How do you feel when you meet an elderly person with a cane on the street?Certainly sympathy and also assurance that you will definitely not become one!
No young, vigorous man imagines his old age with sickness and lameness;rather, the imagination imagines a young, smiling pensioner, traveling the world on healthy legs and with a snow-white smile, like in the pictures in foreign magazines.
But disease is an insidious thing.And especially joint diseases.Creeping in unnoticed, various diseases little by little destroy and deform the joints, expressing one fine morning in pain and inability to move normally.
Among all joint pathologies, judging by the number of requests for medical help, the leading 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 of the articular cartilage.
It can be primary or secondary, i.e.occurs against the background of other diseases.
Causes of arthrosis of the knee joint
Most often, gonarthrosis occurs due to:
- Traumatic injuries of the knee joint.
- Excess body weight.
- Increased physical activity, including professional sports.
- Existing diseases (usually arthritis of different etiology).
- 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 distinguishing features.
Symptoms of stage 1 arthrosis of the knee joint
Gonarthrosis first manifests itself with pain that occurs when walking up the stairs.A person experiences discomfort in the knee joint, pain that makes it difficult to go down the stairs.In other situations, the pain almost does not arise, and therefore the patient happily forgets about it or takes some of his own therapeutic measures, completely trusting the advice of friends who "also had it."
It is the frequency of the appearance of pain that postpones the visit to the clinic until later, which leads to the transition of the disease to a more serious, 2nd degree.
How does stage 2 disease manifest itself?
Gonarthrosis at stage 2 is characterized not only by severe pain, but also by limited mobility in the joint.
The 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 when moving, a characteristic crunch is heard in the joint.
On visual examination, swelling of the joint and slight deformity of the joint are noted.
Patients with stage 2 gonarthrosis are clinic patients who cannot cope with excruciating pain on their own and who suffer from limited mobility, turn to a doctor.
Is grade 3 arthrosis synonymous with disability?
Stage 3 knee osteoarthritis is characterized by constant severe pain in the joint and loss of mobility.X-ray examination shows dystrophic changes in the cartilage tissue and severe deformation of the joint.The so-called deforming arthrosis develops.
Arthritis pain tends to worsen at night and is most intense in the early morning hours.
A patient with stage 3 osteoarthritis can only walk with the help of a cane, remember our old man from the introduction?That's exactly him.
Tactics for the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint
The process of treating arthrosis is a long process and requires perseverance and patience from the patient.The main principles of treatment of gonarthrosis can be called:
- Systematicity.
- An 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 the disease, which must be followed very carefully.You can also add traditional methods to your medical prescriptions, but only after your treating doctor approves them.
The beginning of the treatment of gonarthrosis, like any other disease, begins with the organization of a sparing regimen.In case of gonarthrosis, a sparing regimen is created for the diseased joint.Physical activity and prolonged walking are excluded as much as possible.In your diet, you should limit the consumption of salt, sweets and fatty foods and include more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins.
Drug treatment
- To relieve pain, drugs from the group of analgesics and antispasmodics are prescribed.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are very popular.Medicines from this group are not prescribed for long courses due to the abundance of side effects.Therefore, long-acting tablets or injections and injections are more often used for treatment.NSAIDs relieve the condition of patients, but do not eliminate the causes of gonarthrosis.This mission is entrusted by medical science to another group of drugs - chondroprotectors.
- The effect of chondroprotective drugs is based on restoring the normal production of synovial fluid and damaged cartilage tissue.Medicines are very effective in the treatment of gonarthrosis of the 1st and 2nd degree.
- Therapeutic ointments, gels, creams.They are applied locally, used for rubbing and compresses.The pharmacy chain offers a huge range of drugs from this group;when buying, you should be guided not by the advertising popularity of a particular ointment, but by the recommendations of a specialist.
- In case of exacerbation of the disease, not only exercises, but also massages and physiotherapy are excluded.They cannot be used in the acute period due to increased pain.As soon as the pain subsides, massage, exercise and physical therapy methods should be added to drug treatment.The following procedures have proven themselves well for the treatment of gonarthrosis:
- A laser.
- SMT.
- Electrophoresis.
- Magnetotherapy.
- Ozokerite.
Unfortunately, in stage 3 of the disease, treatment with chondroprotectors has no effect.
Folk medicine and gonarthrosis
In folk medicine, there are a huge number of different recipes for the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint.
Decoctions of medicinal herbs:
- blueberries,
- blueberries,
- thyme,
- corn silk,
- golden mustache
It is taken orally and used for compresses.There are also methods using rubbing alcohol tinctures:
- bitter pepper tincture,
- fly agaric tincture,
- tincture of woodlice.
Compresses with medical bile, apple cider vinegar, cabbage and honey compresses are also used in folk medicine.There is even a method of treating sore joints with raw fish that is attached to the sore spot overnight!But we don't think there will be many supporters of this recipe.
important!Whatever folk remedies you choose, do not forget to discuss the appropriateness of using them with your doctor!
How to prevent the development of gonarthrosis - preventive measures
Preventing the occurrence of arthrosis of the knee joint is not difficult if you think about it from an early age.How are prevention rules formed?Very simple.Read the causes of the disease and do everything to avoid them, namely:
- Do not overeat, stick to a gentle diet and the principles of proper nutrition.
- We distribute physical activity wisely.
- Don't get too cold.
- Treat any illnesses promptly.
- Avoid injury.
- Do gymnastics.
- Contact a specialist promptly.
At first glance, the recommendations are quite simple.And if you follow them, gonarthrosis will not endanger you.And you don't have to worry about getting older - after all, at the beginning of the article, we agreed to go around the world with our own feet!