How do you feel when you meet an elderly person with a cane on the street?Surely sympathy, and also confidence that you definitely won’t become like that!
Not a single young, energetic person imagines his old age with illnesses and lameness; rather, the imagination pictures a youthful, smiling pensioner traveling around the world on healthy legs and with a snow-white smile, as in the photo in foreign magazines.
But illness is an insidious thing.And especially joint diseases.Creeping up unnoticed, various ailments little by little destroy and deform 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 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 in articular cartilage.
It can be primary or secondary, that is, it 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 when playing professional sports.
- Pre-existing diseases (usually arthritis of various etiologies).
- Weak ligamentous 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 distinctive 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 feels discomfort in the knee joint, pain that makes it difficult to go down the stairs.In other situations, pain almost does not arise and therefore the patient happily forgets about it or takes some kind of his own therapeutic measures, completely trusting the advice of friends who “had it too.”
It is the frequency of the occurrence of pain that postpones a 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?
Stage 2 gonarthrosis is characterized not only by severe pain, but also by limited mobility in the joint.
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, swelling of the joint and slight deformation of the joint are noted.
It is patients with stage 2 gonarthrosis who are patients at the clinic, unable to cope with excruciating pain on their own and, suffering from limited mobility, they turn to a doctor.
Is grade 3 arthrosis synonymous with disability?
Stage 3 arthrosis of the knee joint is characterized by constant severe pain in the joint and loss of mobility.X-ray examination shows dystrophic changes in cartilage tissue and severe deformation of the joint.The so-called deforming arthrosis develops.
Arthrosis pain tends to intensify at night and becomes most intense in the early morning hours.
A patient with degree 3 arthrosis can only walk with the help of a cane, remember our old man from the introduction?This is exactly him.
Treatment tactics for arthrosis of the knee joint
The treatment process for arthrosis is a long process and requires perseverance and patience from the patient.The basic 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 attending physician approves them.
The beginning of treatment for gonarthrosis, like any other disease, begins with the organization of a gentle regimen.With gonarthrosis, a gentle regime 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 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.Drugs in 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 alleviate the condition of patients, but do not eliminate the causes of gonarthrosis.This mission has been 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.The 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 chain offers a huge range of drugs from this group; when purchasing, 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 exercise, 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 therapy, and physiotherapeutic methods must be added to drug treatment.The following procedures have proven themselves well 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 folk medicine, there are a huge number of different recipes for the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint.
Decoctions of medicinal herbs:
- lingonberries,
- cranberries,
- thyme,
- corn silk,
- golden mustache
Taken orally and used for compresses.There are also methods using alcohol tinctures for rubbing:
- bitter pepper tincture,
- fly agaric tincture,
- woodlice tincture.
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 using raw fish, which is tied to the sore spot overnight!But we don’t think there will be many adherents to using this recipe.
Important!Whatever folk remedies you choose, be sure to discuss the advisability 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 a young age.How are prevention rules formed?Very simple.Read the causes of the disease and do everything to avoid them, namely:
- Do not overeat, adhere to a gentle diet and the principles of proper nutrition.
- We distribute physical activity wisely.
- Don't get too cold.
- Treat any diseases in a timely manner.
- Avoid injury.
- Do gymnastics.
- Contact a specialist in a timely manner.
At first glance, the recommendations are quite simple.And if you follow them, gonarthrosis will not threaten you.And you don’t have to worry about advancing age - after all, at the beginning of the article we agreed to travel around the world on our own feet!