Your joint is inflamed, swollen, or difficult to move. What to do? Which doctor should I contact with this problem? What is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis? In our body, everything works, works and wears out accordingly. Healthy cells repair themselves, but if this does not happen, the cause and its treatment must be sought.
attention! Do not self-medicate, you can eliminate the symptoms, but the cause remains!
In small towns or villages, they first go to a general practitioner if the child has problems - to a pediatrician, and he already determines which narrow specialist to refer you to.
If you are diagnosed with arthritis, do not confuse it with arthrosis. What is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis? Now we will understand how these diseases differ.
What is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis?
First difference in etiology:
- Arthritis can occur due to injury or infection, a malfunction in the metabolic system and is characterized by an inflammatory process.
- Osteoarthritis - is chronic, in which the joints wear out and deform.
The symptoms of the diseases are also different - this is the second sign:
- Arthritis - can appear in a latent form (chronic) or be felt immediately (acute form). It manifests itself with pain, fever, swelling, changes in skin color.
- Arthritis does not necessarily have to be accompanied by painful symptoms. Sometimes the pain occurs after a long rest, but disappears after development, there is a crunch or click when moving.
Arthrosis affects people over 50, athletes or the result of a severe fracture - after 40.
The third is the nature of the damage to the body:
- Arthritis affects the whole body. The inflammatory process affects the functioning of internal organs: heart, liver, kidneys.
- Arthrosis - affects only the joint.
Fourth - how exactly are the joints damaged:
- Any joint can get arthritis.
- Osteoarthritis tends to affect the connective tissues that are most affected by stress. These are the knee, ankle, hip joint and also the big toe joint.
Also, scientific studies show that arthritis patients on Earth make up 2% of the population, and arthrosis - 10%.
What is the diagnosis based on?
General blood test - blood from a finger. If arthrosis, as a rule, does not change the composition of the blood, then with arthritis the content of leukocytes and erythrocytes increases.
Rheumatic tests and biochemical analysis are performed - it is taken intravenously on an empty stomach.
Arthritis does not change the structure of the blood, in arthritis markers of inflammation increase.
Rheumatoid arthritis is manifested by the appearance of rheumatoid factor in the blood, and in gout - increased uric acid.
X-ray - shows the stage of the disease, if there is a change in the structure of the bone - arthrosis. MRI and CT scans may also be ordered.
Which doctor treats arthritis and arthrosis?
As mentioned earlier, we first visit a general practitioner. Examines and refers to a rheumatologist, examines, diagnoses and prescribes treatment.
What is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis? If the doctor has diagnosed arthrosis, he prescribes additional tests to determine the stage of the disease.
Treatment is carried out only with drugs, with the help of injections, ointments. First of all, the doctor advises to reduce the load and take chondroprotectors. A set of exercises is recommended to improve blood circulation.
The treatment must be complex, so the following doctors with narrow specialization can additionally be included: physiotherapist, massage therapist, physiotherapist, surgeon.
For diseases of the connective tissue, they can be sent to a sanatorium for further treatment and recovery.
An arthrologist is a doctor who works with joint problems. However, these specialists are only found in large clinics and are difficult to reach.
If the disease progresses and has passed into a difficult stage, then you should contact an orthopedic surgeon. He can perform, depending on the need for treatment, two types of operations: organ-preserving and endoprosthetics.
For the best treatment, specialists from different fields are involved at each stage, but the therapist or rheumatologist oversees the entire treatment.
Which doctor will treat arthritis depends on the cause.
- In the case of an injury that served as an impetus, it will be necessary to visit a traumatologist for development.
- Rheumatoid - specialists in immune diseases.
- Metabolic disorders (gout) - nutritionist, endocrinologist, rheumatologist.
- Problems with the maxillofacial joint: dentist, ENT.
- In case of purulent - the operation requires the intervention of a surgeon.
The doctor conducts treatment in several directions: to stop further destruction and to restore the capacity of the connective tissue.
Treatment should begin as soon as discomfort is felt. So you will quickly feel relief and the disease will cause minimal harm to the body.
Treatment regimen
In any case, the doctor conducts treatment depending on the cause of arthritis, but there is a standard scheme:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). First, a course of intramuscular, intravenous or intra-articular injections is given, ointments can be used for subsequent treatment.
- Antispasmodics (for muscle spasms).
- Antidepressants.
- Anesthetics.
- Gastroprotectors, to protect the stomach.
- A vitamin complex is prescribed.
- Chondroprotectors - they improve the quality of cartilage tissue.
- Therapeutic diet.
- Physiotherapy.
- Massage, acupuncture.
This treatment regimen is supplemented depending on the course of the disease. The recovery process is long and laborious, rehabilitation will also require a lot of work on your part.