Osteoarthritis – what it is and methods of treating it

Osteoarthritis (osteoarthrosis) is a disease of the joints that leads to their destruction.It affects 10% of the world's population.

When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, the symptoms are severe and treatment of the disease must be comprehensive.

It is necessary to relieve stress, normalize nutrition, eliminate inflammation and relieve muscle spasms.What are the characteristics of osteoarthritis, how to determine its occurrence and which treatment to choose?

Osteoarthritis – what is it?

Osteoarthritis of the joints involves degenerative changes in their structure, which are accompanied by pain and visible deformations.The second name of the disease used in the international classification is arthrosis.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 layer of cartilage becomes thinner, the joint loses strength, and the bone tissue fills with salts and growths (to compensate for strength).

For this reason, osteoarthritis is also called deforming osteoarthritis - when it develops, the joint takes on an ugly "twisted" shape.

Deforming osteoarthritis progresses in three phases:

• Osteoarthritis of the 1st degree - has no noticeable symptoms, except for a slight grinding sensation and periodic pain when moving;
• Osteoarthritis of the 2nd degree – accompanied by growths, the appearance of noticeable pain, increased grinding and muscle weakness;
• The acute form of the disease is grade 3 osteoarthritis.Acute osteoarthritis is accompanied by the appearance of joint deformities and limited mobility.

Which joints are affected by osteoarthritis?

Deformities and inflammation most often affect the joints of the lower extremities - hips, knees, toes (usually the big toe).Less common – knuckles and fingers.

However, it is possible for the disease to spread to other areas of the body.

In coxarthrosis, the hip joints are affected (often the cause of coxarthrosis is untreated congenital dysplasia).Destruction of the vertebral joints is called spondyloarthrosis, and destruction of the knee joints is called gonarthrosis.Damage to multiple joints is called polyarthrosis.

Symptoms of polyarthrosis are the severity of the general condition, the prevalence of the process, curvature and pain in several joints at once (legs, arms, fingers, spine).

The inflammation in polyarthrosis spreads asymmetrically and affects different bone joints in different ways.Once polyarthrosis is diagnosed, the duration of treatment varies.

Causes of osteoarthritis

The development of osteoarthritis is favored by two reasons: stress and lack of sufficient nutrition that provides vitamins and minerals for tissue repair.Every person's joints are exposed to stress.In athletes and dancers, the load on the legs is greater during physical work, which means that the bone joints wear out faster and high-quality nutrition is required.With a calm lifestyle, the supporting apparatus wears out more slowly, but also requires periodic tissue renewal.

Therefore, the main condition for the destruction and deformation of joints is malnutrition and lack of absorption of useful components, which is often due to metabolic disorders.

We list the factors that contribute to wear of articular joints and metabolic disorders:

• Muscle weakness and incorrect strain on the joints.Weakness in one or more muscles increases the load on the joint and distributes it unevenly throughout the bony joint.In addition, flat feet and scoliosis cause incorrect strain on the muscles, so that in these “harmless” diseases, the cartilage tissue wears down with increasing age and osteoarthritis occurs.

  With intensive physical activity, the likelihood of osteoarthritis increases.

  When daily loads exceed the capacity of bone tissue, they formMicrotrauma.Thickenings develop at the injury sites, which grow over time and deform the joint;

• Metabolic disorders (gastrointestinal diseases – bile stasis, dysbacteriosis, gastritis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, metabolic diseases – diabetes);
• Psychosomatic causes – The psychosomatics of osteoarthritis confirms that a negative emotional state also becomes the cause of the disease.Stress leads to muscle spasms, constant stress disrupts the nutrition of all tissues (internal organs, bones, joints);
• Heredity (the type of metabolism and its possible disorders are inherited, tendency to muscle weakness or malformation of the bone system, poor digestion - which is the basis for the development of arthrosis in old age).

Osteoarthritis is a disease of worn-out joints that have lost significant mineral reserves and the ability to withstand stress and destruction.

Therefore, the susceptibility to the disease increases with increasing age.After 70 years, every second pensioner is diagnosed with osteoarthritis.Since the maximum load falls on the legs (a person moves - walks, stands, runs, jumps), the first signs of arthrosis form here.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis

Joint diseases can be diagnosed by a number of painful symptoms - pain, swelling, grinding.

Symptom #1: Pain

The main symptom of the disease is joint pain.Its occurrence is associated with deformation of the joint capsules and the formation of growths.

If you have osteoarthritis, pain symptoms increase with exercise and decrease with rest.

Or appear in an uncomfortable position and disappear when you choose a position that is comfortable for the leg and joint.This is where arthrosis differs from arthritis, in which, on the contrary, it hurts more often at night when at rest and hurts less during the day when a person “walks up and down”.

