There are more than 200 bones in an adult human body. All of them are interconnected. The joint is a mobile joint that forms a strong, but at the same time mobile structure. Quite often, an inflammatory process begins to develop in these formations, which captures the inner and outer shells of the joint. There are diseases such as arthritis, arthrosis. The reasons can be very different, we will try to get to know them in more detail.
What is arthritis
Arthritis is a whole group of inflammatory joint lesions that capture almost all the components of this compound. The origin of the disease can be different: allergic, traumatic, infectious, reactive, dystrophic and more.
Different causes of arthritis lead to the fact that this disease is widespread among people of all ages. Most often, of course, it manifests itself in middle and older, but does not bypass children and adolescents. Arthritis is a serious problem of the whole society, as it has a severe and prolonged, sometimes chronic course, which can lead to disability and,respectively, to disability.
Varieties of arthritis
The classification of arthritis is quite complex and multilateral. There are several divisions that will help to better understand the nature of this disease.
According to the involvement of the joints, arthritis happens:
- Monoarthritis, when the inflammatory process is observed in only one joint.
- Polyarthritis involves several mobile joints.
This disease is quite insidious, it can proceed in different ways, depending on this, they are isolated:
- Acute arthritis, its signs always appear quite unexpectedly for a person, if the wrong treatment is carried out, this form can become chronic.
- Chronic arthritis develops and proceeds quite slowly.
According to the international rheumatological classification, arthritis can also be:
- Infectious arthritis, the causes in this case lie in infectious diseases. These include rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis.
- Dystrophic arthritis, eg gout, osteochondrosis.
- A traumatic lesion may begin to develop after a joint injury.
- Arthritis associated with other diseases of the body. These can be cancerous tumors, problems with the digestive tract, diseases of the connective tissue.
Not only the type of disease, but also the causes of arthritis should influence the choice of treatment methods, so self-medication in this case should not be allowed. This may not only give noresult, but also aggravate the situation.
Arthritis: Causes
Given the high prevalence of this disease, we can conclude that there are many reasons that can provoke it. All of them can be divided into several groups:
Infectious causes:
- Viral infections.
- Infectious diseases.
2. Traumatic causes indicate that a joint injury was once received, but it was not possible to completely get rid of it. This category of reasons is especially true for people who do hard physical labor.
3. Immunological causes include several factors at once:
- Bad environment.
- Improper diet is another cause of arthritis.
- Lack of vitamins and minerals.
- Indulgence in coffee and caffeinated drinks.
4. Genetic causes imply a hereditary predisposition. If there are people with arthritis in the family, then the chance of also having this disease increases.
It can be concluded that the causes are both external and internal. What kind of arthritis they will cause is unknown. The most common is arthritis of the knee. In children, the reasons for the development of the disease are also found, not to mention the adult population.
Risk factors and disease provocateurs
There are some factors that increase the chances of getting arthritis even more. These include:
- Relatedjoint diseases.
- Chronic infectious diseases.
- Age after 45 years.
- Female. It has been noticed that the beautiful half of humanity is much more likely to become patients of rheumatologists.
But there are not only causes of arthritis, but also provocateurs that can provoke the development of the disease. These factors are:
- Viral or bacterial infections.
- Joint injuries.
- Surgical operations.
- Birth.
- Frequent abortions.
- Having allergies.
- Vaccination.
Given the causes and risk factors, we can say that arthritis can overtake absolutely anyone.
Symptoms of disease
If arthritis of the shoulder joint develops, the causes affect the signs of the disease. Symptoms also appear depending on the severity of the disease, the rate of progression.
But you can name the main symptoms that appear in almost any type of arthritis:
- Pain sensations of varying intensity and strength. They can be subtle or completely unbearable.
- There is swelling and swelling around the affected joint. This is especially noticeable if the child has arthritis. Reasons do not play any role.
- Redness of the skin.
- The area becomes hot to the touch.
- In a chronic condition, arthritis can manifest as joint deformity.
- Movement restriction.
- Crunch appears during movement.
In addition to symptoms that are more local, extra-articular signs can be listed:
- Eye diseases.
- Lung problems.
- Heart pain, pericarditis.
- The work of the gastrointestinal tract is disturbed.
- Kidney failure.
- Pathology of blood vessels.
All these manifestations can accompany, for example, arthritis of the ankle joint, the causes of this disease can be any. In this regard, it is very important that the relationship between them and the disease be established during the examination of the patient.
