How do you feel when you meet an elderly person carrying a cane on the street?Certainly sympathy, and also the belief that you will definitely not become like that!
No young, energetic person imagines his old age with disease and lameness;instead, the imagination depicts a smiling young retiree traveling around the world with healthy legs and a snow-white smile, just like in a photo in a foreign magazine.
But disease is a dangerous thing.And especially joint diseases.Creeping unnoticed, various diseases little by little destroy and deform the joints, manifesting themselves one fine morning in pain and the inability to move normally.
Among all joint pathologies, judging by the number of requests for medical help, the main one is arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee joint).According to statistics, every fifth inhabitant of the planet over the age of 40 suffers from gonarthrosis, and this disease “loves” women more than men.
What is arthrosis of the knee joint and is it possible to avoid it?Let's start with the definition of disease.
Arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee joint) is a degenerative - dystrophic change in the articular cartilage.
It can be primary or secondary, that is, occur against the background of another disease.
Causes of arthrosis of the knee joint
Most often, gonarthrosis occurs due to:
- Traumatic injury to the knee joint.
- Excess weight.
- Increased physical activity, including when playing professional sports.
- Pre-existing disease (usually arthritis of various etiologies).
- Weak ligament apparatus.
- Metabolic disorders.
How does arthrosis develop?
Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is divided into grades 1, 2 and 3. Let's take a closer look at the characteristic features.
Symptoms of stage 1 arthrosis of the knee joint
Gonarthrosis is first manifested by pain that occurs when climbing stairs.A person feels discomfort in the knee joint, pain making it difficult to go down the stairs.In other situations, the pain hardly appears and therefore the patient happily forgets about it or takes therapeutic measures on his own, completely trusting the advice of friends who “experience it too”.
It is the frequency of the onset of pain that delays the visit to the clinic until later, leading to the transition of the disease to a more serious level, grade 2.
How does stage 2 disease manifest itself?
Stage 2 gonarthrosis is characterized not only by severe pain, but also limited mobility in the joints.
Pain occurs more often, not only during exercise, but also at rest.
It becomes difficult for the patient to bend and straighten the knee, and a characteristic crunching sound is heard in the joint when moving.
On visual examination, joint swelling and slight joint deformation are visible.
It is patients with stage 2 gonarthrosis who become patients of the clinic, unable to cope with excruciating pain on their own and, due to limited mobility, they turn to doctors.
Is grade 3 arthrosis synonymous with disability?
Stage 3 arthrosis of the knee joint is characterized by persistent severe pain in the joint and loss of mobility.X-ray examination shows dystrophic changes in cartilage tissue and severe joint deformation.The so-called deforming arthrosis develops.
Arthrosis pain tends to increase at night and is most intense in the early morning.
A patient with grade 3 arthrosis can walk only with the help of a cane, remember our parents from the introduction?This is exactly him.
Treatment tactics for arthrosis of the knee joint
The process of treating arthrosis is a long process and requires persistence and patience from the patient.The basic principles of treatment of gonarthrosis can be called:
- Systematicity.
- Integrated approach.
Treatment of arthrosis should be carried out under the guidance of a doctor.It is he who should give you recommendations on how and how to treat this disease, which must be followed very carefully.You can also add traditional methods to your medical prescription, but only after your doctor approves them.
The beginning of the treatment of gonarthrosis, like any other disease, begins with the establishment of a gentle regimen.With gonarthrosis, gentle treatments are created for diseased joints.Physical activity and long walks are excluded as much as possible.In your diet, you should limit the consumption of salt, sweets and fatty foods, and include more vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Drug treatment
- To relieve pain, drugs from the group of analgesics and antispasmodics are prescribed.
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are very popular.Medicines in this group are not prescribed long term due to the large number of side effects.Therefore, long-acting tablets or injections and injections are more often used for treatment.NSAIDs alleviate the patient's condition, but do not eliminate the cause of gonarthrosis.This mission is entrusted by medical science to another group of drugs - chondroprotectors.
- The chondroprotective effect of drugs is based on the restoration of normal production of synovial fluid and damaged cartilage tissue.These drugs are very effective in the treatment of grade 1 and 2 gonarthrosis.
- Therapeutic ointments, gels, creams.They are applied topically, used for rubbing and compresses.The pharmacy network offers a large number of drugs from this group;when buying, you should not be guided by the advertising popularity of a particular ointment, but by the recommendations of a specialist.
- If the disease worsens, not only exercise, but also massage and physiotherapy are excluded.They cannot be used in the acute period due to increased pain.As soon as the pain subsides, massage, exercise therapy and physiotherapy methods should be added to the drug treatment.The following procedures have been proven to be good for the treatment of gonarthrosis:
- Laser.
- SMT.
- Electrophoresis.
- Magnetotherapy.
- Ozokerite.
Unfortunately, in stage 3 of the disease, treatment with chondroprotectors has no effect.
Traditional medicine and gonarthrosis
In traditional medicine, there are many different recipes for the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint.
Herbal medicine:
- lingonberries,
- cranberries,
- thyme,
- corn silk,
- golden mustache
Taken orally and used for compresses.There is also a method of using alcohol tinctures for rubbing:
- chili tincture,
- fly agaric tincture,
- woodlice tincture.
Compresses with medical bile, apple cider vinegar, cabbage compress and honey are also used in folk medicine.There is even a way to treat joint pain by using raw fish tied to the affected part overnight!However, we don't think many adherents will use this recipe.
Important!Whichever folk remedy you choose, be sure to discuss the appropriateness of its use with your doctor!
How to prevent the development of gonarthrosis - preventive measures
Preventing arthrosis of the knee joint is not difficult if you think about it early.How are prevention rules formed?Very simple.Read the causes of the disease and do everything you can to avoid it, namely:
- Do not overeat, adhere to a gentle diet and the principles of proper nutrition.
- We distribute physical activity wisely.
- Don't be too cold.
- Treat any disease on time.
- Avoid injury.
- Do gymnastics.
- Contact a specialist in time.
At first glance, the recommendations are quite simple.And if you follow it, gonarthrosis will not threaten you.And you don't have to worry about getting older - after all, at the beginning of the article we agreed to travel around the world on our own feet!