With aging, a number of degenerative transformations pass in the body.One of the most common phenomena is considered to be arthrosis of the knee joint, the symptoms and treatment of this disease are known to many elderly people.
Arthrosis is a condition in which the cartilage tissue of the joint is destroyed, leading to a significant limitation of its functionality and the motor activity of a person as a whole.Medicine offers other names of this disease: knee gonarthrosis, osteoarthrosis, deformation of arthrosis.
What is gonarthrosis?As you know, all changes in the body begin with the interaction of molecules.Disruption of cartilage integrity changes the physico-chemical properties of the tissue.Symptoms can be clearly studied in the X -s) in the X -ray: The focus of the disease shows the area that has become muddy, indicating the stratification and thinning of the cartilage of hyaline on the joint surfaces.
There are known cases of disease development in young people.As a rule, these are professional athletes who are accidentally injured during training or competitions, which involves deformation of cartilage tissue of the joint.In this case, post -traumatic arthrosis of the knee joint occurs.
As a result of advanced knee arthrosis, cartilage tissue can completely disappear, which will lead to exposure to the bone surface and subsequent deformity of the bones that are included in the structure of the knee joints.
Consider which doctor treats arthrosis of the joints and what are the basic principles of therapy for this pathology.
How do we know that your gonarthrosis is developing?
The first sign of knee or joint arthrosis is the appearance of painful sensations of low knee intensity.At the beginning of the disease, they worry only in the process of walking, completely disappearing at rest.It becomes difficult for the patient with arthrosis of the knee joint and goes down the stairs.Signs of knee arthrosis are manifested when a person gets out of the chair: after expanding his knees, he hardly gives him the first few steps.Symptoms of knee arthrosis in the first stages of pathology are found only in the movements of the knee joint;When a person rests, he gets much easier.
An experienced doctor will say that gonarthrosis of the knee joint is not found "out of nowhere".The severe pain that accompanies the degeneration of hyaline cartilage is found exclusively after a painful intensity syndrome that has been bothering a person for more than a year.If the patient has developed pain suddenly, then it is a manifestation of another pathology.For example, sudden acute knee pain is characteristic of pinching the meniscus, injuries to the synovial layer of the joint, or cartilage fragment in the space between the bone surfaces of the knees.
Symptoms of arthrosis depending on the stage of the disease
Before treating arthrosis of the knee joint, the visiting specialist should diagnose the stage of the disease in a particular patient.It will depend on this than and how it will be possible to help the patient.
Medicine emits 3 degrees deformation of arthrosis.The initial stage or osteoarthritis of the knee joint of the 1st degree, as mentioned above, is characterized by periodic pain in the average intensity in the knee glass.After these symptoms, one should understand which doctor treats arthrosis and contact him as soon as possible.
At the outset, the disease leads to a slight deformity of the bone surfaces, and the joint itself increases slightly in size.The latter can be explained by synovitis - the accumulation of a joint bag with pathological fluid in the lumen.Excessive accumulation of fluid can lead to its transition to the back of the knee, in the area of the poplial well.At the same time, the disease receives a new sign - So -Called Baker's Cyst.
Occasionally, with arthrosis of the knee joint, a breakthrough of the bakery cyst is possible, which will lead to the spread of fluid from it in the back of the calf muscle.The treatment of gonarthrosis in the case of a bakery cyst should include anti -inflammatory drug and hormone therapy.This type of cyst is not managed as its treatment should be performed by conservative methods.
In order to develop gonarthrosis of grade 2, the beginning of the pathological process must be performed for several months.At the same time, one experiences an increase in knee pain: for their appearance a rather small motor activity.The pain occurs both during and after.Particularly bright gonarthrosis of grade 2 occurs after long walks or lifting and weight transfer.The patient notes that after a long break the pain syndrome disappears, but a careless knee rotation can provoke a symptom.
At this stage of the pathological process, its new sign appears - a distinct crunch in the knee joint, which occurs during its movement.It cannot be confused with quiet clicks that occasionally occur with active movements in healthy people.The pew in the knee with arthrosis is characterized by relative volume.If at this stage one does not turn to a specialist and does not begin to cure gonarthrosis, crunching in the affected knee increases, causing severe pain.
Also, in the second stage of the progression of the pathology, the patient has problems with flexion and the reverse process of the leg in the knee.When trying to completely bend the lower limb, one may feel acute pain in the knee area.It is often the case that in a patient with osteoarthrosis of the human tribe is absent to bend the legs.Partial flexion of the limb is possible, until the more current movement provokes the patient's discomfort or even pain.
Before healing gonarthrosis at this stage, the doctor should see the diseased knee joint on the X -ray.In the photo you can look at the destruction of bone tissue, even a change in the shape of the bone surfaces.Synovitis's progression is marked compared to the initial stage of the disease.
The pathological process of the 3rd degree of knee pain is increased.Now this can happen to a person even during the rest.It is difficult for a person to choose the position of the body, and more special of the legs, with the unpleasant sensations absent or poorly expressed.Due to painful pain, insomnia can develop.Increasing the hip pain syndrome is observed against the background of a change in weather conditions.This happens if the deformation of the nourishing vessels of the knee or hip tank joint.
If at the second stage of the disease the patient manages to bend the leg with an effort to bend the knee, then at the last stage of the destruction process, this becomes almost impossible.In a crowd of people, you can approximately recognize a person with arthrosis on your knees or hip joint: his legs are always slightly bent during the gait.There are frequent cases where the third stage of the pathology is carried out with the development of deformation of the lower limbs, resulting in the visually forming an oval (varuse deformation) or a cross (deformation of the valgus).Without timely treatment of knee arthrosis, the patient acquires an unstable shaken gait.
