotherapy, painkillers and drugs to stimulate blood circulation.
Also, ankle therapy can be performed as an outpatient in a hospital with a prescription for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.Treatment may be difficult if the patient is obese.For such a patient, it is important not only the treatment itself, but also to eat properly after that.
Gymnastics exercises
Gymnastics for ankle arthrosis is allowed only after the main symptoms of the disease have completely passed.A series of exercises and loads on the leg should be designed together with the treatment specialist.
During arthrosis, any gymnastic exercises should squeeze the ligaments and muscles and muscles in the joint without overloading the joints, otherwise it can be very dangerous.
Is it possible to treat arthrosis of the joint?A course of gymnastics in the treatment of arthrosis will not require the patient to spend money, buy drugs or expensive equipment, but the patient must be patient and diligent to complete the course accurately.
Shoulder problems
Some injuries can cause the inflammation or degenerative process in the joints.The most common causes of shoulder arthrosis:
- severe physical stress on the shoulder joint at work, resulting in active wear of its components;
- get a shoulder injury;
- shoulder dysplasia;
- Changes in hormone production;
- problems with blood supply to joint tissues, which lead to the appearance of vascular pathologies;
- The natural wear and tear of cartilage that is typical for older people.
What is common in this case is an inflammatory process accompanied by pain symptoms.The causes of such damage are different;These can be associated with injury, infection or disruption of certain systems in the body.
Most often, the appearance of arthritis requires an additional external influence: stress, hypothermia, infection of organs, infection reaction to infection through an open wound.
When diagnosing a disease, the doctor focuses on the degree of the disease, the main complaints of the patient and the results of a number of examinations.The main diagnostic measure is a biochemical blood test that confirms the presence of inflammation and in some cases determines its nature.
Another important task is X-ray, which helps to determine the location of the joint deformation in the early stage of its appearance.
Is it possible to treat arthrosis of the shoulder joint?If there is arthrosis of the first two degrees, only conservative treatment is used.And only when there is a complex form of the disease, surgery is prescribed.
The main methods of conservative treatment:
- to take medicine;
- treatment with traditional methods;
- physiotherapeutic measures;
- sanitary spa treatment;
- massages;
- Acupuncture;
- Physical therapy;
- Special diet.
Before starting therapy, it is important to give complete rest to the damaged joints, which is very easy if arthrosis is widespread in the shoulder region.The easiest treatment is considered to be the first stage of the disease, when wound changes have not yet occurred and the tissue has still retained its regenerative capacity.
However, in the presence of this form of damage, unpleasant sensations, as a rule, manifest themselves strongly, the pain is mild, so it is too late when the patient seeks help from a doctor.In the future, after the end of the treatment, the patient will also have to follow a gentle regimen.