Acute arthritis of the ankle joint: causes, prognosis, treatment
The ankle joints are almost constantly in motion. They bear a heavy burden of maintaining the entire body weight. Arthritis of these joints can lead a person not only to disability, but in general to the loss of the ability to move around.
In medicine, the following reasons are noted that can provoke the development of this disease:
- Accumulation of uric acid s alts in the joints.
- Alcohol abuse.
- Passion for strong tea and coffee.
- A high-fat diet.
- Bath treatments.
Despite the causes of arthritis, symptoms can include the following:
- Ankle begins to swell.
- Pain appears.
- The skin turns red and the temperature in the affected area rises.
- General weakness, well-beinggetting worse.
- The body temperature rises.
Very often, in the first stages of development, arthritis does not manifest itself in any way, but if you periodically experience the following symptoms, then you should pay attention to this and visit a doctor:
- Pain occurs with strong movements, such as flexion and extension of the foot.
- Began to notice that the shoes, which until recently were good, became small. This means that the joint is swollen.
If you do not pay attention to the first signs and do not start treatment, then the arthritis of the toes progresses further, the causes and provoking factors only accelerate the process. Within a few years, the joint can almost completely collapse.
Methods of treatment for this type of arthritis are almost the same as for other forms. We will talk about this a little below.
Rheumatoid arthritis
If rheumatoid arthritis develops, the causes of this disease can be any, but regardless of this, the immune system necessarily fails in the body. Protector cells become active and begin to fight with the joints, perceiving them as foreign agents.
The most common cause of rheumatoid arthritis are infectious diseases. After suffering the flu or SARS, pathogens may remain in the body that enter the joints with the bloodstream. This is where immune cells can begin to react.
In addition, doctors also note that severe hypothermia, trauma or stressful situations can also trigger the development of this type of arthritis.
There are several types of rheumatoid arthritis:
- Juvenile.
- Seropositive.
- Seronegative.
- Arthritis in the elderly.
Each form has its own symptoms.
Seronegative arthritis is manifested by an increase in lymph nodes, body weight is lost sharply, fluctuations in daily temperature are observed. Most often, pathological changes affect only one joint.
Seropositive arthritis can develop rapidly or very slowly. Begins to manifest morning stiffness in movements, swelling of the joints, the appearance of pain.
Juvenile arthritis is so named because it affects very young patients.
We have analyzed what rheumatoid arthritis is, the causes, the symptoms of the disease have also been considered, and now we will dwell on the treatment. The following directions in therapy can be distinguished:
- Medical.
- Physiotherapy.
- Power correction.
- Spa treatment.
The most effective result will be if the methods are used in combination, and therapy is started on time.
Arthritis of the shoulder joint
This joint has increased mobility, which allows you to make a wide variety of movements and withstand loads. All this at some point leads to the fact that the joint fails, the inflammatory process begins to develop. What could be causing this:
- Stronghypothermia.
- Heavy physical activity.
- Shoulder injury.
- Lack of movement.
- Infectious diseases.
- Osteoarthritis.
Considering the causes, we can conclude that it is quite possible to prevent the development of the disease. If it is not always possible to avoid infectious diseases, then everyone can increase physical activity and avoid hypothermia.
Arthritis in children
Inflammation of the joints is such an insidious disease that it does not bypass even children, and of very different ages. If we talk about the reasons that can provoke the development of this disease in a child, then we can note:
- Joint injuries.
- Past infectious diseases.
- Disturbances in the immune system.
Thus, children have the same causes of arthritis as adults, and the treatment will depend entirely on them. Also, the choice of therapy tactics is influenced by the age of the child, a type of arthritis.
It is possible to diagnose arthritis of the joints already in infants, although this is problematic, given the age of the patient. Parents should be alert for the following symptoms:
- Baby cries during movements, for example, when shifting, massage.
- Increased body temperature without signs of a cold.
- There is swelling and redness in the joints.
- The baby tries to move the diseased limb less.
In older children, the signs are almost the same, only a child can tell parentsabout your feelings. In this case, you should not postpone a visit to the doctor, the sooner treatment is started, the more effective the result.
As a rule, rheumatoid arthritis has a favorable prognosis, the joints do not collapse and disability does not threaten, but if rheumatism is added, then this is already dangerous, since with inadequate and untimely treatment it leads to the development of heart defects.
Arthritis treatment
Arthritis in its course goes through several stages. Each therapy pursues its own goals, methods and methods of treatment are selected. If conservative methods are predominantly relevant in the initial stages of the disease, then in the third and in the presence of complications, surgical intervention may be indicated.
