Arthritis is an infectious inflammation of a joint or group of joints, characterized by redness, pain, swelling and impaired (up to complete loss) mobility. The most common causes of the appearance are considered to be joint damage, previous infectious diseases, and problems with the immune system. Arthritis in children has no age restrictions. Recognition of the disease is carried out through fluoroscopy and computed tomography. A blood test is necessary to check C-reactive protein and antibodies. It will also help determine the status of rheumatoid factor. It is important that treatment can only be prescribed based on why the disease appeared.
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General signs of arthritis in infants and preschoolers are presented below in the comparative table.
In schoolchildren, the signs of various types of arthritis correspond to its manifestations in adults.
The disease occurs 2-3 weeks after treatment of infections, which often occurs due to weakened immunity.
Reactive arthritis in children is treated with anti-inflammatory non-steroids. The most important principles of treatment:
Treatment of reactive arthritis in children lasts from 2-3 weeks to a year. With a mild course, the symptoms begin to disappear within 2-3 days after the start of treatment measures. Arthritis does not cause irreversible consequences. Treatment should be carried out as effectively as possible to avoid relapse.
The disease develops 2-3 weeks after treatment of an infection caused by streptococcus (sore throat, pharyngitis or scarlet fever). Most often, arthritis in children first appears at the age of 5-15 years.
Rheumatoid arthritis in children requires taking medications that relieve inflammation and strict bed rest, not only during the rise in temperature, but also after its level has normalized for another month.
The disease does not destroy the joints themselves, so after successful treatment, former mobility returns. However, childhood rheumatoid arthritis can cause the defect.
Children under three years of age are most susceptible to this disease, although every child has the possibility of being affected. Septic (as it is also called) arthritis in children develops due to fungi, viruses or bacteria entering the body. Most often this occurs due to infection of a specific area of the skin. It can also be dysentery, botulism or salmonellosis, gonorrhea (hereditary infection). This type of arthritis is considered a more serious condition than those listed above.
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Infectious-allergic arthritis in children, if not properly treated, can be fatal. What is needed to avoid this?
Timely detection of infectious allergic arthritis in children and initiation of therapy will prevent complications from occurring. Most often, after recovery, the child regains normal mobility.
This is a chronic inflammation, the causes of which are unknown to science. This arthritis is also called ankylosing spondylitis.
How is it recognized?
Prolonged illness can lead to partial deformation (sometimes destruction) of the joints, resulting in disability.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, like the type of arthritis described above, is chronic, and the causes of its occurrence are unknown. Although the first attacks occur in adolescents, they are more likely to occur in children 1–4 years of age.
Most often, after recovery, the child returns to normal life. Long-term illness can lead to deformation and destruction of joints, loss of mobility and disability.
Often children suffering from psoriasis develop JPA, which, however, can develop into skin problems.
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60% of children do not have joint deformities after suffering from the disease. However, in other cases, endoprosthesis replacement is sometimes required.
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The launch of autoimmune processes, which are based on the destruction of the body’s own structural elements by the protective cells, is accompanied by the appearance of external and internal signs. In some clinical cases, specialists are faced with a separate variant of the course of psoriatic pathology, manifested not only by characteristic lesions of various areas of the patient’s skin, but also by destructive changes in the musculoskeletal system.
If at the time of visiting a doctor the patient has pronounced signs of two diseases - arthritis, psoriasis - there will be no difficulties in making a diagnosis even before an in-depth examination. The characteristic clinical picture of the development of pathological disorders allows one to accurately diagnose psoriatic arthritis even before the start of diagnostic measures.
The mechanism of activation of autoimmune processes in the human body has not been studied to date, so experts do not know the true reasons why the psoriasis process and, accordingly, psoriatic arthritis are formed. A pronounced dependence of the development of pathological changes in the epidermal layer of the skin and articular tissues on hereditary predisposition has been noted. However, in each case, the frequency of occurrence of disease manifestations is asynchronous; only 10% of patients experience a simultaneous exacerbation of psoriasis and inflammatory reaction in the joints. In the vast majority of clinical cases, the interval between the formation and manifestation of these pathologies is several years.
Psoriatic polyarthritis is not characterized by a direct type of inheritance - the threat of its occurrence and progression exists, first of all, in that category of patients, among whose relatives - both immediate and distant - there are patients with psoriasis. In this case, the risk of activation of pathogenic processes in the patient increases by 2 times.
