A joint is a complex “mechanism” of the human body that often experiences excessive stress. Old age, unfavorable heredity, sports injuries and excess weight further aggravate the problem, resulting in arthrosis of the shoulder joint. Treatment will be effective only if it is carried out in combination. The doctor prescribes medications, physiotherapeutic procedures and gymnastics.
Aching pain that intensifies when you move your arm back. For many people, exacerbations occur at night. There are practically no restrictions on joint mobility.
Pain in the shoulder and scapula. Crunching when bending and straightening the joint. Restricted mobility, inability to clasp your hands behind your back.
Deformation of the joint, noticeable upon visual inspection. Constant pain, almost complete limitation of joint mobility (the patient is unable to lift and move his arm back).
The last stage of the disease does not develop in all patients, but only in those who do not follow a gentle regimen and continue to place intense stress on the shoulder joint.
It manifests itself as a red-blue spot on the skin, decreased muscle tone, and muscle strain. Treatment should be started as soon as possible.
Therapeutic exercise, together with diet and massage, restores the damaged joint and normal circulation of synovial fluid.
Classes should be regular: morning and evening, every day. But during periods of exacerbation, exercises are contraindicated.
Treatment of arthrosis involves the use of warming rubs, which reduce swelling and inflammation, and also restore joint mobility. A brief overview of pharmaceutical drugs will help you navigate the variety of drugs and choose an effective drug for pain relief. Treatment can also be carried out with rubs made from natural ingredients.
All pharmaceutical external remedies against arthrosis can be divided into 4 main groups: non-steroidal drugs, chondroprotective drugs, medicinal ointments and compresses.
Diclofenac, ketaprofen, indomethacin, Celebrex eliminate the symptoms of the disease. The doctor prescribes drugs from this group if the pain in the joint is very severe. It is strictly not recommended to use them for a long time, since these drugs lead to dehydration of cartilage tissue and acceleration of arthrosis processes.
Chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine nourish and restore damaged cartilage tissue at the initial stage of the disease. To obtain lasting results, you need to take 3 courses over 1-1.5 years. If the cartilage tissue is thoroughly destroyed (stages 2 and 3 of the disease), you should not expect tangible results from the drug.
Nicoflex, Menovazin, Espol are popular ointments for the treatment of arthrosis of the shoulder joint. They reduce pain and inflammation, relax the periarticular muscles, increase blood circulation, which means they improve the nutrition of bone and cartilage tissue, and increase the mobility of the knee.
Dimexide penetrates into the deep folds of the skin, relieves pain, improves metabolism in tissues and reduces inflammation at the site of inflammation.
Bishofite is a brine obtained during oil production. It has the ability to resolve arthrosis formations at the initial stage.
Medical bile. Its effects are similar to bischofite, but its use is contraindicated in case of enlarged lymph nodes and elevated temperature.
Mix fine salt and honey in equal proportions. Place the mixture on a cotton or linen napkin and apply the cloth to the sore joint overnight.
Boil an egg. Grate 35 g of beeswax. In an enamel bowl, stir the wax and 200 g of olive oil (sunflower oil), simmer the mixture over low heat for half an hour. Then chop half the yolk and combine with the oil solution. Keep the product on the stove for about 2 minutes. After 10 minutes, strain and pour into a glass jar.
Mix 100 g mustard powder and 200 g salt. Add enough grated paraffin to create a thick mixture.
Grind red hot pepper and pour kerosene in a 1:1 ratio. Leave the resulting mixture to infuse for a week. Then add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pulp. Rub the product into problem areas (first apply a small amount - stinging ointment).
Take 15 g of St. John's wort, hops, and sweet clover and grind into powder, which must be mixed with 60 g of Vaseline. The mixture should sit for 3-5 hours. Use for rubbing into joints.
Chop fresh horseradish and apply the root pulp to your elbow or knee for no more than 20 minutes.
Grate the root vegetable and squeeze a little to release the juice. Before putting the mixture on the joint, lightly lubricate the skin with vegetable oil. The top of the applique is covered with gauze and then insulated.
Arthrosis can, if not be defeated, then at least stop its progression if you follow the doctor’s instructions, follow the prescribed diet, do gymnastics and attend physiotherapeutic procedures.
