Osteoarthritis of the knee joint: causes, symptoms and treatment

A healthy person perceives the ability to walk and run as something natural and simple.But those who have found diseases of the musculoskeletal system know how many difficulties the temporal or constant restriction of mobility entails.Meanwhile, every second person over 50 suffers from joint inflammation, and the osteoarthritis of the knee joint is one of the main causes of disability in women and men.

The causes of the osteoarthritis of the knee joint

Despite the generalized prevalence of osteoarthritis, there is still a confusion with the name of this disease.It is officially called "deforming osteoarthritis."But even from the lips of doctors, you can listen to the word "arthritis": there is no significant error here, although more frequently this term is used in relation to rheumatoid arthritis: another disease that has a different origin and symptoms than osteoarthritis.

Deforming osteoarthritis is a progressive cartilage lesion that covers the surface of the joint, which leads to a violation of its work and pain.

This is an extremely common pathology, which is more common in elderly women who suffer from overweight.However, sometimes deforming osteoarthritis is also observed in young sports men: the impetus for the development of the disease is sports trauma caused by excess loads in the gym.

In addition, gonarrosis occurs for the following reasons:

• leg fractures and dislocations of the knee joints;
• Menc Injections;
• Inflammatory joint diseases (rheumatism, gout, Bekhterev disease, etc.);
• Metabolic violation;
• Congenital weakness of the ligamentary apparatus (joint hypermobility);
• Hereditary predisposition to the osteoarthritis of the knee joint.

Honorrosis can develop in any of us: experts take into account that this is a consequence (paradoxically) an increase in the average life expectancy of the population: our articulations fail before we feel as older people and reject the activity.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee joint

Arthrosis never happens suddenly.The first symptom that occurs long before the disease accelerator is a slight pain in the knee when walking, intensifying during the lifting and the descent down the stairs.The unpleasant sensations, as a rule, appear at the beginning of the movement, disappear after a short walk, and after a long load in the joint, return again.

Over time, if osteoarthritis is not treated, the symptoms are aggravated: the pain becomes continuous, the movements in the knee joint are increasingly limited and the knee increases in size.Doctors advise not to visit the hospital and when the first unpleasant sensations appear.This will have a prolonged and expensive treatment: with the development of the disease, getting rid of it is becoming more difficult.

Degree of gonarrosis

There are three degrees of osteoarthritis of the knee joint:

• 1 degree of gonarrosis is a gap from the first symptoms of the disease to the appearance of bone deformations, which are noticed during the exam or in the X stripes.In this case, the knee can change its shape in the first months of osteoarthritis, but due to the accumulation of fluid in the joint (this phenomenon is called synovitis).1 degree of gonarrosis is mainly characterized by the pain of different intensity that occurs during movement.
• 2 The degree of osteoarthritis of the knee joint is accompanied by unpleasant sensations to the slightest load, a crack in the knee when walking and squatting and a decrease in joint mobility.In the X stripe, the growth of bone tissue is seen along the edges of the joint and narrowing of the joint gap.Externally, the knee with 2 degrees of gonarrosis also seems deformed and increases in size.
• With 3 degrees of cartilage tissue gonarrosis, it is almost not inside the joint, and in the severe form of osteoarthrosis, the bones grow together, which leads to the complete immobility of the sick leg.It is difficult for a person with such a disease to take a position in which the pain decreases: a dream is altered and becomes impossible to move without a cruttle or a stick.

Only a doctor is able to establish the degree of osteoarthritis of the knee joint after studying the radiography: there are cases in which the mild symptoms characteristic of the first grade are accompanied by the destruction of the intra -articular cartilage.

Treatment of knee joint osteoarthritis

If the diagnosis has detected gonarrosis, it is necessary to address the next treatment responsibly.Do not expect that the compresses or ointments of the closest pharmacy solve the problem: this disease requires an integrated approach and compliance with the recommendations of a specialist.

There is not and there should not be a single "scenario" of the treatment of the osteoarthritis of the knee joint: the orthopedist is obliged to take into account the complaints of the patient, pay attention to the concomitant pathology and take into account the arsenal of the physiotherapeutic techniques that are available in the medical institution.The best option is the treatment of gonarrosis in a specialized orthopedic clinic.

PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT (MEDICINES FOR THE TREATMENT OF THE ARTOSIS OF THE KNEE ARTICULATION)

Medications are important in the treatment of gonarrosis, especially in situations in which it should urgently relieve symptoms of acute pain and reduce inflammation.To this end, doctors prescribe non -steroid anti -inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): diclofenaco, indomethacin, nimesulide and others.To combat a severe inflammatory process, steroids are prescribed and to improve the condition of cartilage tissue: drugs for vasodilatory joints and medications.All these medications are prescribed both in the form of a tablet and in the form of creams, ointments, injection solutions (with any degree of severity of the osteoarthritis of the knee joint).

