Osteoarthritis of the knee joint: causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment

How do you feel when you meet an elderly person with a cane on the street?Certainly sympathy, and the belief that you will certainly not become one!

No young, vigorous person imagines his old age with sickness and lameness;rather, the imagination imagines a young, smiling pensioner who travels the world on healthy legs and with a snow-white smile, like in a photo in foreign magazines.

But disease is an insidious thing.And especially joint diseases.Arriving unnoticed, various ailments little by little destroy and deform the joints, manifesting one fine morning in pain and inability to move normally.

Among all joint pathologies, judging by the number of requests for medical assistance, arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee joint) leads the way.According to statistics, every fifth inhabitant of the planet over the age of 40 suffers from gonarthrosis, and this disease "loves" women more than men.

What is arthrosis of the knee joint and is it possible to avoid it?Let's start with the definition of the disease.

Arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee joint) is a degenerative - dystrophic change of the articular cartilage.

It can be primary or secondary, that is, it occurs against the background of other diseases.

Causes of arthrosis of the knee joint

Gonarthrosis most often occurs due to:

• Traumatic injuries of the knee joint.
• Excess body weight.
• Increased physical activity, including playing professional sports.
• Pre-existing diseases (usually arthritis of different etiology).
• Weak ligament apparatus.
• Metabolic disorders.

How does arthrosis occur?

Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is divided into degrees 1, 2 and 3. Let's take a closer look at the characteristic features.

Symptoms of arthrosis of the knee joint in stage 1

Gonarthrosis is first manifested by pain that occurs when walking up stairs.A person feels discomfort in the knee joint, pain that makes it difficult to go down the stairs.In other situations, the pain almost does not arise, so the patient happily forgets it or takes some therapeutic measures of his own, completely trusting the advice of friends who "also had it".

It is precisely the frequency of pain that postpones a visit to the clinic until later, which leads to the transition of the disease to a more serious, 2nd degree.

How is the 2nd stage of the disease manifested?

Stage 2 gonarthrosis is characterized not only by severe pain, but also limited mobility in the joint.

Pain occurs more often, not only during exercise, but also at rest.

It becomes difficult for the patient to bend and straighten the knee, and when moving, a characteristic creaking sound is heard in the joint.

A visual examination reveals swelling of the joint and slight deformations of the joint.

It is the patients with stage 2 gonarthrosis who are patients at the clinic, unable to cope with excruciating pain on their own and due to limited mobility turn to a doctor.

Is grade 3 osteoarthritis synonymous with disability?

Stage 3 arthrosis of the knee joint is characterized by constant severe pain in the joint and loss of mobility.An X-ray examination shows dystrophic changes in the cartilage tissue and severe deformations of the joint.The so-called deforming arthrosis develops.

Arthritis pain tends to intensify at night and becomes most intense in the early morning hours.

A patient with stage 3 arthrosis can only walk with the help of a cane, remember our old man from the introduction?This is exactly him.

Tactics of treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint

The process of treating arthrosis is a long process and requires persistence and patience from the patient.The basic principles of gonarthrosis treatment can be called:

• Systematicity.
• An integrated approach.

Treatment of arthrosis should be carried out under the supervision of a doctor.He is the one who should give you recommendations on how and how to treat the disease, which you must follow very carefully.You can add traditional methods to your medical prescriptions, but only after your doctor approves them.

The beginning of the treatment of gonarthrosis, like any other disease, begins with the organization of a gentle regimen.In gonarthrosis, a gentle regime is created for the affected joint.Physical activity and long-term walking are excluded as much as possible.In your diet, you should limit the consumption of salt, sweets and fatty foods, and include more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins in your diet.

Drug treatment

1. Medicines from the group of analgesics and antispasmodics are prescribed for pain relief.

2. NSAIDs are very popular.Medicines of this group are not prescribed for long courses due to the abundance of side effects.Therefore, long-acting tablets or injections and injections are more often used for treatment.NSAIDs relieve the condition of patients, but do not eliminate the causes of gonarthrosis.Medical science entrusted this mission to another group of drugs - chondroprotectors.
3. The action of chondroprotective drugs is based on restoring the normal production of synovial fluid and damaged cartilage tissue.Medicines are very effective in the treatment of 1st and 2nd degree gonarthrosis.

Unfortunately, in the third stage of the disease, treatment with chondroprotectors has no effect.

4. Therapeutic ointments, gels, creams.They are applied locally, used for rubbing and poultices.The pharmacy chain offers a large selection of drugs from this group;when buying, you should not be guided by the advertising popularity of a certain fat, but by the recommendations of experts.

5. In case of worsening of the disease, not only exercises, but also massages and physiotherapy are excluded.They cannot be used in the acute period due to increased pain.As soon as the pain subsides, massage, exercise therapy and physiotherapeutic methods must be added to the drug treatment.The following procedures have proven themselves well in the treatment of gonarthrosis:
• Laser.
• SMT.
• Electrophoresis.
• Magnetotherapy.
• Ozokerite.

Traditional medicine and gonarthrosis

In folk medicine, there are a huge number of different recipes for the treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint.

Decoctions of medicinal herbs:

• cranberries,
• cranberries,
• thyme,
• corn silk,
• golden mustache

It is taken orally and used for poultices.There are also methods that use rubbing alcohol tinctures:

• bitter pepper tincture,
• fly tincture,
• abalone tincture.

In folk medicine, poultices with medical bile, apple cider vinegar, cabbage and honey are also used.There is even a method of treating painful joints using raw fish, which is attached to the painful area overnight!But we don't think there will be many supporters of using this recipe.

Important!Whichever folk remedies you choose, be sure to consult your doctor about the advisability of using them!

How to prevent the development of gonarthrosis - preventive measures

Preventing knee arthrosis is not difficult if you think about it from a young age.How are prevention rules formed?Very simple.Read the causes of the disease and do everything to avoid them, which are:

1. Do not overeat, follow a light diet and the principles of proper nutrition.
2. We distribute physical activity wisely.
3. Don't get too cold.
4. Treat all diseases on time.
5. Avoid injury.
6. Do gymnastics.
7. Contact a specialist in time.

At first glance, the recommendations are quite simple.And if you follow them, gonarthrosis will not threaten you.And you don't have to worry about advanced age - after all, at the beginning of the article we agreed to travel around the world on our own feet!