Osteoarthritis of the knee joint - first symptoms and treatment methods

Osteoarthritis disease has many varieties.For example, hip joint disease is called coxarthrosis and knee disease is called gonarthrosis.

The treatment method for all subtypes is generally the same.Even so, many people do not know the difference between osteoarthritis and gonarthrosis of the knee joint.

Based on this, many erroneous uses of these terms have emerged among patients with this problem.

Causes

Gonarthrosis is a disease of the knee joint with damage to the cartilaginous tissue.Many people mistakenly believe that the disease is typical only of the elderly, as it is degenerative.But, as practice shows, gonarthrosis appears more often in young people.

This is confirmed by the causes of the disease:

• knee injuries (fractures, dislocations, fissures);
• weight lifting, vigorous physical activity without adequate training;
• joint inflammation due to exposure to various factors, including hypothermia;
• excess weight, as it causes a large load on the joints and their subsequent degeneration;
• genetic predisposition.

As you can see, all the factors for the appearance of gonarthrosis are more typical for young people, as they lead an active lifestyle.

However, due to being overweight, the disease can also appear in retirees.According to statistics, after the age of 50, gonarthrosis occurs more often in women.This is due to the restructuring of the body, changes in metabolic processes.

Principles and types of treatment

Osteoarthritis in general is a chronic disease, which is why it takes a long time to treat it.Therapy can be surgical or conservative.

With both the first and second methods, doctors try to somehow influence the cause of the disease, as well as eliminate pathological symptoms.

It should be noted that surgical intervention is more typical in stages 3–4 of arthrosis.In the fourth, it is inevitable, and in the third, it is still possible to try to overcome the disease with conservative methods.

Additionally, it is recommended to use special sets of gymnastic exercises, for example, the Bubnovsky technique.

In addition to the destruction of cartilage by gonarthrosis, muscle fibers and ligaments are susceptible to destruction.The aim of treatment is:

• pain relief;
• elimination of inflammation;
• removal of edema from the periarticular region;
• stop the destruction of cartilage, its full or partial restoration;
• return to a full life and freedom of movement.

Even in cases where a person cannot completely cure arthrosis of the knee joint, he can partially return to a normal lifestyle thanks to therapy and prevention.The condition persists until the next relapse.

Conservative method

This method of therapy is used in most cases and is the main one.As a rule, patients are treated in this way in the initial and intermediate stages of gonarthrosis.All actions involve the use of medicines (tablets, capsules, injections) with chemically active substances.

The following may be prescribed for treatment:

• analgin;
• chondroprotectors;
• non-steroidal medications;
• synovial prostheses;
• glucocorticosteroids.

Other conservative methods include treatment with various ointments, mud baths, etc.

Recently, gymnastics and light physical exercise have become very popular to stop the course of the disease or possible recovery of the patient.

The body reacts strongly to nonsteroidal medications.Despite this, they are widely used in the treatment of osteoarthritis due to their multifunctional action:

• elimination of swelling in the joint;
• pain relief;
• treatment of inflammatory processes.

Because of these properties, doctors are increasingly choosing these medications over traditional pain relievers.

Glucocorticosteroids are synthetic drugs that can replace natural hormones produced by the adrenal glands.If we compare them with non-steroidal medications, glucocorticosteroids are much stronger.Furthermore, they have an anti-allergic effect.

Chondroprotectors act directly on the cartilage and are completely safe treatments for knee osteoarthritis (gonarthrosis).They are obtained from the bone structure of animals, fish cartilage and crustacean shells.Medicines are a building material for cartilage, improve metabolic processes and proper nutrition of joints.

In addition to the use of medications, during treatment, recovery and prevention, the following are prescribed:

• physiotherapy;
• physiotherapy;
• various massages;
• visiting sanatoriums and resorts.

All of this allows the patient to return to normal life and consolidates the results obtained with conservative treatment.

Plus, the classes are easy.A very useful exercise for the knee joint with gonarthrosis is to roll a ball placed on the floor or another cylindrical object, for example a rolling pin, with your foot.

Surgical intervention

If it is not possible to cure the disease with the help of medications or therapeutic exercises, surgery is necessary.This can be done in open and closed joints.At the same time, surgical methods are improved every day and new methods are added to the previous ones, performed with modern equipment.

New methods of conducting operations include:

• microsurgical intervention to restore damaged cartilaginous tissue;
• laser beam treatment with the necessary characteristics - thickness, power, etc.;
• creation of a 1 mm thick plasma electrolytic field;
• arthroscopy;
• endoprostheses - replacement of parts of a joint with artificial prostheses.