Shoulder arthrosis is a chronic pathology in which articular cartilage and adjacent bone tissue degrade, wear out and break down. If you treat this disease negligently and do not start treatment in a timely manner, the consequences can be quite disastrous, including loss of motor functions of the hand.
The impetus for the development of shoulder arthrosis is inflammation in the joint. It can appear for various reasons:
Arthrosis is characterized by a long development, sometimes not manifesting itself in any way in the initial stages. Therefore, you should be very wary of the slightest symptomatic manifestations. Shoulder arthrosis is usually indicated by:
Symptoms of shoulder arthrosis depending on the stage of the disease
Read more about the degrees of arthrosis in this article.
Drug treatment of shoulder arthrosis is aimed, first of all, at destroying the source of the inflammatory process and pain. Typically, your doctor will prescribe NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Most often these are nimesulide, diclofenac, etc. They, first of all, stop inflammation and relieve pain.
Often, with severe inflammation, doctors resort to corticosteroids. These are anti-inflammatory drugs used for joint blockade. This procedure is an injection given into the joint itself (kenalog, hydrocortisone). This method is a non-invasive method of treatment, i.e. with it neither the skin nor mucous membranes are damaged. As a rule, it involves the use of ointments, gels, creams, etc. (diclofenac, bystrumgel).
Chondroprotectors are also prescribed for shoulder arthrosis - medications that can restore damaged cartilage, based on hyaluronic acid, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate (arthra, dona, etc.).
In addition to drug treatment, exercise therapy, sanatorium treatment, massage and physiotherapy are also used. The latter refers to ultrasound treatment procedures, laser therapy, mud therapy, cryotherapy and magnetic therapy. Recently, the treatment of arthrosis with leeches (herudotherapy) has become quite popular due to its effectiveness. Therapeutic gymnastic exercises, without overloading the joint, stimulate the muscles to the required extent, as a result the joint is developed and restored.
Additionally, the patient is prescribed a therapeutic diet based on avoiding too spicy and salty foods. Doctors advise eating more collagen-containing foods: turkey, seafood, greens and salmon fish.
In cases where shoulder arthrosis has led to complete destruction of the articular cartilage, a surgical operation called endoprosthetics is performed, during which a ceramic, plastic or metal prosthesis is implanted in place of the affected joint.
Traditional medicine has also shown effectiveness in the fight against shoulder arthrosis.
Boil oatmeal (30 g) in two glasses of water for about 10 minutes. Soak a piece of gauze folded in several layers with the resulting solution and apply to the sore spots for at least half an hour.
A cabbage juice compress has proven itself to be a good pain reliever. It is usually done every night, leaving it on the sore joint until the morning.
You can simply apply cabbage leaves smeared with honey to the affected joint at night.
Infuse elecampane roots (50 g) with vodka (125 ml) for a couple of weeks. The mixture should be rubbed on sore joints.
Leave angelica roots (15 g) for half an hour, pour boiling water over them. The strained solution must be rubbed into the affected areas 3-5 times a day.
Herbal baths
You can add various herbal decoctions and infusions to a bath filled with water. Knowledgeable people note the special effect of baths with decoctions of mustard, hay dust, mint, and burdock. Such baths should be taken before the body is thoroughly steamed, and then, after rubbing the joints, the patient needs to lie down, covered with a warm blanket, so that the body retains heat longer.
To regular Vaseline you need to add 15 g of sweet clover, hops and St. John's wort. The resulting mixture should be rubbed into the joint area regularly.
Throughout our lives, our joints are subject to increased stress. But wise nature in this case did not take good care of them and did not create its own vascular system to nourish the cartilage tissue.
The result is obvious - with the slightest disturbance in the nutrition of the cartilage, a disease called arthrosis develops.
Arthrosis of the shoulder joint is a disease caused by degenerative changes in the cartilage and adjacent bone tissue of the shoulder joint.
As a rule, it has an actively progressive chronic course, during which increasing thinning of the cartilage occurs, exposure of the adjacent bones and the formation of bone growths.
Such complications can, over time, completely block the joint and make it immobile, which will certainly lead to dysfunction of the limb.
Therefore, at the first signs of illness, without waiting for irreversible changes to develop, you should consult a doctor and begin treatment.
The disease is quite common. Its treatment is lengthy, but if carried out correctly and started in a timely manner, you can count on a positive result.