In addition to the number of provoking factors, the impact of which can trigger the initiation of destructive changes in various joints in a patient, experts include:
In some cases, psoriatic polyarthritis in the patient’s joints may occur against the background of prolonged depression.
Systematization of psoriatic arthritis is carried out on the basis of various characteristics, therefore in modern medical practice there are several types of classification of this pathology.
Depending on the nature of the disease process:
Depending on the location of the pathological focus, the form of the disease can be:
Depending on the spread of the pathological process to other organs and systems of the patient’s body, psoriatic polyarthritis can develop as follows:
Depending on the intensity of the formation of pathological changes in the joints, doctors distinguish the following stages of development of psoriatic arthritis:
Additionally, the systematization of psoriatic arthritis is carried out on the basis of X-ray examination data, depending on the degree of preservation of the functionality of the affected joints, on the stage and form of psoriasis.
When a patient develops psoriatic polyarthritis, the localization of inflammatory foci in most cases is not topographically tied to the location of psoriatic rashes. There are the following types of arthritis of this type:
A direct relationship with skin lesions by psoriasis exists only when the distal interphalangeal joints are affected
Due to the progression of the disease, there is a complete loss of mobility in the affected joints, which leads to disability of the patient. In some clinical cases, an inflammatory reaction develops in the cervical and lumbar spine.
The determination of treatment tactics for the patient is directly dependent on the type of diagnosed psoriatic arthritis.
The characteristic symptoms of the development of autoimmune joint damage are divided into 2 categories - extra-articular and articular. The latter include the following pathological signs:
Extra-articular symptoms include:
An accurate diagnosis requires a detailed examination of the patient using laboratory and instrumental methods.
When identifying a pathological process, family history data and the results of an external examination of the patient are of great importance. A laboratory blood test is carried out to differentiate psoriatic arthritis from rheumatism - in the case of joint damage, there are no rheumatoid factors in the vascular bed. To visualize pathological changes in the structure of the affected joints, radiographic examination methods are used.
Psoriatic arthritis of the ankle
Psoriatic arthritis has a chronic course with a pronounced tendency to worsen pathological changes in the articular elements. In order to achieve stable remission of the disease and slow down the development of destructive processes, drug therapy, exercise therapy, physiotherapy, and sanatorium treatment are used. Surgical treatment is a last resort and is carried out only in the presence of strict indications in the absence of a positive effect in the conservative treatment of this form of arthritis.
Drug therapy is based on the use of the following groups of medications:
Along with the use of medications, a prerequisite for maintaining mobility in the affected joints is the daily performance of a special set of gymnastic exercises, which is developed by the attending physician individually for each patient.
In case of malignant progression of the disease and lack of effectiveness from previously used treatment methods, the attending physician may decide on the advisability of surgical correction of the pathological condition - surgical removal of the affected tissues and replacing them with artificial analogues.
Since the true reasons for the activation of autoimmune mechanisms in medical practice have not been established to date, polyarthritis of the joints cannot be completely cured, just like psoriasis. However, by strictly following all the recommendations of the attending physician, the patient can achieve stable remission of this disease and avoid worsening destructive changes in the joints.
Gout or gouty arthritis is one of the oldest diseases of mankind and has been known since ancient times. The name itself indicates that this disease affects the foot, because “pus” is translated from Greek as “foot”, and “agra” means “grasp”. At the same time, modern medicine considers this disease as an ailment that causes pathological changes in the musculoskeletal system, as well as a systemic disease in which important internal organs are damaged. We are talking primarily about the excretory system and kidneys.
Gouty arthritis is a chronic and progressive disease, therefore, in the absence of proper treatment, the patient's condition gradually worsens.
Due to a violation of purine metabolism, the total amount of uric acid in the blood increases; this acid is released from the blood into the tissues of the musculoskeletal system, where it settles in the form of urates (crystals of the sodium salt of uric acid). Over time, this leads to the development of acute recurrent arthritis and the appearance of tophi (specific gouty nodules).
Although this disease can occur in both men and women, the prevalence ratio is unequal. Thus, out of 10 cases diagnosed with gouty arthritis, in 9 cases men suffer. This is explained by the fact that the male body has a higher level of uric acid. In addition, during the reproductive age, the female body actively produces estrogens, which improve the clearance of urates. After menopause, estrogen production stops, and during this period, uric acid is produced in equal quantities in male and female bodies.
