Osteoarthritis of the Knee: Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment

How do you feel when you meet an old man on the street with a cane?Of course I sympathize, and I believe you will never become like that!

No young, energetic person can imagine that he will be sick and limp in his later years.Instead, the imagination depicts a young, smiling pensioner traveling the world with healthy legs and a white smile, just like the photos in foreign magazines.

But disease is an insidious thing.Especially joint diseases.Various diseases spread quietly and unknowingly, destroying and deforming joints bit by bit, manifesting themselves as pain and the inability to move normally on a beautiful morning.

Among all joint diseases, knee joint disease (knee arthritis, knee osteoarthritis) ranks first in terms of the number of medical visits.According to statistics, one fifth of the inhabitants of the earth over the age of 40 suffer from knee joint disease, which "loves" women more than men.

What is knee arthritis?Can it be avoided?Let’s start with the definition of disease.

Arthritis of the knee (knee osteoarthritis) is a degenerative, dystrophic change in the articular cartilage.

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

Causes of knee arthritis

Most often, knee joint disease occurs due to:

• Knee trauma.
• Being overweight.
• Increase physical activity, including when participating in professional sports.
• Pre-existing disease (usually arthritis of any cause).
• The ligamentous apparatus is weak.
• Metabolic disorders.

How do joints develop?

Knee osteoarthritis is divided into grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3.Let’s take a closer look at their characteristics.

Symptoms of first stage knee arthrosis

Knee arthritis first manifests itself as pain when climbing stairs.A person feels discomfort in his knee joint and the pain makes it difficult to walk down stairs.In other cases, the pain barely occurs, so the patient happily forgets about it or undertakes some kind of treatment of his own, fully trusting the advice of friends who "have also had this happen".

It is the frequency of pain that leads to delayed visits to the clinic, leading to the transition of the disease to the more severe secondary form.

How does stage 2 disease manifest?

Stage II knee arthrosis is characterized not only by severe pain but also by limited joint movement.

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

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

Visual inspection may reveal joint swelling and slight joint deformity.

The clinic's patients are all patients with stage 2 knee joint disease who are unable to cope with the severe pain on their own and have limited mobility, so they see a doctor.

Does grade 3 arthropathy equate to disability?

Stage III arthropathy of the knee is characterized by persistent severe pain and loss of mobility in the joint.X-ray examination shows dystrophic changes in cartilage tissue and severe joint deformation.So-called deformed joint disease occurs.

Joint pain often worsens at night and is most severe in the early morning.

Patients with 3rd degree joint disease can only walk with crutches. Do you remember our old man in the introduction?That's exactly who he is.

Treatment strategies for knee arthritis

The treatment of joint disease is a long process that requires the patient's perseverance and patience.The basic principles of treating knee joint disease can be called:

• Systematic.
• An integrated approach.

Treatment of joint disease should be carried out under the guidance of a doctor.He should give you advice on how and how to treat the disease, which you must follow very carefully.You can also add traditional methods to your medical prescription, but only if your primary care physician approves them.

As with any other condition, treatment for knee joint disease begins with a gentle treatment regimen.With knee arthrosis, a gentle treatment plan is needed for the affected joint.Eliminate physical activity and prolonged walking as much as possible.In your diet, you should limit the intake of salt, sweets, and fatty foods, and include more vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables in your diet.

drug treatment

1. To relieve pain, drugs from the analgesic and antispasmodic group are prescribed.

2. NSAIDs are popular.Due to the large number of side effects, this group of drugs does not need to be taken long-term.Therefore, long-acting tablets or injections are often used for treatment.NSAIDs may relieve the patient's condition but do not eliminate the cause of knee joint disease.Medical science entrusts this task to another class of drugs - chondroprotectants.
3. The action of chondroprotective drugs is based on restoring the normal production of synovial fluid and damaged cartilage tissue.These medications are very effective in treating grade 1 and 2 knee arthritis.

Unfortunately, in the third stage of the disease, treatment with chondroprotectants is ineffective.

4. Therapeutic ointments, gels, creams.They are applied topically for friction and compression.Pharmacy chains offer a wide range of medications of this type; when purchasing, you should not be guided by the advertised popularity of a specific ointment, but by the advice of experts.

5. If the condition worsens, not only can you not exercise, but you can also not have massage and physical therapy.It cannot be used in the acute phase due to increased pain.Once the pain subsides, massage, exercise therapy, and physical therapy must be added to drug treatment.The following procedures have been shown to be effective in treating knee joint disease:
• laser.
• SMT.
• Electrophoresis.
• Magnet therapy.
• Silica.

Traditional medicine and knee joint disease

In folk medicine, there are a large number of different folk remedies for the treatment of knee arthritis.

Medicinal decoction:

• bilberry,
• cranberries,
• thyme,
• corn silk,
• golden beard

Take orally and apply to compresses.There are also ways to rub alcohol tincture:

• Bitter pepper tincture,
• Fly Agaric Tincture,
• Psyllid Tincture.

Folk medicine also uses compresses of medicinal bile, apple cider vinegar, cabbage and honey.There’s even a way to treat sore joints with raw fish by strapping it onto the sore spot overnight!But we don't think many people will stick with this recipe.

Important!No matter which folk remedies you choose, be sure to discuss recommendations for using them with your doctor!

How to prevent the development of knee joint disease - preventive measures

I have thought since I was a child that it is not difficult to prevent the occurrence of knee arthrosis.How did the precautionary rule come to be?Very simple.Understand the causes of diseases and take all measures to avoid them, namely:

1. Don't overeat and stick to the principles of light eating and proper nutrition.
2. We allocate physical activity wisely.
3. Don't be too cold.
4. Any disease must be treated promptly.
5. Avoid injury.
6. Do gymnastics.
7. Contact an expert promptly.

At first glance, these suggestions seem very simple.If you follow them, joint disease will not threaten you.And you don’t have to worry about growing older – after all, we agreed at the beginning of the article to travel around the world on our own feet!