The immediate cause of the development of the disease is the deterioration of the nutrition of the cartilage tissue in this joint.
This may occur under the influence of the following factors:
The shoulder joint, along with the elbow, is one of the most mobile in the human body.
The downside of this valuable feature is its increased injury rate.
Therefore, among all the causes of the disease, injuries come first, and post-traumatic arthrosis of the shoulder joint is the most common form of the disease.
It can be caused by even a small injury that is constantly repeated over several months or years.
The most common type of injury leading to arthrosis is dislocation.
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People of older age categories, predominantly men, are most often affected.
If among 55-year-olds the proportion of people suffering from this disease is 10%, then among 65-year-olds it is already 70%, which is associated with a physiological deterioration in the nutrition of cartilage tissue in old age.
Among the sick, a significant proportion are also patients who have been subjecting their shoulder to excessive stress for a long time: usually these are people engaged in heavy physical labor - builders, plasterers, loaders, as well as athletes.
Therefore, arthrosis of the right shoulder joint is most common.
An unconditional risk factor is the presence of any other diseases in this area, for example, arthritis.
But more often arthrosis is caused by a combination of several reasons under the influence of the listed provoking factors.
The disease, having begun gradually, slowly developing and showing only minor signs, can suddenly and sharply manifest itself after heavy physical work or hypothermia.
This is due to the fact that the cartilage tissue lacks nerve endings and blood vessels and its manifestations occur when the pathological process has already gone beyond the joint.
In this case, the patient experiences the following symptoms:
Sometimes there is an atypical localization of pain; for example, the pain may not be in the shoulder, but in the elbow or arm.
Therefore, it is so important for the patient to undergo a complete, timely examination.
There are several stages in the development of the disease. The set of symptoms does not depend significantly on them, but the degree of their severity differs significantly.
Is the beginning of the disease.
It is characterized by fatigue, slight pain in the shoulder when moving, and slight limitations in mobility when abducting the arms.
In this case, the so-called “ring symptom” is observed on x-rays, when the image of the glenoid cavity takes the form of an oval ring.
This period of illness can last from several months to several years.
It is characterized by increased pain during movement, as well as its occurrence at rest.
A crunch appears in the joints, movements become even more limited, and the most difficult thing is to move the arm back.
The images show a narrowing of the joint space, thickening of the articular surfaces, and the appearance of osteophytes.
It involves complete wear of the cartilage, constant pain, and even greater stiffness when moving the joint.
Raising and moving the arm back becomes completely impossible.
Clearly visible bony protrusions appear on the patient's body. The patient has to hold his hand in a forced position, which is the least painful for him.
The only available movements are rocking back and forth.
Treatment of this condition can only be surgical, otherwise the patient faces disability.
How to treat epicondylitis of the elbow joint? See here.
What is synovitis of the knee joint? You will find the answer in this article.
To make a diagnosis, determine the form and stage of the disease, based on the patient’s complaints, a number of necessary studies are prescribed.
Among them, laboratory and biochemical blood tests are mandatory, which confirm the presence of an inflammatory process and in some cases establish its nature, for example, rheumatism.
An important and necessary type of research is x-rays, which can detect joint deformation at the earliest stages of the disease.
To obtain more accurate images, magnetic resonance tomography is used.
Often, doctors, as a test to diagnose a disease, ask the patient to tie an apron at the back.
This allows you to determine the degree of pain when moving your arms back.
Then it is proposed to comb the back of the head, which demonstrates the degree of pain and mobility of the joint when moving the hand in the back of the head. If these movements do not cause pain in the patient, then they are caused by other reasons.
For arthrosis of the shoulder joint in the first two stages, conservative treatment is used, and only if there is no result, surgical intervention is performed.
Such conservative methods include:
Before starting treatment, it is important to provide rest to the diseased joint, which is much easier to do if arthrosis of the left shoulder joint is observed.
The most effective treatment is the initial stages of the disease, when there are no scar changes and the tissue has not yet lost its ability to regenerate.
But usually the discomfort is still insignificant, the pain can be tolerated and patients often turn to the doctor late.
Photo: orthosis for immobilization of the shoulder joint
The patient will also need a gentle regimen in the future.
It is in those patients who continue to load the shoulder girdle after treatment that the development of the disease in the early stages cannot be stopped.
Therefore, it reaches the final stage, when it is impossible to do without surgery.
