Joint pain is not just a problem for the older generation.Young people also often experience this.In some situations, painkillers help relieve unpleasant symptoms, in others, drug treatment is required, and in the most difficult cases, the help of a surgeon is required.
Causes of joint pain
The causes of joint pain can be both mechanical and infectious.After an injury, no one is surprised by pain when moving.However, when pain occurs for no apparent reason, the patient does not know how to proceed to eliminate the problem.
However, a bacterial infection can cause pain.When pathogenic microorganisms penetrate the synovial fluid, they infect neighboring soft tissues.An infection can enter a joint in several ways:
- As a result of prosthetics, due to inadequate sterilization of the materials.
- Due to deep tissue damage due to skin infections;
- After any surgical intervention carried out in violation of the rules of antiseptic treatment.
In addition to bacteria, the joint is also threatened by fungi.These microorganisms also enter the joint fluid through infections during surgical procedures.
Few people associate stomach disease or bladder damage with pain in the knee or elbow joint.However, there is a connection.When the gastrointestinal tract is affected by a bacterial infection, toxins and colonies of microorganisms enter the bloodstream and move through the body with the bloodstream.Some of them settle in the joint cavity.Joint risks include:
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- damage to the urinary system;
- sexually transmitted diseases;
- Rubella;
- Angina;
- infectious mononucleosis;
- Pneumonia.
This suggests that improper treatment of infectious diseases can have more serious consequences than one might imagine.For example, tonsillitis diagnosed too late or the patient's refusal to take prescribed antibiotics can lead to disability.This is because streptococci, which cause tonsillitis, are recognized by the immune system in the same way as cells from the heart valves and intra-articular tissue.If antibiotic therapy is not used as the primary treatment, the immune system itself destroys the joint tissue and fights the infection.
Viral infections also affect joints.These are diseases such as:
- Rubella;
- hepatitis C;
- hepatitis B;
- Herpes.
Humanity has not yet developed a proven effective drug to combat viruses.The only exception is the drug Acyclovir, which is effective against the herpes virus.Other diseases of viral etiology can only be defeated by the human immune system.To protect yourself from infections that can destroy joint tissue, you can strengthen your immune system with a vaccination.Vaccinations against rubella and hepatitis are included in the mandatory calendar.
How to relieve pain
Orthopedists use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the symptomatic treatment of joint pain.
If the pain is unbearable, you need to contact a specialist who will install a blockage.This is a procedure in which you can inject an anesthetic into the joint itself and into the root zone of the nerve endings.But this solution to the problem is temporary.After 10-16 hours, the patient's condition returns to its original state.
What does crunching in the joints mean?
Crunchy joints can have various causes.On the one hand, the crunch indicates that the intra-articular substrate is depleted due to a violation of the water-salt balance.A single crunch, on the other hand, heard when a joint is flexed or extended to its maximum position, is the sound caused by the bursting of gas bubbles in the synovial fluid.
If a grinding noise is constantly heard when moving, you need to reduce the load on the moving part.It is better to eliminate the cause through the practice of an orthopedic traumatologist.Self-administration of advertised medications not only does not help, but can also cause harm.An x-ray shows the condition of the bones and articular cartilage.If it turns out that this is exhausted, individual recommendations will be made.If you treat the pain of worn cartilage with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, you can only reduce the sensitivity in the joint with further use.Over time, thin cartilage leads to inflammation of the intra-articular tissue, leading to osteoarthritis.
Arthritis or arthrosis
For those who do not have medical training or have not personally had problems with bones and joints, the two concepts of arthritis and arthrosis seem to be exactly the same.The similarity of the names is explained by the fact that all diseases associated with joints have the root “art”.The prefix “it” indicates an inflammatory process.This can be seen using the example of other terms: rhinitis - inflammation of the sinuses, bronchitis - inflammation of the bronchi;Otitis – inflammation of the ear.However, the term does not provide any indication of the causes of inflammation and therefore cannot serve as a diagnosis.Bronchitis, for example, can be both viral and bacterial in nature.This means that the treatment tactics in both cases are completely different.Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints without a description of the cause.
Osteoarthritis is a disease that affects the interarticular cartilage.Long-term, unexamined arthritis will sooner or later lead to osteoarthritis.Inflammatory processes in the joint disrupt metabolism, as a result of which the tissue is not properly nourished and becomes thinner.This leads to the destruction of the cartilage tissue.
Prevention of joint diseases
Proper nutrition ensures the health of all body systems.A sufficient amount of protein, calcium, iron and vitamins allows you to provide cartilage tissue, ligaments, synovial fluid and bones with everything they need.
In addition, an active lifestyle keeps your muscles in shape, providing additional support to the entire skeleton in general and the joints in particular.And to protect yourself from dangerous viral infections of the joints, timely vaccination is necessary.