In the knee the femoral and tibial bones, covered with articular cartilage. There is a second type of cartilage tissue, forming the so-called meniscus, which act as the intermediate layer or shock absorbers.
So you can observe how total and partial loss of cartilage. This process is often isolated sector-specific knee, in these cases, it may be caused by injuries and chronic wear and tear of the joint.
The pathogenesis and symptomatology of osteoarthritis
Manifestations of osteoarthritis are related to the fact that the articulated cartilage loses elasticity, recedes, thins and deteriorates. Cause the destruction of the cartilage can be a variety of reasons: the age-related changes, hormonal imbalance, metabolic disorders, circulatory disorders, on the background of heart disease, the consequences of an accident.
Osteoarthritis of the knees is manifested by a combination of symptoms:
- the pain, the intensity and nature that change depending on the stage of the disease;
- maintainer motion scrunch to the knee;
- stiffness at the beginning of the movement;
- limitation of joint movements;
- the deformation of the knee.
Causes of development and the types of
The causes of osteoarthritis is the aging process and wear and tear of the cartilage, being overweight, trauma, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks its own joint tissue, causing inflammation, and then destruction.
Knee joints are subjected to great stress for the whole life, then, subject to the degenerative processes of most, unlike other joints.
The main reason for the development of osteoarthritis of the knee of the second degree – ignoring the man of the first symptoms and the lack of a timely treatment. Other causes:
- age – in 80% of cases of osteoarthritis affects people (mostly women) after the age of 40;
- injuries – often this are the athletes.
- other diseases of the joint – endocrine, inflammatory diseases, etc
With osteoarthritis of the knee 2 degrees of destruction exposed not only the cartilage, but its components. The cartilage becomes less elastic and resistant, it begins to fade away, leaving without protection the bone surfaces.
The main causes of osteoarthritis of the knee are associated with increased physical activity of middle-aged people, because of what you are experiencing circulatory disorders and nutrition of the cartilage in the joints, leading to functional insufficiency of the joints.
There are two forms of osteoarthritis of the knee: primary and secondary.
Primary.
It begins its development fairly early on – in childhood or adolescence.
Different degrees of osteoarthritis of the knee
Like many others, the disease of osteoarthritis of the knee is divided into different phases.
- Easier for the treatment of osteoarthritis of grade 1. Symptoms: the presence of a small slit to the inside of the joint, the surface of the edges sharp, the patient's loss of mobility.
- If the patient has osteoarthritis of the knee of grade 2, showed the following: significant loss of a patient's mobility, when you walk in awesome knee emits a characteristic creaking, inside the form of a sharp contraction in the slot, and cysts.
- Osteoarthritis grade 3 makes it impossible to move, there is a large deformation of the joint, on its surface, the shape of the gasket.
- In the last fourth stage, the cartilage in the knee completely destroyed.
For the treatment of gonarthrose grade II, it is possible to use the honey. For example, to body wraps, massage or internal.
Signs and symptoms
Osteoarthritis of the knee the statute most often develops after the age of 55, on the background of age-related changes in the cartilage. In the pathological process of tissue of other organs involved rarely, unlike arthritis, when the development of inflammation, the infection spreads into the tissue of the heart, the nerve fibers, the epidermis.
The main signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee:
- in the initial phase, the pain is absent, the intensity of the pain increases in waves;
- gradually degenerative changes violate the mobility of the affected joint, in the morning the patient is difficult to bend and straighten the knee;
- when the execution of pathologies of cartilage are destroyed, sharply limited opportunities for walking;
- the lack of synovial fluid, strong friction of the articular heads, the patchwork of specific elements and causes pain, not only during loading, but without her.
Signs and symptoms
The doctors believe ostreatus is a common disease, which is able to go in an epidemic. The first sign of the disease is acute pain in the region of the places of interest such as the patella, severe pain during the walk, in some cases, a person simply can not move.
That, in turn, leads to the complete loss of integrity of the patient, the physical and moral degradation.
The most characteristic symptoms of the arthrosis of the second degree:
The malocclusion of this disease becomes a reduced joint mobility, a limitation in the mobility and the appearance of sensations of stiffness of the joints.
It is worth mentioning that, the joints osteoarthritis can affect different areas of the body of the patient, however, are the most common types like osteoarthritis of the knee, disease of lumbar and cervical arthrosis, and osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint, the complex osteoarthritis of the ankle and brushes, and even osteoarthritis of the hip.
Diagnostics
Definition of osteoarthritis of the knee begins with a physical examination the doctor, studying the history and the conversation with the patient. Make sure you pay attention to a doctor that often becomes the cause of the pain, and tells of cases of the disease in the family, if there were.
For the treatment use of narcotic analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, slowly acting drugs, gold, corticosteroids, methotrexate, etc
The medical therapy of osteoarthritis of the knee consists of three main areas:
- the application of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are used to relieve pain and reduce the intensity of the inflammatory process of the tissues;
- taking medication for the repair of cartilage, which include chondroprotectors: glucosamine and chondroitin;
- the use of creams and ointments in the treatment of deforming arthrosis.
The main goal of pharmacological treatment is the resolution of pain, improvement of the nutrition of the cartilage, the activation of recovery processes, the increase of articular mobility and the normalization of the circulation in the knee.
