Osteoarthritis of the knee joint - first symptoms and methods of treatment

Arthritis has many varieties.For example, hip joint disease is called coxarthrosis and knee disease is called gonoarthrosis.

The treatment method for all subtypes is usually the same.However, many people do not know the difference between an arthrosis and a gonoarthrosis of the knee joint.

On this basis, many incorrect uses of these terms have appeared among patients with this problem.

Reasons

Gonarthrosis is a disease of the knee joint with damage to the cartilage tissue.Many people mistakenly believe that the disease is characteristic only of the elderly, as it is degenerative.But, as practice shows, gonoarthrosis occurs more often in young people.

This is confirmed by the causes of the disease:

• knee injuries (fractures, dislocations, cracks);
• weight lifting, intense physical activity without proper training.
• inflammation of the joints due to exposure to various factors, including hypothermia.
• excess weight, as it leads to a large load on the joints and their subsequent degeneration.
• genetic predisposition.

As you can see, all the factors for the appearance of gonoarthrosis are more typical for young people, since they lead an active lifestyle.

Although due to excess weight, the disease can also occur in retired people.According to statistics, after 50 years, gonadarthrosis occurs more often in women.This is due to the restructuring of the body, changes in metabolic processes.

Principles and types of treatment

Arthritis in general is a chronic disease, so it takes a long time to treat them.Treatment can be surgical or conservative.

With both the first and the second method, doctors try to somehow influence the cause of the disease, as well as eliminate the pathological symptoms.

It should be noted that surgery is more typical for stages 3-4 of arthropathy.In the fourth, it is inevitable, and in the third, you can still try to overcome the disease using conservative methods.

In addition, it is recommended to use special sets of gymnastic exercises, for example, the Bubnovsky technique.

In addition to cartilage destruction from gonoarthrosis, muscle fibers and ligaments are prone to destruction.The goal of treatment is:

• pain relief;
• elimination of inflammation;
• removal of edema of the periarticular area.
• stopping the destruction of cartilage, its complete or partial restoration.
• return to a full life and freedom of movement.

Even in cases where a person cannot completely cure knee arthropathy, they can partially return to a normal lifestyle thanks to treatment and prevention.The condition persists until the next relapse.

Conservative method

This method of treatment is used in most cases and is the main one.As a rule, patients are treated in this way in the initial and middle stages of gonoarthrosis.All actions involve the use of drugs (tablets, capsules, injections) with chemically active substances.

The following may be prescribed for treatment:

• analgin?
• chondroprotectors;
• non-steroidal drugs;
• articular prostheses;
• glucocorticosteroids.

Other conservative methods include treatment with various ointments, mud baths, etc.

Recently, gymnastics and light physical exercise have become very popular to stop the course of the disease or possible recovery of the patient.

The body reacts strongly to non-steroidal drugs.However, they are widely used in the treatment of arthritis due to their multifunctional action:

• elimination of swelling in the joint.
• pain relief;
• treatment of inflammatory processes.

Because of these properties, doctors are increasingly choosing these drugs over traditional pain relievers.

Glucocorticosteroids are synthetic drugs that can replace natural hormones produced by the adrenal glands.If we compare them with non-steroidal drugs, glucocorticosteroids are much stronger.In addition, they have an anti-allergic effect.

Chondroprotectors act directly on the cartilage and are completely safe treatments for knee arthropathy (knee joint).They are obtained from animal bone structure, fish cartilage and crustacean shells.Medicines are building material for cartilage, improve metabolic processes and proper nutrition of the joint.

In addition to the use of drugs, during treatment, recovery and prevention, the following are prescribed:

• Physiotherapy;
• physiotherapy;
• various massages;
• visiting sanatoriums and resorts.

All this allows the patient to return to normal life and corrects the resulting result with conservative treatment.

Plus, the lessons are easy.A very useful exercise for the knee joint with gonoarthrosis is to roll with your foot a ball placed on the floor or another cylindrical object, for example, a rolling pin.

Surgery

If it is not possible to treat the disease with the help of drugs or therapeutic exercises, then it is necessary to undergo surgery.It can be done in both open and closed joints.At the same time, surgical methods are improved every day and new methods are added to the previous ones, which are carried out with modern equipment.

The new methods of conducting work include:

• microsurgical intervention to restore damaged cartilage tissue.
• laser beam processing with the necessary characteristics - thickness, power, etc.
• creating an electrolytic plasma field 1 mm thick.
• arthroscopy;
• endoprosthetic - replacement of parts of a joint with artificial prostheses.