Drug therapy is an integral part of the treatment of all types of arthrosis.
To achieve an effect, medications are prescribed in a variety of forms:
Drug treatment begins with pain relief and acute inflammatory phenomena that accompany arthrosis, after which it proceeds to the direct restoration of cartilage tissue.
For these purposes, the following groups of drugs are prescribed:
Among nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the most commonly used drugs are diclofenac, nimesulide, and aceclofenac.
They are used both orally and as injections.
They relieve pain well and quickly eliminate inflammation. But for a number of reasons they are prescribed only in small courses.
The immediate cause of the disease, i.e. destruction of cartilage tissue, is eliminated with the help of drugs from the group of chondroprotectors.
These include the following active substances:
In different combinations and proportions they are included in the medicines Artra, Dona, Structum.
They improve and accelerate the processes of restoration of cartilage tissue, being a valuable building material for them.
But they have an effect only in the first two stages of the disease. Treatment with chondroprotectors is long and expensive.
The first results appear only after 3 months from the start of treatment. The total duration of treatment is about a year.
Treatment with external agents is popular among patients.
They quickly relieve pain and relieve inflammation. In this case, the gastrointestinal tract is bypassed and not exposed to harmful effects.
The contraindications for them are the same as for internal use containing the same active substances - first of all, gastric ulcers in the acute stage.
In case of severe inflammatory phenomena, the fight against them continues using a procedure called intra-articular blockade.
Its essence is the introduction by injection directly into the joint cavity of hormonal drugs such as Kenalog, hydrocortisone, etc.
These drugs have a strong anti-inflammatory effect, but have many side effects on the body, which can be avoided when applied topically.
In cases where medications are ineffective, radical treatment of arthrosis is carried out.
It consists of replacing the shoulder joint, as well as the adjacent shoulder blade joint, with a metal, plastic or ceramic prosthesis, which has a service life of 15-20 years.
When the disease is advanced and no longer responds to any other treatment methods, this is the most effective method of solving the problem.
The first shoulder replacement surgery was performed quite recently - in 2009.
Fortunately, the need for them does not arise as often as with diseases of the leg joints.
There are often contraindications to surgical intervention, the most common of which are old age.
In consultation with the attending physician, alternative treatment is permitted.
It is especially effective in combination with medicinal methods.
The following recipes have proven themselves to be the most successful:
After the end of drug therapy, when pain and inflammation subside, the question arises: how to resume the normal range of motion in the shoulder?
Physical therapy comes to the rescue.
Specially selected exercise therapy exercises can be performed at home, starting with 5 minutes a day and gradually increasing the duration of classes to 20 minutes.
This is a mandatory element of the treatment of this disease.
The simplest and most effective exercises are the following:
Massage is a very useful therapeutic procedure for all types of arthrosis, including the shoulder joint.
It helps restore the necessary range of motion, promotes the resorption of muscle tightness, and improves the nutrition of cartilage tissue.
But its implementation becomes possible only after the acute inflammatory phenomena subside, when the pain syndrome disappears or at least significantly decreases.
When the procedure is performed correctly, not only the sore shoulder is massaged, but also the collar area on both sides.
When doing a massage, you should not ignore the neck, since reflex changes can occur there, and moving to the affected side, you also need to massage the forearm, because as the mobility of the shoulder decreases, the load on the elbow joint increases.
A diet for arthrosis should be aimed at eliminating factors leading to metabolic disorders.
Regular fasting brings such patients, instead of benefit, only harm, because it greatly limits the intake of microelements necessary for the joints into the body.
Nutrition should be balanced in such a way as to increase the intake of substances beneficial to cartilage tissue into the body without harm to other organs and systems and minimize the intake of harmful ones.
A person suffering from arthrosis needs to:
Patients who encounter this problem for the first time often do not know which doctor to contact with it.
A therapist can handle arthrosis in the early stages quite well.
The therapist will conduct the necessary examination, prescribe the required consultations and treatment, which will be predominantly medicinal with the use of physiotherapy and massage.
If a specific nature of the disease is detected, for example, its rheumatic nature, the patient should be observed by a more specialized specialist, in this case a rheumatologist.
In advanced cases, when there is a violation of the joint structure and surgical intervention cannot be avoided, the patient should be treated by an orthopedic traumatologist.