Thus, in most cases, the incidence of this disease for men is typical between 30-50 years, and for women - after 50 years. True, in rare cases, such a diagnosis is established at the age of about 20 years, and in recent years - even for children.
In order to understand how the process of this disease occurs, it is necessary to monitor how the body begins to accumulate urate crystals. As you remember, as a result of the breakdown of purines (they enter the body with food and are formed during the breakdown of nucleotides), a product such as uric acid is formed in the human blood. It is found in the blood plasma in the form of sodium urates - free crystals. Subsequently, the blood is cleansed by the kidneys, and uric acid is eliminated from the body. Typically, within 1 day, 400 to 600 mg of uric acid is removed from the body of a healthy adult.
Also previously mentioned was the indicator urate clearance. This concept refers to the amount of blood that the human kidneys are able to purify in 1 minute, on average it is about 9 ml. High levels of sodium urate in the blood are the cause of gouty arthritis. If urate levels do not decrease within a short period of time, the body begins to cleanse itself, depositing crystals in the tissues.
Moreover, depending on the reason for exceeding the permissible level of urate, gouty arthritis is divided into types.
During diagnostics and laboratory tests, specialists determine what type of disease the patient has and the stage of its development. The root cause of the change in urate clearance is also being clarified, without which treatment of gouty arthritis is impossible. After this, the patient is prescribed a whole range of treatment and preventive measures, which is not limited to just taking medications. Along with this, certain changes in daily routine, diet, as well as physiotherapeutic procedures are recommended.
Arthritis of the legs is a disease that affects most of the population over 40 years of age. The inflammatory process develops under the influence of various reasons. Accordingly, clinical manifestations also differ. All joints of the legs suffer - from the small ones on the toes to the hip joints.
There are a large number of joints in the human legs. In any of them, an inflammatory process - arthritis - can begin. There are several types of the disease depending on the location, cause, and nature of the course.
Arthritis in the legs can occur anywhere. Based on location, the following types of joint damage are distinguished:
When one joint is affected, it is called monoarthritis; inflammation of several is called polyarthritis.
Based on their origin, the following types of disease are distinguished:
Each type of pathology occurs with approximately the same frequency. The difference is that with each disease, damage to the joints of the legs develops at different stages.
According to the degree of activity of the inflammatory process, a distinction is made between the stage of remission and the stage of exacerbation. This classification is applicable for chronic forms, which are rheumatoid, psoriatic, gouty. In most cases, reactive arthritis occurs acutely; it rarely becomes chronic.
Each type of pathology develops for its own reasons.
Psoriatic arthritis is joint damage caused by psoriasis. Large joints of the legs are affected 5-7 years after the onset of skin manifestations.
Rheumatoid. The disease is of autoimmune origin - inflammation is caused by the production of antibodies to the body's own tissues. First, the toes are affected, then the process moves to large joints.
Reactive. The development of this arthritis occurs against the background of a systemic infection - chlamydial or mycoplasma. Usually one large joint of the leg is affected, most often the knee.
Gouty. It develops due to a disturbance in the metabolism of uric acid in the body and the accumulation of its salts in the joint tissues. At the beginning of the disease, the phalanx of the first toe becomes inflamed. After a few years, the knees become affected.
Hypothermia, injury, physical and emotional stress can provoke the development of inflammation.
Symptoms of arthritis in the joints of the legs depend on the specific disease. Common symptoms include pain in the legs and impaired mobility.
This type of arthritis of the lower extremities begins with damage to the small joints of the fingers. First there is pain when moving. At this stage, the joints have not yet changed externally. With the further development of the disease, the person complains of pain at rest. The joints of the fingers swell, the skin over them turns red. Long-term arthritis of the toes leads to their deformation (photo).
Damage to the large joints of the legs develops several years after the onset of the disease. In some patients, the arthritis stops only in the feet and does not spread further.
A characteristic diagnostic sign of rheumatoid arthritis is morning stiffness. This is a state of complete joint dysfunction that occurs in the morning and lasts more than half an hour.
This type of pathology develops 2-3 weeks after contracting a genitourinary infection. The disease manifests itself as intense pain in the joint. Most often, only one knee is affected. It quickly swells and becomes noticeably larger than healthy. Skin red and hot. Movement in the affected knee is limited.
Damage to large joints of the legs with psoriasis begins several years after the appearance of skin rashes. It is much less common for arthritis to precede the rash. Inflammation of the joint is characterized by moderate pain, swelling, and limitation of movement. The activity of the inflammatory process depends on the severity of skin manifestations.