Modern surgical methods are low-traumatic and allow a large number of different manipulations with the joint.

Traditional medicine recipes

Conservative treatment methods cannot always give the maximum result in the treatment of gonarthrosis.Traditional medicine recipes can be used as additional remedies.

To get rid of pain and crushing in the knees, you can use the following recipe:

• 150g of garlic;
• 4 lemons with peel;
• 250 g of celery roots.

Grind all components in a meat grinder, mix and pour boiling water.Then place it in a pan, cover tightly and let it cool.Take 60-70 g 3 times a day for a month.If pain appears, you can repeat the course or carry it out every six months for prevention.

You can also use this recipe:

• beat two eggs and mix with 4 tablespoons of salt;
• Apply the mixture to a bandage and apply to the painful area.

The procedure must be repeated twice in a row.Do not remove the bandage until the mixture dries.

To make a medicinal ointment you will need the following ingredients:

• 200g of alcohol;
• 4 egg whites;
• 50g of camphor;
• 50 g mustard powder.

Add mustard and camphor alternately to the alcohol.Beat the egg whites in another container and mix.The ointment is applied to the sore spot.

It is clear that intense physical activity in athletes is as common a cause of gonarthrosis as joint aging over time.

But recently, cases of the disease that appear without these underlying causes have become more frequent.People, on the contrary, lead a sedentary lifestyle, which is why they gain extra pounds.

The load on the joints increases and prevents them from remaining healthy for a long time.

The difference between osteoarthritis and gonarthrosis

Not everyone understands the difference between gonarthrosis and arthrosis of the knee joint.Gonarthrosis is characterized only by injuries to the knee, while osteoarthritis itself is the name for a group of joint diseases that can affect any joint.

In medical theory there are many diseases whose names contain the “arthrosis” part - osteoarthrosis, polyarthrosis, coxarthrosis, gonarthrosis.In this sense, ignorant people do not always correctly understand the meaning of each of them, thinking that they are all synonymous.

Gonarthrosis can easily be confused with the following diseases:

• arthritis;
• vascular pain in the knees;
• periarthritis - inflammation of the knee tendons;
• meniscal injury.

But it is still possible to distinguish gonarthrosis from these diseases.For example, meniscus injury (meniscopathy) is a disease that begins with sharp, unexpected pain in the knees after unsuccessful movements, and gonarthrosis develops and progresses over the years.If meniscusopathy is not treated, pain will appear from time to time, but bone deformation will not occur.

In Coxarthrosis (disease of the hip joint), reflexive pain in the knees is often felt, but the two diseases can be distinguished from each other in the following ways:

• with gonarthrosis, a person can calmly move his legs in the hip joint, spreading them apart;
• with Coxarthrosis, on the contrary, the patient can bend and straighten the knee freely;
• If pain is felt in both joints, we can assume that it is polyarthrosis.

Arthritis is characterized by joint inflammation and sudden onset, but the pain does not affect joint mobility (as in periarthritis) and is eliminated thanks to warming ointments.With this disease, swelling, high temperature and increased pain at night appear.

Vascular pain occurs due to circulatory disorders - it usually affects young people under 20 years of age.This is due to the rapid growth of the entire organism.

Thus, arthrosis is the general name of the disease and gonarthrosis is the name that indicates the location (knee).This is why it is correct to say “arthrosis of the knee joint” or “gonarthrosis”, but not “gonarthrosis of the knee joint”.And it is quite possible to determine an accurate diagnosis through careful research and personal observations.

Arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis): diagnosis and treatment

The knee joint is a wonderful flexion-extension mechanism that nature has provided us with.At rest, it only occurs in people with disabilities and excessively obese people who have lost the ability to move.

Count how many times a day he makes movements and you will come to the conclusion that the knee is the most mobile part of the articular joint.No wonder diseases often choose it as their target.

One of them is gonarthrosis or arthrosis of the knee joint..

Causes of osteoarthritis of the knee joint

It's difficult to say what causes early cartilage deficiency in some people.It is generally believed that a metabolic disorder is to blame, in which the metabolism of important amino acids and trace elements occurs slowly or incorrectly.

