Our joints are very healthy. The ends of the bones are completely anastomosed with each other and covered with cartilage from above for better sliding. The joint itself is protected by the joint capsule, and ligaments and muscles strengthen it on the front, back and sides. There is a special fluid in the joint capsule that can provide smooth movement without twitching, squeaking and crunching. This is how healthy joints work. What will happen to them with joint disease?
How and causes of joint disease: obesity, trauma, arthritis
First of all, how is joint disease different from arthritis? Arthritis is inflammation of the joints and can be treated and treated until full recovery. For arthropathy, the cartilage on the joint surface of the bone is deformed, thinned, lost elasticity, covered by cracks and stratified, and the amount of synovial fluid is reduced. Unfortunately, these changes have been irreversible. Therefore, this disease is called degenerative, that is, destructive. The destruction of joints is affected by age-over time, cartilage will wear out, but the core of everything is our upright posture, so the knee joint bears a lot of load.
Knee arthropathy is an arthropathy of the knee joint. This type of joint disease is more common in women and can be aggravated by obesity and venous disease. Many elderly people suffer from arthropathy, which is explained by age-related joint changes. At a young age, joint damage or high-intensity physical exertion during exercise may cause arthropathy. In addition, knee ligament and muscle weakness, sedentary lifestyle, arthritis, stress and metabolic disorders, and daily life-high heels and weight bearing (for example, shopping) can all affect the development of arthropathy. Bag). Joint failure is bilateral, but it can also develop on a single leg.
Manifestations of arthropathy: pain, tightness, stiffness
Knee pain, crunch, stiffness in flexion and extension, especially when a person stands up and sits down-all these are signs of knee arthropathy. However, the pain did not come suddenly. At the beginning of the onset, the knee joint has a certain discomfort, and it will turn into pain during strenuous exercise, running, and exercise. If the pain is acute, it may be related to dislocation, sprain, or meniscus injury (the elastic cartilage pad in the joint).
For second-degree arthropathy, knee pain becomes a common accompanying symptom, especially after walking long distances and lifting weights. If you let the joint rest, the pain will disappear, but it will reappear when the load is restored. Another symptom of arthropathy is swelling of the knee joint. In addition, excessive accumulation of joint fluid (synovitis), which is a characteristic tightening during exercise, can cause pain, and then restricted knee movement. Patients cannot easily bend and straighten their legs. Attempting to straighten it completely can cause severe pain.
When arthropathy reaches the third degree, the knee joint sometimes loses its mobility completely. People’s legs and knees are slightly bent when walking, soreness often occurs when the weather changes, and they may be tortured during rest, including at night. The patient had to resort to painkillers. At this stage, you can also change the shape of the legs-they bend outward (legs with wheels) or inward. People often rub their sore knees, instinctively trying to improve their blood flow.
Arthropathy treatment: weight loss, exercise is life
The diagnosis of joint disease is made through X-ray examination. The typical changes are the narrowing of the joint space, the appearance of osteophytes (salt deposits), and the destruction of bones. Many patients go to the doctor at night when it is difficult to fall asleep without anesthetic. Although joint changes are irreversible, there are steps you can take to improve the lives of patients. The treatment of joint disease starts with weight loss. In addition, it is necessary to rely on a reasonable and not too high-calorie diet, because the possibility of physical activity is limited. This is the first thing any doctor will say to patients with knee joint disease.
Strangely, the second aspect of arthropathy treatment is exercise. When the changes in the joints are not fatal, it is not in the final stage, only the action-but the action is correct! -Can extend their lifespan. There are no blood vessels in cartilage. Nutrition is carried out by diffusion. In order to exchange and renew cells, cartilage can survive and exercise is necessary.
But which actions should be considered correct? Of course, those who don't bear weight on the knee joint. Let's not torture the reader-the best exercise for joint disease is swimming. This is an excellent training for ligaments, cartilage, and muscles. You can get vertical loads without walking and standing. It is necessary to avoid running, sports games, and jumping. Yes, joint pain does not make you particularly speed up.
The second exercise method is suitable for people who go to the gym or buy a simulator called ellipsoid at home. It looks like a bicycle when standing, but at the same time it looks like cross-country skiing. When working on this simulator, we avoid impact loads on the knee joints while training muscles and ligaments. The ellipsoid moves smoothly, but provides a non-weak aerobic load. Therefore, by training it, we have also solved the problem of overweight.
Medical and surgical treatment of the knee joint
As for the medical part of the treatment of joint disease, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used to relieve pain. The doctor will help you choose a dose that will eliminate pain and inflammation (and will still exist) and swelling. Sometimes analgesics are added because the pain can be very severe-they interfere with sleep, interfere with eating, and often interfere with life. In some cases, this boils down to prescription antidepressants.
If despite all the efforts, the described arthropathy treatment is still to no avail, and the destruction of the joint continues, resulting in complete immobility (and, as you know, the less we move, the faster the fat layer grows), Radical treatment-surgical replacement of the diseased joint on the prosthesis. It consists of the end of the femur (upper) and the meniscus, which fits on the surface of the tibia (lower). The operation is not simple, but it is very mature and can be said to be routine. There are many such people in the world. After the operation, a rehabilitation plan has been developed so that a person can not only start exercising, but also return to a mature, active lifestyle.