How to recognize osteoarthritis of the knee joint by symptoms and start treatment

With aging in the body, a number of degenerative transformations pass.One of the most frequent phenomena is considered to be osteoarthritis in knee joint, symptoms and treatment of this disease are familiar to many people of advanced age.

Osteoarthritis of the knee joint

Arthrosis is a condition in which the cartilage tissue of the joint is destroyed, which leads 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, distorting osteoarthritis.

What is gonarthrosis?As you know, any change in the body begins with the interaction of molecules.The violation of the integrity of the cartilaginous coating modifies the physico-chemical properties of the fabric.Symptoms can be clearly examined within the X -ray of the joint affected within radius X: in the center of the disease, the area is visible, which has become muddy, indicating the stratification and thinning of hyalin cartilage on joint surfaces.

Cases of disease development in young people are known.As a general rule, these are professional athletes who accidentally injured during training or competitions, which involves deformation of the cartilage tissue of the joint.In this case, post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the knee joint occurs.

Following the advanced osteoarthritis of the knee, the cartilage fabric can disappear completely, which will cause exposure of the bone surface and the subsequent deformation of the bones which are included in the structure of the knee joints.

Consider which doctor deals with articulation osteoarthritis and what the basic principles of therapy are for this pathology.

How to understand that your gonarthrosis is developing?

The first sign of osteoarthritis of the knee or joint is the appearance of low -intensity painful sensations in the knee.At the start of the disease, they only disturb a person in the walking process, completely disappearing at rest.It becomes difficult for the patient with osteoarthritis of the knee joint and descends the stairs.The signs of osteoarthritis of the knee joint appear when a person gets up from the chair: after having extended the knees, he barely gives him the first stages.Symptoms of knee osteoarthritis in the first stages of pathology only occur with the movements of the knee joint;When a person rests, it becomes much easier.

An experienced doctor will say that gonartrosis of the knee joint does not occur "from nowhere".A high pain that accompanies the degeneration of hyalin cartilage occurs exclusively after a painful intensity syndrome, which disturbed 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 pain in the knee is characteristic of pinching the meniscus, injuries of the synovial layer of the joint or a cartilaginous fragment in the space between the bone surfaces of the knees.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis as a function of the stage of the disease

Before treating osteoarthritis of the knee joint, the participating specialist should diagnose the stage of the disease in a particular patient.It will depend on this and how it will be possible to help the patient.

Medicine emits 3 degrees of distorting osteoarthritis.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 of the knee cut.After these symptoms, a person should know which doctor treats osteoarthritis and contacts him as soon as possible.

At the very beginning, the disease leads to a slight deformation of the bone surfaces and the joint itself increases slightly in size.The latter can be explained by a synovitis - the accumulation of an articular bag of pathological liquid in the light.Excessive accumulation of liquid can lead to its transition to the back of the knee, in the area of the popliteal pit.At the same time, the disease receives a new sign - the SO -appeal baker cyst.

Sometimes, with osteoarthritis of the knee joint, a breakthrough of the baker's cyst is possible, which will lead to the propagation of the liquid at the back of the calf muscle.The treatment of gonarthrosis in the case of the baker's cyst should include an anti-inflammatory drug and hormone therapy.This type of cyst does not work because its treatment should take place using conservative methods.

To develop 2nd degree gonarthrosis, from the start of the pathological process, several months should take place.At the same time, a person feels an increase in knee pain: for their appearance, a fairly small motor activity.The pain occurs both during movement and after.Particularly brilliant gonarthrosis of the 2nd degree manifests after long walks or lifting and weight transfer.The patient notes that after a long rest, the pain syndrome lights up, but a carefree knee rotation can re-prove a symptom.

At this stage of the pathological process, its new sign appears - a distinct crisis in the knee articulation which occurs during its movement.It cannot be confused with silent clicks, which periodically occur with active movements in healthy people.The crunch in the knee with osteoarthritis is characterized by a relative volume.If at this stage, a person does not turn to a specialist and does not start to treat gonarthrosis, the crunch in the affected knee intensifies, causing intense pain.

In addition, at the second stage of the progression of the pathology, the patient has flexion problems and the opposite process of the leg in the knee.When you try to completely bend the lower limb, a person may experience strong pain in the knee area.It often happens that in a patient with osteoarthrosis of the human tribe is absent to fold the leg.Partial flexion of the limb up to 90 degrees is possible, while other movements cause discomfort or even the patient's pain.

Before treating gonarthrosis at this stage, the doctor must see the sick knee joint on radiography.In the image, you can well consider the destruction of bone tissue, even a change in shape of bone surfaces.The progression of synovitis is noted in relation to the initial stage of the disease.

The pathological process of the 3rd degree of knee pain is improved.Now this can happen in a person even during the rest.It is difficult for a person to choose the position of the body and legs in particular, in which the unpleasant sensations were absent or weakly expressed.Due to painful pain, insomnia can develop.The exacerbation of the pain syndrome of the hip joint is observed in the context of a change in weather conditions.This happens if the deformation of the nourishing vessels of the knee tank or the hip joint.

If at the second stage of the disease, the patient managed to fold the leg with an effort to fold the knee, then at the last stage of the destruction process, it becomes almost impossible.In a crowd of people, you can recognize approximately a person with osteoarthritis of the knees or the hip joint: his legs are always slightly folded during the process.There are frequent cases when the third stage of the pathology takes place with the development of the deformation of the lower limbs, as a result of which they visually form an oval (varus deformation) or a cross (valgus deformation).Without a timely treatment of the knee osteoarthritis, the patient acquires an unstable trembling approach.

