Osteoarthritisis a chronic non-inflammatory disease of the joints or cartilage, as well as the tissues around them. Osteoarthritis is one of the common diseases, affecting 10-14% of the world population. Basically, this disease affects women between 45 and 55 years old. Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease and accounts for nearly 80% of joint causes.
The cause of this disease is still unknown.. . . All the factors that cause tissue degeneration and aging of the body can lead to the occurrence of this disease, so with age, the occurrence of bone and joint diseases is almost impossible. avoid.
There are external and internal factors in the onset of this disease.The main extrinsic factors of osteoarthritis include dampness, hypothermia, unfavorable working conditions, functional overload of joints with frequent microscopic injuries, as well as energy exposure. radiation and vibration. The main and fairly common cause of osteoarthritis is the inability of cartilage to resist increased stress on the joints. The cause of this expression can be due to poor posture, working for a long time, standing on their feet, even some sports: lifting weights, running or jumping.
Internal factors that cause this disease include: genetic predisposition to diseases of cartilage tissue, impaired blood supply to joints, hormonal imbalances and metabolic disorders. The cause of osteoarthritis in women may be due to ovarian dysfunction during menopause. In addition, the vascular process with early development of atherosclerotic plaques can also be the cause of this disease.
Osteoarthritis also develops secondary to conditions such as congenital dislocations, rheumatoid arthritis, intra-articular fractures, and even alcohol abuse.
What are the clinical signs and symptoms of this disease?
Manifestations of osteoarthritis are manifested by severe pain and deformity of the joints, which leads to a violation of their functions. With this disease, most often damage the load-bearing joints (hip and knee joints) and small joints of the hand. The spine is also involved in this process. But most of the knee and hip joints are affected.
The most basic symptomwith osteoarthritis, there are severe pain in the affected joint area. These pains cause damage to the bones, joints, or tissues around the joints. Usually, such pain increases with exertion and decreases with rest. Nighttime pain, joint swelling, as well as the appearance of a "gel-sticky" sensation in the affected joint in the morning - all these suggest the presence of osteoarthritis. The intensity of such pain depends on many reasons (atmospheric pressure, humidity and temperature changes). All of these factors begin to affect the pressure in the joint cavity, causing these pains.
One of the main symptoms of osteoarthritis followed by a crunching or cracking sound in the joints, not only when walking but even when exercising. The appearance of such a crunching or creaking sound is associated with an invasion of the joint surface, which limits the mobility of this joint.
With osteoarthritis, an increase in joint volume occurs, which is a consequence of the appearance of edema of the tissues around the joints. Swelling or fever in the affected joint is extremely rare.
Clinical forms of osteoarthritis:
- Gonarthrosis.
- Coxarthrosis disease.
- Osteoarthritis of the distal intervertebral joints of the hand.
- Osteoarthritis of the proximal intercostal joints of the hand.
- Spondylolisthesis.
- Disc osteonecrosis.
gonarthrosisIs an injury of the knee joint in degenerative joint disease. In this case, the pain manifests itself in the knee joint while walking and is especially intense if you go down the stairs. The location of these pain is in the inner and anterior part of the affected knee joint. Increased discomfort occurs when the knee is bent. In addition, many cases of misalignment, misalignment of the knee joint. The disease begins gradually, and the pain becomes more and more intense. With active and passive movements, a crackling can be heard. The pain begins to increase, and in many cases, bursitis develops - an inflammation of the cystic membrane of a joint or tendon.
CoxarthrosisThis is an injury of the hip joint. The initial pain of a hip injury does not appear in the thigh area but in the knee, groin, or buttocks. They increase with walking and decrease with rest. These pains, which occur even with small changes on the X-ray, are related to muscle spasms. With the defeat of the hip, there is a gradual increase that limits the mobility of the joint. This disease is the result of injury or arthritis. With coxarthrosis, there is a "duck" gait, development of a limp, atrophy of the muscles of the buttocks and thighs. In addition, there is pain on palpation in the femoral head area.