Physiotherapeutic treatment, in the absence of contraindications, is widely used for the treatment of arthrosis in combination with other measures.
Physiotherapy helps to enhance the effect of medications, reduce their dosage, and avoid side effects.
It can be prescribed from the first days of illness and combined with drug therapy.
The main physiotherapeutic methods used in the treatment of arthrosis are as follows:
Under their influence, inflammatory reactions are reduced, regeneration processes are improved, vascular tone, blood flow and lymph flow are normalized.
As a result, metabolic processes improve and more nutrients enter the joint, making it more resilient.
But there are a number of contraindications to this type of treatment in general and to each of its types separately, so it should be prescribed by a physiotherapist, taking into account all the pros and cons.
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It is not for nothing that this disease is popularly called “the disease of loaders and weightlifters,” from which it is easy to conclude that it is heavy lifting and hard physical labor that provoke its development.
Therefore, prevention comes down to being as gentle as possible on the shoulder joints.
Those who engage in heavy work professionally must follow all safety precautions and precautions.
It is no coincidence that even the army provides deferments to young men suffering from arthrosis.
So, the following recommendations are for the prevention of arthrosis:
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Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is the most common type of arthrosis.
The following complaints are typical for the disease:
For diagnosis, an x-ray examination is first necessary.
The painful area is determined by palpation, usually on the inside of the joint. Synovitis often occurs, which is felt as a heaviness in the joint that prevents the knee from bending.
The principles of therapy and recommendations are the same as for other arthrosis.
Semi-alcohol warming compresses and warm (36-38? C) baths (possibly with pine needles) before bedtime have a positive effect. Massage of the lower extremities may be helpful.
It differs from other types in its rapid course and leads to early disability.
Pain occurs first with exertion, then at rest. The pain radiates to the groin, hip, and knee areas. Lameness appears, hip abduction outward and inward rotation are impaired. With an advanced process, the muscles of the thigh, buttock and lower leg decrease in volume, due to which the limb shortens. The patient is forced to lean towards the affected side or stand on tiptoes when walking, due to this the load on the joint increases even more.
Diagnosis is made based on the clinical picture and radiological data.
Treatment is the same as for other types of arthrosis.
Pain due to arthrosis of the shoulder joint occurs rarely and is insignificant, limitation of movement appears only after severe physical activity. Pain is typical when trying to tie an apron behind your back or combing.
It occurs in periods of exacerbations and remissions. An exacerbation is usually caused by injury, heavy lifting, hypothermia or a draft, resulting in difficulty in abducting the arm and rotating it.
Diagnostics: X-ray and ultrasound examination.
Differential diagnosis is primarily carried out with damage to muscles and ligaments.
To reduce pain, it is necessary to give the joint rest; it is best to move the bent arm away from the body. At night, if possible, it is better not to sleep on the sore side, and if this is not possible, place a pillow or other device under the sore arm. It is necessary to avoid work associated with a high position of the arms, placing the hands behind the head. For pain, you can use cold: ice wrapped in a towel (can be used several times a day for 10 minutes), thermal procedures are avoided.
More often it occurs acutely, after an injury. Sometimes - as a manifestation of an occupational disease (for example, vibration disease), during certain sports (tennis, volleyball), or lifting weights.
Pain immediately appears when bending and straightening (it may be unpleasant to wash your hair, shave, comb your hair), in severe cases there is restriction when turning the arm. The occurrence of a “block” of the joint is typical.
This type of arthrosis progresses slowly, rarely significantly limits joint function, and almost never leads to disability.
Differential diagnosis of arthrosis of the elbow joint is carried out with epicondylitis (inflammation of the periosteum of the epicondyles of the humerus), which is characterized only by pain, restriction of movements and swelling do not occur.
Diagnosis and treatment are the same as for other types of arthrosis.
In the acute stage of arthrosis, cold is prescribed. Outside of exacerbation - thermal procedures (baths and compresses with herbal and medicinal preparations). It is not recommended to lean on the forearm or the armrests of the chair, or lift weights exceeding 3-4 kg. For sports, cycling, hiking, and home exercise equipment are preferable.
Arthrosis of the finger joints usually occurs in women (10 times less often in men).
The joints of the thumb are often affected by gout and psoriasis. In the occupational risk group: typists, weavers, boxers. Various occupational injuries contribute to the development of arthrosis.