Modern surgical methods are low-injury and allow a huge number of different manipulations with the joint.

Recipes of traditional medicine

Conservative treatment methods cannot always give the maximum result in the treatment of gonoarthrosis.Traditional medicine recipes can be used as additional medicines.

To get rid of knee pain and tingling, you can use the following recipe:

• 150 g of garlic?
• 4 lemons with peel;
• 250 g celery roots.

Grind all the ingredients in a meat grinder, mix and pour boiling water.Then put it in a saucepan, cover well with a lid and cool.Take 60-70 g 3 times a day for a month.If pain occurs, you can repeat the course or do it every six months for prevention.

You can also use this recipe:

• beat two eggs and mix with 4 tablespoons of salt.
• Apply the mixture to a bandage and apply to the sore spot.

The procedure must be repeated twice in a row.Do not remove the bandage until the mixture is dry.

To make a medicated ointment you will need the following ingredients:

• 200g of alcohol?
• 4 egg whites;
• 50 g of camphor;
• 50 g mustard powder.

Add mustard and camphor alternately to the alcohol.In another container, beat the egg whites and then mix.The ointment is applied to the sore spot.

Of course, vigorous physical activity in athletes is just as common a cause of gonoarthritis as joint aging over time.

But recently, cases of the disease occurring without such underlying causes have become more common.People, on the other hand, lead a sedentary life, which is why they gain extra pounds.

The load on the joints increases and prevents them from staying healthy for a long time.

The difference between arthropathy and gonoarthrosis

Not everyone understands the difference between gonoarthrosis and arthropathy of the knee joint.Gonarthrosis is characterized only by damage to the knee, while arthropathy itself is the name of a group of joint diseases that can affect any joint.

In the theory of medicine, there are many diseases whose names contain the part "arthropathy" - osteoarthrosis, polyarthrosis, coxarthrosis, gonoarthrosis.In this regard, ignorant people do not always correctly understand the meaning of each of them, thinking that they are all synonyms.

Gonarthrosis can easily be confused with the following diseases:

• arthritis?
• vascular knee pain.
• periarthritis - inflammation of the knee tendons.
• meniscus damage.

But it is still possible to distinguish gonoarthrosis from these diseases.For example, damage to the meniscus (meniscopathy) is a disease that begins with acute and unexpected pain in the knees after unsuccessful movement, and the gonoarthrosis develops and progresses over the years.If meniscopathy is not treated, pain will occur from time to time, but no deformity of the bones will occur.

With coxarthrosis (disease of the hip joint), reflex pain in the knees is often felt, but the two diseases can be distinguished from each other in the following ways:

• with gonoarthrosis, a person can calmly move his legs at the hip joint, spread them.
• with coxarthrosis, in contrast, the patient can freely bend and straighten the knee.
• if the pain is felt in both joints, then we can assume that it is polyarthrosis.

Arthritis is characterized by inflammation of the joints and a sudden onset, but the pain does not affect the mobility of the joints (as with periarthritis) and is eliminated thanks to warming ointments.With this disease, there is swelling, high temperature and increased pain at night.

Vascular pain occurs due to circulatory disorders - this often affects young people under 20 years old.This is due to the rapid development of the entire organization.

Thus, arthropathy is the general name of the disease, and gonoarthrosis is a name indicating the location (knee).That is why it is correct to say either "knee joint arthropathy" or "knee joint", but not "knee joint knee joint".And it is quite possible to establish an accurate diagnosis through careful research and personal observations.

Arthritis of the knee joint (Gonarthrosis): diagnosis and treatment

The knee joint is a wonderful flexion-extension mechanism that nature has provided us with.At rest, it occurs only in disabled and morbidly obese people who have lost the ability to move.

Count how many times a day it moves and you will come to the conclusion that the knee is the most mobile part of the joint.No wonder diseases often choose him as their target.

One of them is gonoarthrosis or arthropathy of the knee joint.

Arthritis causes of the knee joint

It's hard to say what causes early cartilage failure in some people.A metabolic disorder is generally believed to be responsible, in which the metabolism of amino acids and important trace elements occurs slowly or incorrectly.