Osteoarthritis of the distal interphalangeal joints of the hand or the Heberden nodule. . . The appearance of such nodules is often observed in women during menopause. Initially, they appear on the 1st and 3rd fingers of the hand. Over time, namely after several months or even years, a symmetric lesion is observed in other distal interphalangeal joints. Such nodules are located on the dorsal-lateral surface of the joint.
Osteoarthritis of the proximal intervertebral joints of the hand or Bouchard's nodules.Unlike Heberden's nodules, these nodules appear on the lateral surface of the joint, resulting in joint enlargement. The result of this increase is that the finger acquires a fusiform shape.
Deformity of spondylolisthesis- as a result of this disease in the vertebral region, marginal bone growth appears. This disease appears from the age of 20. Osteosarcoma (bone growth) looks like swelling - edema occurs due to compression of a blood vessel. As a result, stiffening of the spine occurs, and in some cases, autonomic disorders appear.
Disc osteosarcomaoccurs in association with scoliosis or degenerative spondylolisthesis. With this disease, the discs degenerate and the nucleus bulges out in different directions and this leads to trauma to the spine. There is also an overgrowth of bone-forming substances and an increase in the surface of the joints. In this case, the choroidal membrane of the joint is affected, as a result of which vasculitis occurs - an inflammation of the walls of small blood vessels. The pain syndrome is very pronounced and increases with exercise or hypothermia.
There are two main forms of osteoarthritis- is primary or idiopathic (the cause of the disease is unknown) and secondary (the disease occurs on the background of other diseases).
Primary Osteoarthritisit is localized when less than 3 joints are affected. When osteoarthritis occurs, it affects the spine, limbs, knees, hips and other joints.
There is also osteoarthritis in general, when 3 or more joints are affected. In this case, the large joints and distal interphalangeal joints are affected. In addition, in the general form, the process of erosive joint degeneration also occurs.
Secondary Osteoarthritispossibly post-traumatic. In addition, the cause of secondary osteoarthritis can be metabolic diseases such as Gaucher disease, which is an inherited disease; Wilson's disease is a rare form of liver damage in which copper metabolism is impaired; hemochromatosis, also known as copper diabetes, or pigmentary cirrhosis, is an inherited disease in which there is a violation of iron metabolism and its accumulation in organs and tissues. Diseases such as diabetes, hypothyroidism - impaired function of the thyroid gland, enlarged disease - increased secretion of growth hormone, can also be causes of osteoarthritis. In addition to these diseases, osteoarthritis can also cause calcium deposition disease, neurological disease and many other diseases.
What happens with osteoarthritis?
With this disease, the aging process of articular cartilage occurs. The result is a loss of elasticity of the articular cartilage. In addition to the fact that the joint surface becomes rough, cracks still appear on them. In many cases, the cartilage is worn away enough to expose the bone. All this leads to a decrease in the elasticity of the articular cartilage and causes disturbances in the functioning of the joints. Furthermore, inflammation may be involved in all of the listed changes, whereby bone tissue growth occurs, and this leads to disease and joint deformity.
Diagnosis of Osteoarthritis
Diagnosis of osteoarthritis in many cases does not cause great difficulties. But there are exceptions, such as patients with shoulder damage and symptoms of arthritis. Difficulties may also arise in diagnosing primary and secondary osteoarthritis, the presence of metabolic or other diseases. When taking X-ray, signs of osteoarthritis are detected quickly (especially in the elderly) if there are clinical signs of osteoarthritis. For a final diagnosis, there are insufficient radiological and laboratory data. To do this, some additional research needs to be conducted to determine the exact cause of the pain in the joints.
Osteoarthritis treatment
To reduce or completely prevent pain, there are both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches, including physical therapy and exercise. In order to prescribe the correct treatment, an individualized approach is required for each patient. In this case, the individual characteristics of the patient and the peculiarities of this disease process must necessarily be taken into account.
In the treatment of osteoarthritis, first of all, it is necessary to adhere to the regimen, because the mechanical activity of the joints is not only the main factor in pain relief but also plays an important role in the treatment of this disease. In this case, it is necessary to exclude prolonged periods of lying in a fixed position, long walking and long standing on the legs, as well as to exclude weight transfer that can lead to mechanical overload of the joint. If the disease goes unnoticed, the patient is advised to walk with crutches or a cane. With the pain being quite pronounced at the time of the disease, some patients are assigned to perform a semi-bed regimen.