Arthrosis of the hands usually occurs first in one joint, and then in another - symmetrical to the first. Of the small joints, the terminal segments of the fingers are affected by arthrosis, and specific thickenings of the joints arise (Bouchard's or Heberden's nodes). Less commonly, the proximal joints of the thumbs are affected by arthrosis. Often all joints of the hand are involved in the process. An unfavorable sign is damage to the joints of the thumbs, and the disease progresses very quickly, leading to complete immobility of the fingers and their curling.
Symptoms include the appearance of Heberden's nodes, which form on the dorsal or lateral surface of the distal interphalangeal joints, while the joints underneath become red and swollen, and throbbing pain and burning may occur. The skin over the blister periodically bursts and its contents flow out, while the pain decreases.
Bouchard's nodes develop gradually, are less painful, affect the proximal interphalangeal joints, and cover the lateral surfaces of the joint. Stiffness and crookedness gradually increases, and “knotty fingers” form.
Arthrosis of the joints of the thumb is called rhizarthrosis. It is characterized by pain at the base of the thumb when moving, stiffness of the joint and crunching in it, the bones of the thumb are deformed.
Prevention is carried out through massage, physiotherapy, and spa treatment.
Arthrosis of the temporomandibular joint is common in old age due to osteoporosis. Often occurs as a result of chronic inflammation and microtraumas (including partial adentia, dentoalveolar deformities, incorrect articulatory relationships created during dental prosthetics.
The main symptom of this type of arthrosis is difficulty opening the mouth (due to deformation of the articular surfaces). The lower jaw may shift towards the lesion, but the patient cannot return it to its place. There may also be dull pain that intensifies with exercise, changes in weather, pain in the eye and ear on the side of the affected joint, headaches, hearing loss, paresthesia of the oral mucosa, and crunching when chewing.
There are deforming and sclerosing arthrosis of the temporomandibular joint.
Treatment is the same as for other types of arthrosis.
The prognosis is favorable, usually goes away on its own within several years due to the development of compensatory mechanisms (the ligament of tissue behind the disc becomes denser and functions like a disc).
Spinal arthrosis develops due to functional overload of the spinal column against the background of age-related changes and postural disorders.
There may be no symptoms. Pain may occur with prolonged standing and walking. When the costovertebral joints are damaged, paravertebral pain occurs, corresponding to the level of the damage, and there may be local pain.
Leads to restriction of movement in the spine due to fusion of joints.
Radiologically, such a spine looks like a bamboo stem.
In addition to the above risk factors for the development of arthrosis, occupational risk factors (often develops in ballerinas, dancers, athletes), hypothermia of the feet, and wearing narrow and uncomfortable shoes also play a large role in damage to the joints of the feet. The first metatarsophalangeal joint is most often affected.
Arthrosis of the joints of the feet is characterized by pain in the affected joint, some swelling, moderate redness and a slight increase in temperature in the joint area, limited movement in the joint, and limping when walking.
Diagnosis and treatment are the same as for other types of arthrosis.
For prevention, it is recommended to walk barefoot on sand, grass, earth, or a rug with a pile (but not on asphalt or a flat floor - this is harmful to the feet).
Deforming osteoarthritis (DOA) is a chronic, relapsing disease in which the gradual destruction of cartilage in the affected joints occurs, causing mobility in them to be impaired or disappear altogether.
At present, the exact causes of arthrosis have not yet been clarified. However, scientists have identified the main risk factors that influence the occurrence of this disease. We will tell you about them.
Based on the causes of the disease, it is customary to divide arthrosis into primary and secondary.
Primary arthrosis is a joint lesion in which the cause of the disease cannot be identified. It is often also called idiopathic, that is, the disease occurs as if by itself, without the influence of any other diseases or other external causes.
Primary DOA usually affects both symmetrical joints and most often occurs with age. This happens quite often with the hip joints. You can read more about the causes of coxarthrosis in this article.
With secondary osteoarthritis, it is still possible to determine the cause of the disease. Most often it occurs due to inflammatory diseases of the joint, as a result of metabolic disorders in the body, due to hormonal changes, and also as a result of tissue-destroying (degenerative) processes. Let's take a closer look at them.
The most common causes of the disease are three: inflammation in the joint, dysplasia and trauma.