Here, in turn, the following reasons are to blame:

1. Certain immune-related diseases (for example, rheumatoid arthritis)
2. Self-deprecation: Exercise and movement, a nutritious diet containing a full range of vitamins, amino acids and minerals are often pushed aside by people somewhere far away for "later" ("I'll start on Monday, of course")
3. Even from birth, the natural balance is disturbed - the so-called hereditary causes.It is very easy to verify your genetic predisposition: see what your grandparents are sick with and ask them what their ancestors were sick with
4. Disturbed hormonal balance: such disorders particularly affect the female body during a period of estrogen deficiency, an important hormone necessary for bone synthesis.It is no coincidence that most of the victims of arthropathy are women of a wonderful mature age, when they are not yet of old age, but already wisdom, that is, the "over 50" mark.
5. Vascular diseases: Arthropathy is often combined with venous insufficiency, venous thrombosis and other diseases
6. State of mind: If you think stress only ruins your mood, you're wrong—stress can slow your metabolism into suspended animation
7. A risk factor for arthritis is being overweight

What symptoms allow one to suspect this bad pathology?

Gonarthrosis symptoms by stage

Each stage has its own distinctive features, but they are united by the gradual development of the disease:

You can't suddenly stop walking because of pain: a sharp, sudden symptom of knee pain probably indicates an injury.

First stage.In the first stage, the following symptoms appear:

• Mild pain after long walking, climbing stairs, etc.
• Stiffness after rest
• There is no deformity in the knee, but it may be somewhat swollen due to accumulated fluid: this phenomenon is called arthritis.Fluid can even accumulate in the back - the popliteal fossa, forming a cyst, which fearful patients often mistake for a cancerous tumor.The cyst usually resolves easily after treatment with injections of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or glucocorticosteroids

Second stage

In the second stage, the following signs are observed:

• Increased pain after exercise and movement and appearance of characteristic roughness
• Increase in morning stiffness
• Movement all the way or even 90 degrees is accompanied by a symptom of pain, sometimes so strong that it becomes impossible to complete
• Due to the onset of deformation, the bones thicken and become rough - this can be determined by palpation
• Arthritis can get worse

Third stage

In the third stage, already defined as late deforming arthropathy of the knee joint, symptoms appear:

• Constant pain that does not go away even at night: Knee hurts and twists, especially in cold and wet weather
• Abrupt reduction in range of motion: no more than 90 degrees or even less
• Gait changes: the patient begins to limp, walks slowly with half-bent legs, sways, walking is particularly difficult
• Visible severe deformation with mixing of the axes of the joints - because of this, the legs take the form of the letter "X" or "O" (such signs are called hallux valgus).
• At this stage, the cartilage, as a rule, is already completely destroyed and ossification (ossification) occurs in the ligaments.
• The surface of the joint then becomes overgrown with calcium deposits, which is why the knee takes on a misshapen, uneven appearance.
• Due to severe deformity and lack of synovial fluid, knee movements become extremely painful
• Gradually, almost complete immobility of the knee appears - late deforming arthropathy of the knee joint

Treatment of gonoarthrosis

The treatment of this disease is complex and time-consuming, effective only in the early stages.In the latter, conservative treatment plays a role only in alleviating the patient's condition.

Diagnostics.An important preliminary stage is diagnosis.

• The best way to diagnose and determine if the pain is caused by an injury or arthropathy is to use an X-ray or MRI of the knee joint.
• Arthropathy is diagnosed if: degeneration or absence of cartilage tissue and a small gap between the joint and the capsule is observed

Conservative treatment

During exacerbations, the most important condition for treatment is:

• Maintaining rest and light exercise
• Taking painkillers (for severe pain - in the form of intra-articular injections)
• In the third and fourth stage of arthropathy, injections of liquid to lubricate the joints are also prescribed

For gonoarthrosis, the following types of physiotherapy are effective:

• SWT (Shock Wave Therapy)
• electromyostimulation
• acupuncture
• magnetotherapy
• radio frequency therapy etc.

Rehabilitation therapy

To avoid contractions and even greater immobility, knee exercises should be started immediately after acute pain subsides - for this, exercise therapy is prescribed under the supervision of a rehabilitation specialist.Long-term cyclic administration of substitutes for natural cartilage components - chondroprotective drugs - is also carried out.

Attention: In the third degree, arthropathy of the knee joint cannot be cured with the help of chondroprotectors.

Surgical treatment

Effective treatment of late arthropathy is only surgery - replacement of a joint that has lost its function with an endoprosthesis.