Here, in turn, the following reasons are to blame:

1. Some diseases related to the immune system (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis)
2. A disregard for self: Sports and movement, nutritious nutrition containing a full range of vitamins, amino acids and minerals are often set aside by people somewhere far away for “later” (“I'll start on Monday, of course”)
3. Even from birth, the natural balance is disturbed - so-called hereditary causes.It is very easy to check your genetic predisposition: see what your grandparents are sick with and ask them what your ancestors were sick with.
4. Disturbed hormonal balance: Such disorders especially affect the female body during a period of estrogen deficiency, an important hormone necessary for osteosynthesis.It is no wonder that the majority of osteoarthritis victims are women of a wonderful mature age, when they are not yet elderly, but already wise, that is, the “over 50” mark.
5. Vascular diseases: osteoarthritis is often combined with venous insufficiency, venous thrombosis and other diseases
6. State of mind: If you think that stress just hurts your mood, you're wrong - stress can slow your metabolism to a state of suspended animation
7. A risk factor for osteoarthritis is being overweight

What symptoms allow us to suspect this bad pathology?

Gonarthrosis symptoms by stage

Each stage has its own characteristics, but they are united by the gradual development of the disease:

You can't stop walking suddenly because of the pain: A symptom of sharp, sudden knee pain likely indicates an injury.

First stage.In the first phase, the following symptoms occur:

• Mild pain after a long walk, climbing stairs, etc.
• Stiffness after rest
• There is no deformity in the knee, but it may be a little swollen due to the accumulation of fluid: this phenomenon is called synovitis.Fluid can even accumulate in the back - the popliteal fossa, forming a cyst, which is often confused by frightened patients with a cancerous tumor.The cyst usually disappears easily after treatment with injections of NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) or glucocorticosteroids.

Second stage

In the second stage, the following signs are noticed:

• Increased pain after exercise and movement and appearance of a characteristic harsh crunch
• Increased morning stiffness
• Full movement or even 90 degrees is accompanied by a symptom of pain, sometimes so strong that it becomes impossible to complete it
• Due to the onset of deformation, the bones thicken and become rough - this can be determined by palpation
• Synovitis can get worse

Third stage

In the third stage, already defined as late deforming arthrosis of the knee joint, the following symptoms appear:

• Constant pain that does not go away even at night: The knee hurts and twists, especially in cold, humid weather
• A marked reduction in range of motion: no more than 90 degrees, or even less
• Changes in gait: the patient begins to limp, walks slowly with legs half bent, waddles, climbing steps is especially difficult
• Visible severe deformation with mixing of the axes of the joints - because of this, the legs take the shape of the letter “X” or “O” (such signs are called hallux valgus).
• At this stage, the cartilage, as a rule, is already completely destroyed and ossification (ossification) occurs in the ligaments.
• Subsequently, the surface of the joint becomes covered with calcium deposits, which is why the knee acquires an uneven and uneven appearance.
• Due to severe deformation and lack of synovial fluid, knee movements become extremely painful
• Gradually, almost complete immobility of the knee appears - late deforming arthrosis of the knee joint

Treatment of gonarthrosis

The treatment of this disease is complex and time-consuming, effective only in the early stages.In the latter, conservative treatment only plays a role in alleviating the patient's situation.

Diagnosis.An important preliminary step is diagnosis.

• The best way to diagnose and determine whether pain is caused by injury or osteoarthritis is through an X-ray or MRI of the knee joint.
• Osteoarthritis is diagnosed if there is: degeneration or absence of cartilaginous tissue and a small space between the joint and the capsule

Conservative treatment

During exacerbations, the most important condition for treatment is:

• Maintain rest and light exercise
• Taking painkillers (for severe pain - in the form of intra-articular injections)
• In the third and fourth stages of osteoarthritis, injections with liquid to lubricate the joints are also prescribed.

For gonarthrosis, the following types of physical therapy are effective:

• SWT (shock wave therapy)
• electromyostimulation
• acupuncture
• magnetotherapy
• radiofrequency therapy, etc.

Rehabilitation treatment

To avoid contractures and even greater immobility, knee exercises should be started immediately after the acute pain subsides - for this, exercise therapy is prescribed under the supervision of a rehabilitation specialist.Long-term cyclical administration of substitutes for natural cartilage components - chondroprotective drugs - is also carried out.

Attention: In the third degree, arthrosis of the knee joint cannot be cured with chondroprotectors.

Surgical treatment

The effective treatment of late-onset osteoarthritis is only surgery - replacing a joint that has lost function with an endoprosthesis.