Trauma is the most common cause of the disease. A person could damage a joint as a result of a bad fall, a sprain, or while playing sports.
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In this case, normal nutrition or blood supply to the articular joint may be disrupted, and then this becomes a trigger factor for the occurrence of the disease. Trauma, as often happens, can cause DOA in almost any joint - both large and small.
Dysplasia is a congenital disorder of the articular and ligamentous apparatus of a joint, which leads to disruption of its function and movements in it, and can contribute to dislocations and subluxations of the bones included in this joint. Such a developmental disorder very often contributes to the addition of other diseases, primarily arthrosis.
Joint inflammation is also one of the common causes of osteoarthritis. Most often, such inflammation occurs with immune disorders - with autoimmune diseases - for example, with rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus.
Somewhat less often, inflammation can be caused by various infections - for example, staphylococcus, when purulent inflammation develops in the joint. As a result of this inflammatory process, cartilage tissue begins to break down, and its ability to recover is reduced, which can contribute to the onset of the disease.
All risk factors for osteoarthritis are divided into two large groups: 1) the cause of the disease lies inside the body; 2) the reason comes from outside, from the environment.
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If you are a woman and your mother suffers or suffered from osteoarthritis, then your risk of developing this disease increases.
In addition, hereditary factors for the development of arthrosis include congenital connective tissue diseases (collagenosis).
This is one of the most important factors that increases the likelihood of developing the disease, since excess weight significantly increases the load on the body as a whole, especially on the leg joints (hip and knee). Read more about the causes of gonarthrosis in this article. In addition, excess weight can also cause DOA of the foot.
The triggering factor may be other diseases in which metabolism changes. Thus, metabolic diseases such as primary and secondary gout, Wilson-Konovalov disease, hemochromatosis, ochronosis and some others can contribute to this.
The main “endocrine” risk factor for development is diabetes mellitus. With insufficiently treated diabetes, the blood vessels of the legs are often damaged. As a result, the nutrition of the joints deteriorates, and the likelihood of developing cartilage disease increases significantly.
In addition, menopausal women are at risk for developing the disease. Female hormones estrogens regulate metabolism in connective tissue, including bones, joints and ligaments. When these hormones become insufficient in the body during menopause, in addition to the well-known osteoporosis, arthrosis can also occur.
Age is another important factor influencing the occurrence of the disease. The older a person is, the higher the likelihood of developing osteoarthritis.
So, morbidity statistics say the following. Under the age of 45, only 2-3% of people suffer from osteoarthritis. However, in the age range from 45 to 65 years, the incidence of this disease can reach 25-30%. And among people over the age of 65, the probability of getting this disease is already 70-85%, that is, almost everyone gets sick!
In addition, in women, the age factor is superimposed on hormonal disorders associated with menopause. This is one of the reasons why women are more likely to suffer from osteoarthritis (not to mention the fact that they have a longer life expectancy than men).
One of the most significant external risk factors is high physical activity - for example, playing sports, as well as the specifics of work, which requires a lot of walking and heavy physical labor. In these cases, the load on the joints increases many times over, the nutrition of the cartilage deteriorates, and the cartilage simply does not have time to recover after such high loads.
Another important trigger point is exposure to harmful environmental conditions: unfavorable environmental conditions in a given area, exposure to harmful substances, including nicotine and alcohol, as well as various chemical toxins.
The impact of all these reasons or any one can become the starting impetus for the occurrence of osteoarthritis.
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Despite the fact that the cause of DOA cannot always be determined, there is nevertheless a way to minimize the manifestations of the disease if it does occur. And this method is regular medical examination.
It’s not very common to talk about this, but one of the important external risk factors for the development of diseases (at least in our country) is the inaccessibility of medical care - not only in small towns, but also in fairly large cities.
Sometimes the prospect of standing in long lines to see a therapist or surgeon is so frustrating that it is easier for a person with mild symptoms of the disease to give up and move on with their lives, without seeing a doctor and hoping that “it will go away on its own.” But don’t give in to this weakness, health is more important!
Therefore, if you or one of your relatives is at risk of osteoarthritis, do not be lazy to visit your doctor from time to time. If you discover any of the first symptoms of joint arthrosis, then you definitely need to see a doctor! The sooner you get tested and begin treatment, the more smoothly the disease will progress and can be controlled.
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