The disease develops due to the deposition of uric acid crystals in the periarticular tissues. For a long time there are no symptoms. The first attack of the disease occurs suddenly, against the background of complete health. More often this happens at night. A man wakes up with severe pain in his toe.
The joint becomes so inflamed that the finger swells. The pain reaches such intensity that the person does not allow him to touch his leg. The skin over the joint is red, hot and shiny. The attack lasts from 12 to 24 hours, then stops as suddenly as it began.
They provoke attacks of diet disorders and hypothermia.
Often the pathological process affects only one joint and in the future the person will only be bothered by such attacks. But sometimes the knees are affected. The symptoms here are less pronounced, only moderate pain and crunching when moving are observed.
To diagnose a particular type of arthritis, examination data and the results of laboratory and instrumental research methods are used.
With rheumatoid arthritis, 70% of patients have rheumatoid factor in their blood. During an exacerbation, inflammatory indicators are determined. The most informative is an x-ray examination. There are several stages of arthritis:
Reactive and psoriatic arthritis do not have specific radiological signs. In case of gout, the image shows deposits of uric acid salts.
How to treat arthritis of the legs - therapy for each disease should be comprehensive, aimed at eliminating the cause and symptoms, and preventing the development of complications. The following methods of treating arthritis of the leg joints are distinguished:
For any type of illness, it is recommended to adhere to the principles of a healthy diet. It is important to give up bad habits and exercise in moderation.
Drug treatment depends on the type of disease. Corticosteroids, cytostatics, gold preparations, and monoclonal antibodies are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. For reactive inflammation, antibacterial agents are prescribed. Allopurinol is used to treat gout.
For any pathology, treatment with drugs from the NSAID group for oral and local use is indicated. Chondroprotectors are indicated to protect and restore cartilage tissue. Treatment is long-term, lasting for 6-12 months.
Physiotherapy procedures include:
Physiotherapy is allowed only during remission, with the exception of gout. In this case, administering UHF to the sore finger can stop the attack.
Surgical treatment is rarely used, mainly in cases of complications and severe joint deformities.
Treatment of arthritis of the legs with folk remedies is permissible only with the permission of the attending physician. It is not effective in all cases, and sometimes it can even worsen the course of the disease. Such treatment may include the use of various compresses and rubbing.
Arthritis of the legs is a whole group of diseases characterized by pain and dysfunction of the limbs. Treatment is carried out taking into account the origin of the disease and the activity of the inflammatory process. Only the reactive type of inflammation can be completely cured; other pathologies are chronic.
The disease mainly affects older people, but in the presence of predisposing factors, the disease “rejuvenates”. Arthritis is characterized by a slow course and constant progression.
Arthritis of the knee joint is a pathology characterized by damage to the synovial bursa, cartilage and bone tissues of the knee joint. Each type of disease has a specific pathogenesis and nature of origin. Regardless of this, it is always accompanied by the main signs (see photo):
Depending on the form, there are three types of arthritis:
It is important to know! Many people are interested in the difference between arthritis and arthrosis of the knee joint. The first disease is in any case accompanied by the presence of inflammatory foci in the articular cavity of the knee. The second is degenerative and occurs in the absence of inflammation.
Depending on the nature of development, arthritis is divided into several types.
This type of gonarthritis is caused by a violation of metabolic processes in the body. As a result of metabolic failure, small salt crystals with sharp edges form in the knee joint capsule.
Crystals systematically injure joint tissue, which leads to the development of an inflammatory process and acute pain.
2. Deforming (arthrosis-arthritis)
With arthrosis-arthritis, deformation of the cartilage of the knee joint is observed. The process occurs against the background of impaired blood flow in bone and joint tissues.
The disease lasts for years. It often begins asymptomatically, but progresses steadily over a long period of time. The etiology of the disease has not yet been clarified by doctors. In most cases, rheumatoid arthritis of the knee joint leads to disability.
The course of the disease is acute. As a result of penetration of pathogenic microorganisms into the joint, an inflammatory process develops. Signs: the knee becomes swollen, acute pain occurs. There is a noticeable increase in the size of the knee joint.
5. Juvenile (idiopathic)
In most cases, the development of this type of gonitis is observed in children who have reached the age of 8 years and have a genetic predisposition to the occurrence of joint pathologies.
Develops after pathogenic microflora enters the knee joint. Often the source of infection is bacteria that have penetrated the joint tissue from the urinary or digestive system of the body.