At the beginning of the disease, pain occurs periodically (when moving or being in an uncomfortable position).As the disease progresses, the pain is felt more frequently and becomes more severe.It gets to the point where rest no longer brings relief; the joints hurt even when resting.Since blood circulation is already impaired at this point, the joint becomes “sensitive” to changes in the weather (“twisting”, pain).

Symptom #2: Grinding

The grinding occurs due to the loose arrangement of the bones in the diseased joint.

However, even with healthy joint capsules (weak ligaments, hereditary movable joints), a slight grinding sensation is possible.

Osteoarthritis crunch is characterized by growth.Over time it intensifies, becomes louder and clearer.

Symptom #3: Joint deformity and limited mobility

This symptom occurs as the disease progresses.It progresses with increasing pain and is accompanied by the formation of salt deposits that prevent the joint from fully flexing and straightening.The deformity only becomes noticeable in the later stages of the disease.First the joint swells, then “bumps” appear, an unhealthy bend, a “twist” of the joint capsule occurs.

Treatment of joints for osteoarthritis

The treatment of osteoarthritis (osteoarthrosis) is based on two postulates: reducing stress and adequately nourishing the joints.How to treat osteoarthritis to achieve lasting improvement and stop the destruction of cartilage and degeneration of bone tissue?Treatment of deforming osteoarthritis takes a complex approach.The patient is prescribed tablets and injections, compresses and physiotherapy.

If osteoarthritis is diagnosed, treatment should not be one-sided.

With chondroprotectors you can not only nourish the cartilage tissue or simply relax the muscles.Unilateral measures do not help to cope with such a serious illness.

How do you treat osteoarthritis correctly?During treatment, several therapeutic areas are selected:

• Drug therapy: pills, injections, blockages.For osteoarthritis, treatment with tablets, powders and capsules provides the body with chondroprotectors.Preparations containing chondroitin increase collagen synthesis, which nourishes and restores cartilage tissue.These are glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate.They are produced in the form of tablets for osteoarthritis, capsules or powder.They help in the early stages of the disease and lose effectiveness in the advanced stages, when the cartilage is almost completely worn out or destroyed.In this case, the patient undergoes surgery (endoprosthetics), during which the destroyed joint is replaced with artificial tissue.Injections with anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving components - blockades - are also prescribed.And injections into the joint.With arthrosis, with their help, gels are introduced into the bone joint, simulating intra-articular fluid, as well as painkillers and anti-inflammatory substances.

  Injections into the joint ensure that the medication reaches the source of inflammation.

  The use of such injections allows you to reduce the number of tablets for arthrosis.Also, vitamin-mineral complexes are prescribed to nourish tissues;

• Movement therapy.In the case of osteoarthritis, the treating doctor selects a series of gymnastic exercises that he can perform independently at home.You can learn how to do it in the clinic's exercise therapy courses.

  Gymnastics for arthrosis helps to restore muscle tone and eliminate one of the causes of the disease – weakness of muscle fibers;

• Physiotherapeutic treatment.These include shock wave therapy (destroys large salt deposits, normalizes blood circulation, activates the synthesis of its own collagen), oxygen therapy (saturation of the joint with oxygen), massage (muscle relaxation and unloading on the joints), electrotherapy, wave techniques;
• Diet food.When osteoarthritis is diagnosed, the course of the disease depends on diet.If you have osteoarthritis, nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants) are excluded from your diet.The diet for osteoarthritis also limits alcohol, sugar, baked goods and confectionery;
• Using additional amplifiers(orthopedic corsets to support the joints – orthoses);

• Alternative treatments.These include acupuncture (acupressure on reflex points that activates blood flow to certain parts of the body), homeopathic treatment and hirudotherapy.

To successfully treat arthrosis, it is necessary to apply the entire complex of listed procedures and measures over several months (from 4 to 7).

Who treats osteoarthritis?

Which doctor is a specialist in the treatment of osteoarthritis?We list the specialists who can effectively help you:

• A rheumatologist is a doctor who treats using therapeutic methods (tablets, injections, physiotherapy);
• An arthrologist is a doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of joint diseases, mastering 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, orthopedic surgeons perform surgical treatments;
• Therapist and surgeon are doctors available in every clinic;You must contact them to receive a referral for initial examination and treatment.

Treatment of arthrosis with folk remedies

What can you do yourself?If osteoarthritis is diagnosed, treatment with folk remedies at home can often relieve 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 physical activity;
• A complete healthy menu with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and bacteria (fermented milk products), carbohydrates, fats and proteins;
• Overweight control.

When diagnosing osteoarthritis, the course of the disease depends on preventive measures, diet and the presence of physical (emotional) stress.

Prevention of the disease is recommended for people whose work and daily activities involve increased stress on the joints.And also for those who are older than 45 years.

Osteoarthritis is easier to prevent than to treat.It is easier to maintain a joint in a healthy condition than to restore cartilage tissue after its destruction.