Various types of gonartrose

It is only in the case of the right diagnosis of stage and the type of pathology, an effective treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint is possible.There are several options for the disease.

By etiology, 2 types of osteoarthritis can be distinguished: paramount and secondary.Private osteoarthrosis is developing as an independent disease in humans.The type of secondary disease is called this because it obtains its development in the context of the mechanical trauma of the knee or the infection.Minor osteoarthritis may occur if primary disease is treated in an incorrect manner or not at all treated.In this case, the patient must prevent complications in accordance with the doctor's recommendations.

In addition to the etiology of the process, osteoarthritis of the knee can be classified instead of the occurrence:

  1. The type of disease on the right when the deformation occurs in the right knee joint.Most often, osteoarthritis to the right of the knee or hip joint is observed in athletes and movers who, during the lifting and transfer of weight, are concentrated on the right leg.
  2. The type on the left, in which the lesion of the hyalin cartilage went to the left.It is common in people involved in professional sports and injured the left knee (osteoarthritis on the left) and fatty patients.
  3. Double factor type (Polish osteoarthritis), in which the disease covers both the knee or hip joints at the same time.Such a variety of pathology is considered the most serious, because a person is deprived of the possibility of transferring the weight of a painful member and healthy brushes.Often, bilateral gonarthrosis leads to the fact that people with disabilities in a stroller become disabled.

In various localization of osteoarthritis of the knee joint, symptoms, treatment and causes are the same.Bilateral gonarthrosis can manifest itself clinically in the lively way because the load is immediately subject to 2 knee or hip joints.

How to treat osteoarthritis?

First of all, you should know which doctor to ask for help in the event of developing the first signs of pathology.The treatment of gonarthrosis is not the simplest task, even for an experienced doctor.In medicine, there are doctors of a narrow profile, specialized specially in such diseases.Such a specialist is a surgical profile which provides assistance exclusively for patients with painful joints.

But not all medical institutions have a similar specialist.Then, what other doctor treats gonarthrosis in addition to a narrow specialist?The patient must answer this question in medical establishments where osteoarthritis of the knee joint is treated.In advanced cases, pathology can help the patient to an orthopedist.If poly arthrosis is at the initial stage, you must contact a physiotherapist, a massage therapist, a manual therapist, which also treats osteoarthritis of the knee joint.But the specialist must have clear qualifications and experience, beware of crooks who can not only help, but also harm the patient with osteoarthritis.

Many patients wonder if it is possible to heal osteoarthritis of the knee by themselves, at home?Remember that to avoid the progression of the disease or the occurrence of complications with the first symptoms of the pathology, you should consult a qualified doctor.After conducting the necessary diagnosis, he will tell you how to cure osteoarthritis of the knee joint in a particular case.

It is very important to conduct a differential diagnosis, that is to say distinguishing osteoarthritis from similar processes of deformation in cartilage.The treatment arthritis diet includes a set of methods and effects on the problem.

Pharmacotherapy

The drug treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint 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 only effective at the beginning of the pathological process, when polyarthrosis is insignificant.The drugs necessary for the patient to cure gonarthrosis include means to improve the structure of hyalin - chondroprotective cartilage.They contribute to the formation of collagen and proteoglycan fibers in the body, which constitute most of the cartilage tissues.Consequently, the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint has a positive effect with gelatin, because it acts as a natural chondroprotector.

Since one of the signs of the disease is acute pain in the knee, it is necessary to treat gonartrose from the knee joint using pain relievers.It is important to prescribe a reception of substances that normalize the blood and lymphatic microcirculation process in affected cartilage.This will provide the best nutrition and the best restoration of the tissues, which is very important for the hemartrosis of the knee joint, the treatment of which is associated with the nutrition of cartilage.A decrease in pain is also facilitated by non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs.

Extension of the lower limbs

Modern methods of processing osteoarthritis in the knee joint can complete a rather painful but effective therapy method for gonartrose - material traction or traction.It is used to increase the space between cartilage surfaces.Such a procedure can be healed by polyarthrosis if you spend several sessions (generally an evolution of treatment is necessary with a duration of 5 to 7 procedures).Trafficking helps reduce the load on the painful knee joint and relieve the unpleasant symptoms.

Laser therapy

Another effective therapeutic method is laser treatment.With its help, you can get anesthetic healing effects, decongestant, anti-inflammatory disease.This treatment method can be used both in early stage and late stages of destructive processes.In addition, the use of laser provides microcirculation of biological liquids in hyalin cartilage, which accelerates the process of treatment gonarthrosis.

Laser therapy in medicine has a number of contraindications that the doctor must take into account before treating osteoarthritis of the knee joint in a particular patient.Thus, the conduct of laser treatment for the purposes of osteoarthritis of the knee joint of treatment is not authorized for chronic and acute infections in an active form, in the presence of cancer, tuberculosis, cardiac pathologies, cirrhosis, anemia and other conditions.

Traditional medicine in the fight against disease

The complex treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee joint makes it possible to use non -traditional medicine, but only on the recommendations of the attending physician.

With what plants are we dealing with osteoarthritis of the knee joint of the house?One of the often used is burdock.This plant has long been established in the treatment of gonarthrosis.The processing of decline is a safe and relatively effective method.

In the treatment of osteoarthritis, horseradish and burdens were not the last place.As a rule, with polyarthrosis, the green part of the plants can be used.Railer and bardaine leaves relieve knee pain or affected hip joint, reduce the inflammatory process, which heals polyarthrosis.

If there is osteoarthrosis of the knee joint, treatment at home can be carried out with honey.