Different types of gonarthrosis
Only in the case of the proper diagnosis of stage and the type of pathology is possible to effectively treat arthrosis of the knee joint.There are several options for the disease.
Through the etiology, 2 types of arthrosis can be distinguished: first and secondary.Private osteoarthrosis develops as an independent disease in humans.The secondary type of disease is called this because it gets its development against the background of mechanical knee trauma or infection.Minor arthrosis can occur if the primary disease is treated incorrectly or is not treated at all.In this case, the patient should prevent complications in accordance with the doctor's recommendations.
In addition to the etiology of the process, knee arthrosis can be classified at the site of occurrence:
- The right type of disease when deformity occurs in the right knee joint.Right arthrosis of the knee or hip joint is most commonly observed in athletes and hammers, which, when lifting and transferring weights, focus on the right leg.
- The left type in which the lesion of hyaline cartilage went to the left.It is common among people involved in professional sports and wounds left knee (left arthrosis) and fat.
- Double type (Polish arthrosis), in which the disease covers both knee and hip joints at once.Such a variety of pathology is considered to be the most severe as a person is deprived of the ability to transfer weight from sore limb and brushes to healthy.Often bilateral gonarthrosis leads to the fact that people with people with disabilities in a stroller become disabled.
With different localization of knee arthrosis, the symptoms, treatment and the causes are the same.Bilateral gonarthrosis can be clinically manifested brightly, as the load is immediately subjected to 2 knees or hip joints.
How to treat arthrosis?
First of all, you need to know which doctor to seek help in the event of the first signs of pathology.Treatment for gonarthrosis is not the most expensive task even for an experienced doctor.In medicine, there are physicians with a narrow profile specializing specifically in such diseases.Such a specialist is a surgical profile that provides assistance exclusively to patients with inflamed joints.
But not all medical institutions have a similar specialist.Then what kind of doctor treats gonarthrosis in addition to a narrow specialist?The patient should answer this question in those medical institutions where knee arthrosis is treated.In advanced cases, pathology can help the patient an orthopedist.If poly arthrosis is at the initial stage, you should contact a physiotherapist, a massage therapist, a manual therapist who also treats arthrosis of the knee joint.But the specialist should have a clear qualification and experience, beware of fraudsters who can not only help but also harm the patient with arthrosis.
Many patients are wondering if it is possible to cure their own knee at home?Remember that in order to avoid the progression of the disease or the onset of complications in the first symptoms of pathology, you should consult a qualified doctor.Once the necessary diagnosis, he will tell you how to cure knee arthrosis in a certain case.
It is very important to make a differential diagnosis, that is, to distinguish arthrosis from similar deformity processes in cartilage.The treatment regimen for arthrosis includes a set of methods and effects on the problem.
Drug therapy
The treatment of the drug of knee arthrosis does not occupy the main place in the therapy of this pathology.This is due to the fact that the drug in the form of capsules or tablets is effective only in the early stage of the pathological process when polyarthrosis is negligible.Medicines needed for the patient to cure gonarthrosis include means to improve the structure of hyaline cartilage - chondroprotectors.They contribute to the formation of collagen fibers and proteoglycans in the body, which make up the greater part of the cartilage tissue.Therefore, the treatment of knee arthrosis has a positive effect with gelatin as it acts as a natural chondroprotector.
As one of the signs of the disease is acute knee pain, it is necessary to treat gonarthrosis of the knee joint with the help of painkillers.It is important to prescribe the intake of substances that normalize the blood and lymphatic microcirculation in the affected cartilage.This will provide the best nutrition and repair of the tissue, which is very important for the hemarthrosis of the knee joint, whose treatment is associated with the nutrition of the cartilage.Pain reduction is also facilitated by non -steroidal anti -inflammatory drugs.
Lengthening of the lower limbs
Modern methods of treating knee arthrosis can complement a rather painful but effective method of therapy for gonarthrosis - hardware grip or grip.It is used to increase the space between cartilage surfaces.Such a procedure can be cured by polyarthrosis if you undergo several sessions (usually treatment with a durable 5 to 7 procedures is required).Tranks help to reduce the load of knee pain and relieve unpleasant symptoms.
Laser therapy
Another effective therapeutic method is laser treatment.With its help you can achieve anesthesia, decongestant, anti -inflammatory, healing effects on the focus of the disease.This method of treatment can be used both at an early stage and in the late stages of destructive processes.In addition, the use of the laser provides the microcirculation of biological fluids in the cartilage of hyaline, which accelerates the process of gonarthrosis of treatment.
Laser therapy in medicine has a number of contraindications that the doctor should take into account before treating arthrosis of the knee joint in a particular patient.Thus, laser therapy for the purpose of arthrosis of the knee joint is not allowed for chronic and acute infections in active form, in the presence of cancer, tuberculosis, some cardiac pathologies, cirrhosis, anemia and some other conditions.
Traditional medicine in the fight against the disease
The complex treatment of knee arthrosis allows the use of unconventional medicine, but only the recommendations of the attending physician.
With which plants do we treat arthrosis of the knee joint of the house?One of the commonly used is Burdok.This plant has long established itself in the treatment of gonarthrosis.Burdok treatment is a safe and relatively effective method.
In the treatment of arthrosis, horseradish and bircot are not the last place.As a rule, the green part of the plants can be used with polyarthrosis.Horseradish and Burdok leaves relieve the pain of the affected knee or hip joint, reducing the inflammatory process that treats polyarthrosis.
If there is osteoarthrosis of the knee joint, home treatment can be performed with honey.