However, we must remember:

• in old age, prosthesis healing is slower
• After surgery, there may be pain for a year
• long-term rehabilitation with mechanotherapy and comprehensive exercise therapy is required

If the patient refuses surgery, conservative supportive treatment is prescribed, the aim of which is to combat pain and preserve the motor function of the knee.

What is often confused with arthrosis of the knee joint - gonarthrosis?

• When diagnosing gonarthrosiserrors occur as often, if not more frequently, than in diagnosing hip disease.
• Below is a list of diseases that are most often confused with arthrosis of the knee joint (gonarthrosis).
• From the practice of Dr. Evdokimenko,Most often, arthrosis of the knee joint is confused with the following diseases:

Damage to the menisci (meniscopathy) and blockage of the knee joint

Meniscus injuries and knee blockages occur in people of all ages, young and old.Men and women get sick with the same frequency.Usually a knee joint is damaged.

Unlike gonarthrosis, the disease develops quickly.As a rule, after an unsuccessful movement when walking, running or jumping, a person hears a clicking sound in the knee and feels a sharp pain in the joint.After 10 to 15 minutes, the sharp pain subsides slightly and the person can move.But the next day or so, the knee swells and the pain intensifies again.

Without adequate treatment, the disease continues for years - the pain subsides or reappears.But compared to gonarthrosis, meniscopathy rarely causes deformation of the bones in the knee joint - unless damage to the meniscus triggers the development of knee osteoarthritis.And this, it should be noted, also happens quite often.

Osteoarthritis of the hip joint (coxarthrosis)

The diagnosis of “gonarthrosis” is often mistakenly made with “referred” pain, which often occurs with osteoarthritis of the hip joint and extends from the hip joint to the knee.

But these conditions are very easy to differentiate - with arthrosis of the hip joint, the mobility of the knee does not decrease at all, the knee bends and straightens easily and without pain.

But the ability of a person suffering from arthrosis of the hip joint to rotate the leg “from the hip” and spread the legs to the sides decreases sharply.

A person suffering from gonarthrosis, on the contrary, easily rotates the leg from the hip and easily spreads the legs to the sides.But he bends his knee with difficulty and crouches in pain.

Arthritis

The knee joints are the most vulnerable joints in the human body.In addition to arthrosis and meniscopathy, knee joints can be affected by any of the arthritis described in the second part of the book - reactive, rheumatoid, psoriatic, gout, ankylosing spondylitis and articular rheumatism.

Arthritis affects people of any age, but most often the onset of the disease occurs in young people.

In arthritis, one or both knees may become inflamed.

A characteristic of arthritic inflammation of the knee joint is a rapid onset (within 1–3 days), with obvious swelling and swelling of the knee, as well as increased pain in the affected joint at night (around 3–4 in the morning).In other words, the pain at night, at rest, may be stronger than when walking.With arthrosis, as you remember, the pain subsides at night.

In addition, almost any arthritis leads to inflammation of not one, but several joints at once: in addition to the knees, the joints of the fingers and toes, the joints of the elbows, the ankles and the heel tendons become inflamed and swollen in any combination.

Vascular pain in the knees

These pains, which arise due to poor blood circulation in the knee joints, are familiar to many people.They usually begin during adolescence, a period of active growth - since vascular development in fast-growing adolescents often does not keep pace with accelerated bone growth.

Once it occurs, vascular pain in the knees can accompany a person for almost their entire life.But its intensity usually decreases after 18–20 years (and does not increase with age, as happens with osteoarthritis).And, unlike osteoarthritis pain, vascular pain in the knees is not accompanied by a decrease in the mobility of the knee joints.

Painful sensations are usually symmetrical, that is, they are equally pronounced in the right and left knees;They occur when the weather changes, in cold weather, during colds and after physical activity.At these moments, sufferers complain that their knees are “twisting”.

In most cases, vascular pain in the knees is easily eliminated by rubbing warm ointments, massage and self-massage (vigorous rubbing of the knees), or taking vasodilator medications.No special therapy is required for this condition.

Inflammation of the knee tendons (anserine bursa periarthritis)

Mainly women are affected, most often over 40 years old.Pain often occurs when walking down stairs or when carrying heavy objects or heavy bags.When walking calmly on a flat surface, pain is extremely rare.

The pain caused by periarthritis does not extend to the entire knee.It focuses exclusively on the inside of your knees, about 3 feet below the point where your knees would touch when you bring your legs together.And unlike osteoarthritis, in periarthritis there is no restriction on knee mobility;the leg bends and extends at the knee as expected, completely.