Occurs due to damage to the meniscus, rupture or sprain of ligaments.
This type of arthritis is caused by wear and tear of the cartilage tissue of the joint, medically called hyaline cartilage.
Depending on the nature of the joint damage, the following types of arthritis are distinguished:
arthritis of the knee joint, photo of inflammation
Infectious arthritis occurs due to the penetration of the following pathogenic organisms into the “capsule” of the joint: fungi, viruses, bacteria (Gram-negative), streptococci, staphylococci and gonococci.
As for arthritis of non-infectious origin, their development is due to many factors:
It is important to know! Predisposing factors for the development of inflammation in the joints are constant emotional overload, stress, and endocrine diseases, such as diabetes.
Doctors have named the general symptoms of arthritis that accompany all types of the disease.
In addition to the listed symptoms, almost each type of knee joint gonitis is characterized by the presence of certain symptoms. For example, with the gouty type of gonitis, the condition worsens after taking alcohol-containing products.
Signs of arthritis of the knee joint, if the disease has an infectious etiology, are as follows:
The rheumatoid variety of gonitis is characterized by mild inflammation in both knee joints, as well as in other articular groups (elbows, shoulders, hips). The disease is usually accompanied by an increased degree of fatigue and subfibrile temperature. If the pathology occurs over a long period of time, the following may be observed:
Arthritis may also cause systemic symptoms:
Diagnosing knee arthritis is quite a difficult task. Sometimes, in order to collect a complete clinical picture, consultation and examination of doctors of narrow specializations is required: rheumatologist, physiotherapist, traumatologist, surgeon and arthrologist.
To diagnose gonitis, determine the stage of development and causes of occurrence, a number of tests are performed.
Therapy must include the use of the following drugs:
It is important to understand! You should not treat knee arthritis on your own. The medications listed above should be prescribed exclusively by a qualified specialist, taking into account individual dosage and dosage regimen. Do not self-medicate based only on symptoms and signs.
Traditional non-medicinal
To relieve pain, stop inflammatory processes and improve blood flow in tissues with arthritis of the knee joint, you can use folk remedies - herbal baths are very helpful. They should be prepared at the rate of 300 g of herb per bath.
The herbal mixture (or one type of plant) is poured into 4 liters of water and boiled for 10-15 minutes, after which it is infused for about half an hour and poured into a bathtub filled with water.
Pay attention to the temperature of the water in the bath; it should not exceed 36-37? C. Also make sure that the water does not cover the heart area.
To prepare baths, you can use the following herbs individually or in combination with each other: pine needles, chamomile, sage, knotweed, wild rosemary, sweet clover, juniper, St. John's wort and birch buds.
In the form of compresses, you can use ordinary mustard plasters, flax seeds, radish and horseradish gruel. Wrap one of the selected products in a piece of fabric, which you preheat. Fold the fabric several times and apply it to your knee for an hour. Wrap the top with polyethylene and a warm scarf.
To prepare the rub, mix olive and sunflower oil in equal parts, for example, 100 ml each. Add 200 ml of kerosene (purified) to the oil mixture. Mix thoroughly. After this, add 10 hot pepper pods.
Place the mixture in a glass container, leave for a week in a cool, dark place and shake occasionally. Rub the joint daily before bed for 15 days. The rest of the time, make sure your knees are warm.
To make an application, add a couple of drops of lime juice (can be replaced with lemon) and 20 ml of boiled water to white (you can use black, yellow or green) clay (80 g). You will get a mass of thick consistency. Make a flat cake 3 cm thick from it.
Place the clay cake on a napkin or cloth and apply it to the sore knee. The top of the joint can be bandaged and wrapped in woolen cloth. Keep it for half an hour.
"People's ointment" for the treatment of arthritis
To prepare the ointment, you will need sweet clover herb (20 g) and Vaseline (35 g), which can be replaced with the same amount of butter.
Pour 300 ml of water over the herb and boil until the water is reduced by half. Then strain the broth and add oil or Vaseline to it. To treat knee arthritis, rub the ointment into the joint three times a day.
If you feel the slightest discomfort in the knee area, immediately contact a therapist, who will take a medical history and refer you to a specialized doctor for advice.
Arthritis of the knee joint, the symptoms and treatment of which largely depend on its etiology, requires complex diagnosis and treatment. Remember that a prompt examination and the prescription of competent therapy is the key to achieving the most positive result!