It is such an unpleasant disease of the musculoskeletal system as arthrosis of the knee joint.From the article you can find out what disease is, why it happens, what are the main symptoms of knee arthrosis and how to treat this insidious disease.
Knee arthrosis (another name - gonarthrosis) is a chronic disease of the knee joint, whereby joint destruction of the joint cartilage, followed by deformity of the joint and limiting the motor activity in it is called.
Gonarthrosis is the most common type of arthrosis.Most often, the disease is diagnosed in people 40 years of age or older.In the older age group, knee arthrosis is more common in women, among the younger patients the disease is more commonly diagnosed in men.In approximately 7% of cases, the disease leads to the development of damage.
Reasons
The main causes of the disease are:
- Impaired metabolism in the body;
- excess weight, leading to an increase in the load on the knee joints;
- increased fragility of capillaries, various blood disorders;
- injuries to the knee joints (cracks, fractures, ruptures of meniscus, ligaments);
- some endocrine diseases;
- Inflammatory joint diseases (arthritis, rheumatism);
- old injuries that were incorrectly cured;
- Traumatic knee sports classes (heavy athletics, bodybuilding, football, gymnastics, tennis, athletics);
- hereditary predisposition;
- Congenital abnormalities of the structure of the knee joint.
Types of arthrosis
The following types of arthrosis differ in origin:
- primal- most commonly found in the elderly, patients with obesity are at risk;
- secondary- It develops after knee injuries or infectious diseases that have been incorrectly cured.
According to the localization of the pathological process, the following types of knee arthrosis are distinguished:
- Left- affects the left knee joint, most commonly observed in athletes and patients with medium -sized adults with obesity;
- To the right -out- affects the right knee joint, more common in athletes and people whose work is associated with increased dynamic and static loads on the right leg;
- bilaterally-The most severe type of arthrosis of the knee joint, which can lead to damage, is most common in the elderly.
Symptoms
The main clinical signs of the disease are:
- Knee pain - Initially, pain occurs with increased physical activity on the joint, movement, running, long walking and disappearance at rest, as the disease develops, patients arise when they try to begin to move after a long rest period of knee arthrosis;
- The morning stiffness in the knee joint - lasts about half an hour, over time the duration may increase;
- crunch in the knee when moving;
- With the development of the inflammatory process, patients complain about the feeling of heaviness in the knee, the joint is a slight swelling and increase in size;
- The shape of the joint gradually changes, its deformation occurs;
- With the more increasing development of the disease, the lame appears, the movements in the knee joint are limited, the patient cannot completely print the inflammation leg;
- The atrophy of the femur muscle gradually develops, they become weak and unwashed, reducing volume.
Treatment
When the first unpleasant symptoms occur, you should consult a doctor immediately and undergo examination.Timely treatment will increase the chances of recovery and improve prognosis.Self -pursuit is unacceptable and can lead to the development of a number of complications, to damage!
The treatment of knee arthrosis includes the following stages.
Non -destruction therapy
- The inflamed joint must provide rest, so crutches or cane is used to unload it;
- Ultraviolet radiation, heat - for pain elimination;
- Wearing special orthopedic shoes, knee pads, special insoles;
- Massage, exercise, physiotherapy - are prescribed after stopping the acute stage of the disease.
Drug therapy
- Admission of NSAIDs inside (tablets) and externally (gels, ointments) - to relieve inflammation and knee pain;
- Injections of special drugs into the joint cavity - are performed in the absence of the effect of taking NSAIDs;
- Slow system systems - to normalize metabolic processes in cartilage tissue;
- It means improving blood circulation - contribute to normalizing blood circulation in the pathological focus and improving the delivery of medicines in the area of damage.
Surgery
It is shown with complete loss of joint function and includes knee joint dentures.
Health to you and your loved ones!