It is such an unpleasant disease of the musculoskeletal system as the arthrosis of the knee joint.From the article you can find out what kind of disease it is, because it occurs, what are the main symptoms of knee illegal and how to treat this insidious disease.
The arthrosis of the knee joint (another name - gonartrosis) is a chronic disease of the knee joint, in which the joint destruction of the joint cartilage is called, followed by the deformation of the joint and the limitation of the motor activity in it.
Gonartrosis is the most common type of arthrosis.Very often, the disease is diagnosed in people aged or over 40 years of age.In the most advanced band, knee arthrosis is more common in women, among the younger patients, the disease is more often diagnosed in men.In about 7% of cases, the disease leads to the development of disability.
Reasons
The main causes of the development of the disease are:
- Violation of metabolism in the body;
- Excess weight, which leads to an increase in loading on the knee joints;
- increase in the fragility of the capillaries, various circulatory disorders;
- lesions of the knee joints (cracks, fractures, ruptures of meniscus, ligaments);
- some endocrine diseases;
- Inflammatory joint diseases (arthritis, rheumatism);
- old injuries that have been treated incorrectly;
- Traumatic sports classes for knees (heavy athletics, bodybuilding, calcium, gymnastics, tennis, athletics);
- hereditary predisposition;
- Congenital anomalies of the knee joint structure.
Types of arthrosis
The following types of arthrosis are distinguished by origin:
- primary- more often it occurs in the elderly, at risk are patients with obesity;
- secondary- It develops after knee lesions or infectious diseases that have been cared for incorrectly.
According to the location of the pathological process, the following types of knee arthrosis are distinguished:
- Left- affects the joint of the left knee, more often observed in athletes and medium patients with obesity;
- Right -out- affects the articulation of the right knee, is found more often in athletes and people whose work is associated with an increase in dynamic and static loads on the right leg;
- bilateral- The most serious type of arthrosis of the knee joint, which can lead to disability, is often found in elderly people.
Symptoms
The main clinical signs of the disease are:
- Knee pain - At the beginning, pain occurs with an increase in physical effort on the joint, movement, the race, the long walk and the disappearance at rest, while the disease develops, patients present themselves when trying to start moving after a long rest period, a person with knee arthrosis is difficult to get off the stairs, over time, knee pain becomes constant;
- morning rigidity in the knee joint - lasts about half an hour, over time the duration can increase;
- I crush on your knees when it moves;
- With the development of the inflammatory process, patients complain about the feeling of heaviness in the knee, the articulation is slightly swelling and increases in size;
- The shape of the joint changes gradually, its deformation occurs;
- With the further development of the disease, the lameness appears, the movements in the articulation of the knee are limited, the patient cannot fully imprint the painful leg;
- Atrophy of the femoral muscles develop gradually, they become weak and flaccids, they decrease in volume.
Treatment
When the first unpleasant symptoms appear, it is necessary to immediately consult a doctor and undergo an exam.The timely treatment will increase the possibilities of recovery and improve the prognosis.The car -mediation is unacceptable and can lead to the development of a series of complications, up to disability!
The treatment of illegal knee includes the following phases.
Non -pharmacological therapy
- The painful joint must guarantee rest, therefore crutches or bases are used to download it;
- Ultraviolet irradiation, heat - for the removal of pain;
- Wear special orthopedic shoes, knees, special sunny ones;
- Massage, therapy for exercises, physiotherapy - are prescribed after stopping the acute stage of the disease.
Drug therapy
- Reception of fans inside (tablets) and externally (gel, ointments) - to relieve inflammation and knee pain;
- Injections of special drugs in the joint cavity - are performed in the absence of the effect of taking fans;
- Slow system systems - to normalize metabolic processes in the cartilage tissue;
- Means to improve blood circulation - contribute to the normalization of blood circulation in the pathological focus and improve the delivery of drugs to the damage area.
Surgery
It is shown with a complete loss of the joint function and includes knee joint prostheses.
Health to you and your loved ones!