During the treatment of osteoarthritis, it is recommended to follow a diet to reduce excess weight. This is especially true for people with knee injuries.
In addition, in the treatment of this disease, physiotherapeutic methods are used that not only relieve pain, reduce inflammation, but also have a positive effect on metabolism in joint tissue and improve microcirculation. Physiotherapy treatments include the use of electric current, alternating current, electrophoresis, as well as ultraviolet radiation and electrophoresis on the affected joints. In addition, thermal processes, using peat slurry and paraffin wax, are regulated.
Using the elements of therapeutic massage, the patient should try to avoid mechanical irritation of the capsule. Only in this case will the painful muscle spasms decrease, and the tone of the weakened muscles will also increase, thereby improving the functional abilities of the patient.
Drug therapy is prescribed depending on the form of the disease and the severity of the disease process. In more severe cases, the patient is indicated for surgical treatment (arthroplasty).
In addition, patients are advised to use spa treatments on the beach.
Prevention of Osteoarthritisconsists in the daily performance of special exercises that strengthen the musculoskeletal apparatus. Eliminating excess weight, limiting weight bearing as well as including dishes such as jelly, meat jelly or aspic are all preventive measures for osteoarthritis. And, of course, take up a sport like swimming. It must be remembered that it is better to prevent any disease than to cure it. This also applies to diseases such as osteoarthritis. In order to not have to think about how to get rid of joint pain in the future as well as how to completely cure this disease, it is necessary to take preventive measures from today, not postpone it later.
Treatment of osteoarthritis deformities by many methods
The high level of expertise and accumulated experience in the use of shock wave therapy allow to achieve the maximum positive therapeutic effect even in the advanced stages of the disease, avoiding surgical treatment in many cases.
Shockwave therapy is performed on a modern device:
- the course of treatment of arthritis and dry joints by UHT method includes 5-7 sessions;
- 1 session in 5-7 days.
Under the action of shock waves, microcrystals of calcium salts and fibrous zones formed in the tissues of the joint loosen in the affected tissues. At the same time, blood flow in the damaged tissue increases 10-fold, which contributes to the absorption of calcium salts and areas of fibrosis.
Advantages of the SWT method:
- effective;
- good tolerance (without the use of anesthetics);
- reduce the need for other methods, especially surgical treatment;
- quick pain relief without painkillers;
- the possibility of use in the chronic stage of the disease and with its main manifestations;
- is performed on an outpatient basis, does not require hospitalization, does not disrupt the patient's daily rhythm.
Photodynamic therapy in orthopedicsIt is a non-invasive, uncomplicated two-component treatment. To perform this method, a photosensitive material and a laser radiation source approved for medical use are used with a wavelength of 660-670 nm.
Under the action of the laser beam, the photosensitive substance is stimulated to release single oxygen, which has a toxic effect on the energy complexes of the cell (mitochondrial and Golgi complex), destroys the cell after andwhich triggers irreversible apoptosis. At the same time, healthy cells are not damaged. Damaged pathological tissues are aseptically absorbed.
The photosensitizer is injected into the patient's body by way of the skin (application).
Lifting PRPThis orthopedic procedure is based on a patented method of treating patient's blood using special vacuum biotech tubes and a special centrifugation regime.
During the procedure, an injectable form of autoplasma containing platelets is isolated from the patient's blood, and then injected into the soft tissues surrounding the joint and directly into the patient's joint cavity. Autoplasma injections can reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and restore joint range of motion. The autoplasma treatment procedure minimizes the amount of drugs used or eliminates them altogether, thereby reducing the toxic effects of the drugs on the patient's body. In addition, autoplasma injection reduces the treatment time by 2-3 times.
Indications for the procedure (PRP plasmolifting):
- osteoarthritis;
- osteoarthritis;
- periarthritis;
- tendon disease,
- ligament and muscle damage.
Therefore, shock wave therapy, photodynamic therapy and plasma lifting (PRP) in orthopedics are the best options for the treatment of joint diseases. With the use of modern equipment and technology along with the experience of doctors, they allow you to achieve satisfactory results.