In very advanced cases, irreversible injury of the knee osteoarthritis treated radical method – a prosthesis, i.e., the prosthetic implant of metal in exchange for the ruin of the joint.
This is the only way that gives you the chance of a full recovery, but the implants have a limited lifetime, after which they must be replaced.
Since the price of these transactions is very high, this method of treatment has not received wide dissemination of.
There are a lot of recipes popular various ointments and herbal wraps, the doctor of bile, you apply the hot bands of natural wool. Mainly the action of these methods is directed to the relief of pain and resolution of the main symptoms.
How to treat osteoarthritis of the knee? In an early stage of malocclusion joint is well suited for the therapy. In addition to the pharmacy ointments and tablets health food stores offer traditional methods of treatment of osteoarthritis in the knee area.
Replace the drugs phyto means it is not possible: the refusal of pharmacological treatment worsen the condition of the patient the joint, will result in a further development of degenerative and dystrophic changes.
Stop the destruction of cartilage tissue, accelerate the regeneration process is possible only in the complex of exposure.
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Drugs
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compositions are needed in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee for the relief of pain during the destruction of the cartilage. In the house is using drugs, in the form of gel and tablets. It is important to adhere strictly to the daily dose, frequency of application, duration of the treatment.
The severe osteoarthritis therapeutic measures are in this order:
- remove the pain;
- in the presence of an inflammatory process, the measures taken for its resolution;
- for performing the processing, aimed at the recovery of cartilage tissue.
The main role in the acute phase relegated to medical treatment anti-inflammatory medications, it is possible to carry out a series of physiotherapy treatments.
Of the drugs in the end this is chondroprotectors, that can 1-2 step to curb the destruction of the cartilage.
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When the knee is deformed, the joint is completely or almost completely lost mobility, get rid of the constant pain does not help, nor medication, nor for physiotherapy treatments.
In the treatment of osteoarthritis prescribed a pill and the ointment, and ease the pain, but also to counteract the inflammatory processes, prescribed physiotherapy, which slow down the process of destruction of the joints.
In addition, the diet must be rich in nutrients and trace elements, which will be enough for the processes of creating new tissues and cells, that occur in the body of the patient.
Diet only collects a nutritionist, who will take into account the state of health of the patient. It is very important to know that the limitation and the excess of food in one meal damage to the joints.
In the treatment you can use special orthotics, crutches and sticks, that download the patient from increased physical activity.
It is worth mentioning that the osteoarthritis of the knee is one of the most common diseases that is present in many former athletes. This is due to the fact that in their youth these people have a huge load, prejudice, and a microtrauma in the joints, tears to the ligaments and multiple injuries.
Wrap with horseradish, it helps the joint pain
For the preparation of this mask is necessary to dig or to buy fresh horseradish root, then chop it very small grater. All received content must be immersed in water, and leave to steam over a slow fire, however, the water should not reach the boil.
After 15 minutes, cool the broth, and the resulting composition need to put on the canvas of fabric, but before this tissue to water in the broth. Roll up the fabric you need to put on the affected area.
It is appropriate to make a supply of the roots of horseradish for the winter and apply as needed.
A wrap for the treatment of osteoarthritis
To prepare a wrap need a 5% medical iodine, 10% ammonia, alcohol, glycerin, doctor bile may's flower honey. All of these components it is necessary to take in equal proportions and mix well.
Then they need to rest for 10 days in a dark place. Before using the mixture, you must shake it well and do it with his help, a pack.
This treatment is the need to make every day, until you soothe the pain.
Folk remedies
For the power supply and the regeneration of the cartilage to the tissues need a constant supply of these compounds, as chondroprotectors – glucosamine and chondroitin. This the most useful substances for people who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee.
Their assumption must be made in the course of a long period of time, from six months and more, only in this case you can count on a positive therapeutic effect.
However, because of these beneficial properties of these compounds should not be considered as the main treatment of osteoarthritis. Deforming arthrosis of the knee requires the use of drugs of chondroitin and glucosamine not less than 1.5 years.
Also consider, that you are not able to completely restore destroyed cartilage.
Injections in knee medicines based on hyaluronic acid can slow down the progression of osteoarthritis, but symptomatic relief only receives half of the people with this diagnosis.
Osteoarthritis of the knee provides an integrated approach to treatment, and the recipes of traditional medicine to act as an adjunctive therapy. Deserve attention such funds, as the decoction of onion skin, an infusion of the leaves of the dandelion, a mixture of aloe vera, vodka and honey in equal quantities, of the night compresses of salt and honey, and many others.
You are also advised to eat more meat jelly and gelatin.
Prevention measures
Prevention of knee osteoarthritis involves many factors:
- Balanced diet: the diet should be a sufficient amount of proteins, vitamins and trace elements.
- The fight the wrong the way of life and get rid of bad habits.
- The normalization of the weight.
- Adequate physical activity.
- Preventing injury while playing sports, lifting weights.
The most important thing, the identification of such malocclusions as osteoarthritis of the knee is not to run the disease, as much as visiting the stage of the leading to disability.
But if the time to direct all the forces for the treatment and prevention – until the time is not lacking and the symptoms are slight – the possibility of complete liberation from the disease.
Important to read: arthritis of the knee.
The measures of prevention consist in:
- physical education classes and sports;
- avoid large loads on the joints of the knee;
- weight control and its reduction;
- the immediate recourse to the physician, if the joint is inflamed or has been injured.