The plasmolifting method deserves a special mention: the introduction of the blood plasma of the patient enriched with plasma in the knee joint affected by osteoarthritis.This technique is used successfully in sports medicine, where special attention is paid to the rapid restoration of the musculoskeletal system.

For a long time, one of the main popular remedies of the people for osteoarthritis has been considered: it was used for both infusions (for example, Linden flowers) and for wrappings and massages.It is difficult to say how honey helps eliminate the causes of the disease, but this tool will definitely bring damage, even doctors say.

Surgical treatment

Objects of varying degrees of invasiveness are designed not only to relieve the symptoms of the disease, but also to eliminate its causes.

• Puncture.To get rid of excess fluid in the joint cavity, surgeons resort to the puncture: such minimally invasive intervention reduces inflammation and restores knee mobility.
• ArthroscopyIf osteoarthritis requires a surgical operation (usually with 2 degrees of gravity), it can be performed endoscopically;This technique does not require dissection of joint cavity, and all manipulations are carried out by thin flexible tools under the control of microcamera control.Arthroscopy implies the purification of the articular surfaces of fragments of the destroyed cartilage.
• Osteotomy near the joints is a more traumatic intervention.During the operation, one of the bones that form the knee joint is cut and then fixed again, but at a different angle.This approach allows you to redistribute the load in the knee, which reduces pain syndrome and increase knee mobility.Osteotomy is usually used for 1 and 2 degrees of osteoarthros of the knee joint.
• Endoprothetics implies the replacement of the knee joint with a compatible bio design, providing the previous volume of movements.This complex surgical intervention requires prolonged rehabilitation, therefore, as a rule, patients with 3 grade of gonarrosis are decided.

Non -surgical methods to treat deforming osteoarthritis

But still, any operation is a serious test for the body, so people suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee joint prefer conservative treatment.The practice shows that physiotherapeutic and other methods, as well as a change in lifestyle, lead to tangible improvement, with the minimization of the use of pharmaceutical products.

Physiotherapy

• Shock wave therapy (UVT) has been used in clinics for 20 years.During the procedure, the doctor acts in the affected area with a device that generates radio acoustic waves (2000–4000 pulses per procedure).The therapeutic effect is achieved due to the activation of the blood supply in the joint and the stimulation of bone and cartilage restoration processes.
• Myostimulation implies the effect of muscles surrounding the joint with impulses of the weak current, because it increases mobility in pain in the leg, pain decreases and resistance increases to physical activity.
• Phonoforesis: a combination of ultrasonic therapy and the effects of medicines, which is very effective for gonarrosis.It is known that normally, only 5-7% of the drug in the form of ointment, gel or cream is absorbed through the skin.With this procedure, high frequency vibrations heat the tissues of the knee joint and improve the absorption of the medication, which allows saving on expensive medications, while obtaining a good result.
• Ozonotherapy.The effect of active oxygen on tissue has an anti -inflammatory and analgesic effect, through which with the osteoarthritis of the knee joint, you can refuse to take hormonal medications or reduce its dose.

Kines butapy

• Medical Physical Education (exercises therapy), according to doctors, allows a responsible and worker patient with osteoarthritis to "escape".Daily training according to a special technique gently strengthen leg muscles, which in some cases goes back the pathological process, returning the patient to the previous mobility.The key success factor is a competent exercise sequence that says an instructor experienced in exercise therapy.
• Massage (including lymphatic drainage) and manual therapy: Passive effect methods on the patient's muscles, joints and ligaments.They are suitable for sedentary patients and combine perfectly with exercise therapy, physiotherapy and pharmacological treatment to deform osteoarthrosis.
• Mecanotherapy implies the use of special devices that improve the effect of exercise therapy and massages: vibratory simulators, weighting and mechanical massage.
• The traffic of the joints is a mechanical increase in the space of its cavity, because it goes from pain and the destruction of the joint is slowed.The application of the course of this technique allows to delay several years delay the progression of the osteoarthritis of the knee joint.

Diet therapy

Consultation with a nutritionist and the subsequent treatment of overweight and obesity is an effective addition to the main methods to combat osteoarthritis of any location.Losing weight relieves the load on the joints and facilitates exercise therapy in fat people.Often, the radical treatment of obesity, bariatric surgery, allows you to make a diagnosis in people who have suffered osteoarthritis for many years.

Orthopedic doctors recommend thinking about knee health even before it feels pain in this area.The recommendations are simple: monitoring the weight, carefully choosing the right shoes, rationally approaching physical training, participating in swimming (eliminates the load of all joints at the same time), avoid the hypothermia of the legs and abandon smoking.