Any therapy has multiple goals:
- Relieve pain.
- Suspend or slow the progression of the disease.
- Restore normal joint function.
- Prevent complications.
To achieve these goals, use:
- Drug therapy.
- Physiotherapy treatments.
- Healing massage.
- Physical exercise.
- Orthopedic techniques.
- Spa treatment.
- Folk treatments.
Any treatment will be more effective if it is carried out in combination.
Medicated treatment
Whatever the causes of hand arthritis, for example, it is impossible to do without medication. The following drugs are prescribed:
- Anti-inflammatory, for example, "Diclofenac", painkillers, it can be: "Baralgin", "Ketorol". These drugs alone will not be able to get rid of the disease, but they eliminate the most basic symptom - pain.
- Chondroprotectors that help restore cartilage tissue of the joint.
- If there is a purulent process or the cause of arthritis is an infection, then antibiotics must be prescribed.
Once inflammation and pain are relieved with medication, other treatments can be used.
Physiotherapy and Arthritis
Physiotherapeutic procedures are of great help in the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the joints. These include:
- UFO.
- Electrophoresis with painkillers.
- Phonophoresis with Hydrocortisone.
- Massage.
- Mud treatment.
- Warming up.
- Therapeutic baths.
- Hydromassage.
All these procedures greatly facilitate the patient's condition. Whatever the causes of arthritis of the fingers, in combination with drug treatment, physiotherapy improves the patient's quality of life.
Nutrition and exercise therapy
During the treatment of arthritis will have to review your diet. Here are just a few nutritional recommendations:
- Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Replace fatty meat with fish and seafood.
- Limit fried foods, give preference to boiled and stewed food.
- Reduce s alt intake.
- Remove s alty, spicy foods, seasonings from the diet.
- There should be greens on the table.
If these recommendations are followed, the intake of useful and essential vitamins and minerals increases in the body, which favorably affects the condition of the joints.
Without special exercises in the treatment of arthritis is also indispensable. Depending on the type of arthritis and its severity, the exercise therapy doctor selects an individual set of exercises. It must be performed regularly, without sudden movements.
For example, for ankle arthritis, the following exercises can be recommended:
- Rolling from heel to toe.
- Walking on the inside of the foot.
- Toe jumping.
- Walking on heels.
- In a sitting position, pull the socks towards you.
- You can do some exercises in the water, where the load on the body is minimal.
- Exercising on a stationary bike is also useful.
If you perform physical exercises in combination with other methods of treatment, the effect will come much faster.
Traditional medicine against arthritis
In the bins of folk healers for the treatment of arthritis, tips are also in store, here are some of them:
- Pour fresh spruce branches with boiling water, insist, lower your legs for 30 minutes. After the procedure, immediately go to bed.
- Heat dry flax seeds, place in a cloth bag and apply to the sore joint.
- Heat fresh cabbage leaf, brush with honeyand wrap it around the affected joint. Be sure to place cellophane on top and wrap it with a scarf.
- Take chalk, grind it, mix it with kefir and apply this gruel to the damaged joint. This procedure is best done at night.
- Raw chicken egg beat with 2 tablespoons of s alt, put on a bandage and wrap the joint. As the bandage dries, you can still lubricate it with a mixture.
Using folk methods, it must be borne in mind that without the use of traditional methods of treatment, a positive effect cannot be achieved for a long time.
Life during arthritis
It often turns out that the disease overtakes us anyway, which means that we must somehow adapt to live with it. Since arthritis is a long-term, sometimes chronic disease, you will have to follow some rules that will improve the quality of life:
- You should try to load the joints as little as possible.
- Do regular stretching exercises.
- Follow all the recommendations of the doctor.
- A good night's rest is a must.
- Adjust your diet.
No specialist can give you a 100% guarantee of getting rid of arthritis, but if you follow all the recommendations, it is possible not only to alleviate your condition, but also continue to live as before.
Disease prevention
We figured out what arthritis of the joints is (causes, treatment), but we must not forget about prevention. The main preventive measures are:
- Control your weight.
- Stay he althy and nutritious.
- Limit the amount of meat, fatty and fried foods in the diet.
- Exclude alcohol and smoking.
- Do not expose the body to hypothermia.
- Treat infectious diseases thoroughly.
- Be active.
- Avoid strenuous exercise.
- Before going to bed it is good to massage all joints.
Only following all these recommendations, you can protect yourself from a disease such as arthritis. If it was not possible to avoid the disease, then the prognosis will completely depend on the timely treatment started, the causes and types of arthritis.