However, we must remember:

• in old age, the healing of the prosthesis is slower
• After the operation there may be pain for a year
• long-term rehabilitation with mechanical therapy and comprehensive exercise therapy is required

If the patient refuses surgery, then conservative supportive treatment is prescribed, the purpose of which is to combat pain and preserve the motor function of the knee

What is arthropathy of the knee joint often confused with - gonoarthrosis?

• When diagnosing gonoarthrosismistakes happen as often, if not more often, than in the diagnosis of hip diseases.
• Below is a list of diseases that are most often confused with arthropathy of the knee joint (knee joint).
• From the practice of Dr.Evdokimenko,Most often, arthropathy of the knee joint is confused with the following diseases:

Damage to the menisci (meniscopathy) and blocking of the knee joint

Meniscal injuries and knee occlusions occur in people of all ages, young and old.Men and women get sick equally often.Usually one knee joint is damaged.

Unlike gonarthrosis, the disease develops quickly.As a rule, after an unsuccessful movement while walking, running or jumping, a person hears a knee injury and feels sharp pain in the joint.After 10–15 minutes, the sharp pain subsides slightly and the person can move.But the next day or so, the knee swells up and the pain flares up again.

Without proper treatment, the disease continues for years - the pain either subsides or reappears.But compared to gonoarthrosis, meniscopathy rarely causes deformity of the bones of the knee joint - unless damage to the meniscus triggers the development of knee arthropathy.And this, it should be noted, also happens quite often.

Arthritis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis)

Gonarthrosis is often misdiagnosed with "referred" pain, which often occurs with arthrosis of the hip joint and extends from the hip joint to the knee.

But these conditions are very easy to differentiate - with arthropathy of the hip joint, the mobility of the knee is not reduced at all, the knee bends and straightens easily and painlessly.

But the ability of a person suffering from arthropathy of the hip joint to rotate the leg "from the hip" and extend the legs to the sides is sharply reduced.

A person suffering from gonoarthrosis, on the other hand, easily rotates their leg from the hip and easily spreads their legs out to the sides.But he bends his knee with difficulty and squats because of the pain.

Arthritis

The knee joints are the most vulnerable joints in the human body.In addition to arthropathy and meniscopathy, the knee joints can be affected by any of the arthritis described in the second part of the book - reactive, rheumatoid, psoriatic, gouty arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatism.

Arthritis affects people of any age, but more often the onset of the disease occurs in young people.

With arthritis, either one or both knees can become inflamed.

A characteristic feature of arthritic inflammation of the knee joint is the rapid onset (within 1-3 days), with obvious swelling and swelling of the knee, as well as increased pain in the affected joint at night (about 3-4 am).That is, the pain at night, at rest, can be stronger than when walking.With arthropathy, as you remember, the pain decreases at night.

In addition, almost every arthritis leads to inflammation of not one, but several joints at the same time: in addition to knees, finger and toe joints, elbow joints, ankle joints and heel tendons are inflamed and swollen in any combination.

Vascular knee pain

These pains, which arise due to poor blood circulation in the knee joints, are familiar to many people.They usually begin during adolescence, a period of active growth—as vascular growth in fast-growing adolescents often does not keep pace with accelerated bone growth.

Once it appears, vascular pain in the knees can accompany a person almost throughout his life.But their intensity usually decreases after 18-20 years (and does not increase with age, as is the case with arthropathy).And unlike arthritis pain, vascular knee pain is not accompanied by a decrease in knee joint mobility.

Pain sensations are usually symmetrical, that is, they are equally intense in the right and left knee.they occur when the weather changes, in the cold, during colds and after physical activity.At such times, sufferers complain that their knees "twist".

In most cases, vascular pain in the knees is easily eliminated by rubbing warm ointments, massage and self-massage (vigorous rubbing of the knees) or taking vasodilator drugs.No specific treatment is required for this condition.

Inflammation of the knee tendons (periarthritis of the thoracic anserine)

Women are mainly affected, more often over 40 years of age.The pain usually occurs when going down stairs or when carrying heavy objects or heavy bags.When walking calmly on a flat surface, pain is extremely rare.

The pain caused by periarthritis does not extend to the entire knee.It focuses exclusively on the inside of the knees, about 3- below where the knees would touch when you bring your feet together.And unlike arthropathy, with periarthritis there is no limitation of knee mobility.the leg flexes and extends at the knee as expected, fully.