Joint pain is not just a problem for older generations.Even young people often find themselves in this situation.In some situations, painkillers help relieve unpleasant symptoms, in others, drug treatment is required, and in more difficult cases, the help of a surgeon is needed.
Causes of joint pain
The causes of joint pain can be mechanical or infectious.After an injury, no one is surprised by pain during movement.But when pain occurs for no obvious reason, the patient does not understand how to act to eliminate the problem.
However, a bacterial infection can cause pain.When pathogenic microorganisms enter the synovial fluid, they infect nearby soft tissues.An infection can enter a joint in several ways:
- As a result of prosthetics, due to the poor quality of sterilization of materials.
- Due to deep tissue damage due to skin infections;
- After any surgical intervention performed in violation of the rules of antiseptic treatment.
In addition to bacteria, the joint is also threatened by fungi.These microorganisms also enter the synovial fluid due to infection received during surgery.
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 along 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 lead to more serious consequences than one might imagine.For example, late diagnosed tonsillitis or the patient's refusal of prescribed antibiotics can lead to disability.This is due to the fact that streptococcus, which causes tonsillitis, is recognized by the immune system in the same way as cells of heart valves and intraarticular tissue.If antibiotic therapy is not used as a primary treatment, the immune system itself will destroy joint tissue as it fights the infection.
Viral infections also affect the joints.These are diseases such as:
- rubella;
- hepatitis C;
- hepatitis B;
- herpes.
Humanity has not yet developed an effective and proven medicine capable of fighting 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 arm your immune system with vaccination.Vaccinations against rubella and hepatitis are included in the mandatory calendar.
How to relieve pain
Orthopedists use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as a symptomatic treatment for joint pain.
If the pain is unbearable, you will need to contact a specialist who will install a block.This is a procedure that allows anesthesia to be injected into the joint itself and into the root area of the nerve endings.But this solution to the problem is temporary.After 10-16 hours, the patient's condition will return to its original position.
What does joint crunching mean?
Creaking joints can be caused by several reasons.On the one hand, the crunch indicates that the intraarticular substrate is depleted due to a violation of the salt balance.On the other hand, a single creak, which can be heard when bending or straightening a joint to its maximum position, is the sound produced by gas bubbles bursting within the joint fluid.
If a constant creak is heard during movement, it is necessary to reduce the load on the moving part.It is better to eliminate the cause through the office of an orthopedic traumatologist.Self-administration of advertised drugs not only does not help, but can also cause harm.An x-ray will show the condition of the bones and interarticular cartilage.If it turns out to be out of stock, individual recommendations will be given.If you treat pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs when the cartilage is worn, you will only reduce the sensitivity of the joint by continuing to use them.Over time, thin cartilage causes inflammation of the intra-articular tissue, which will lead to osteoarthritis.
Arthritis or arthrosis
For those who do not have medical training or have not personally encountered bone and joint problems, the two concepts: arthritis and osteoarthritis seem exactly the same thing.The similarity of 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 in 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 indicate the causes of the inflammation, so it cannot constitute a diagnosis.Bronchitis, for example, can be both viral and bacterial.This means that the therapeutic tactics in both cases are completely different.Arthritis is inflammation of a joint, with no description of the cause.
Osteoarthritis is a disease that affects the interarticular cartilage.Prolonged and unexamined arthritis sooner or later leads to arthrosis.Inflammatory processes in the joint disrupt the metabolism, due to which the tissues do not receive proper nutrition and become thinner.This is where the destruction of cartilaginous tissue occurs.
Prevention of joint diseases
Proper nutrition ensures health for all systems of the body.A sufficient amount of proteins, calcium, iron and vitamins allows you to provide cartilage tissue, ligaments, synovial fluid and bones with everything they need.
In addition, an active lifestyle will keep your muscles toned, thanks to which they will provide additional support to the entire skeleton in general, and the joints in particular.And to protect yourself from dangerous viral infections that affect the joints, you need to get vaccinated in a timely manner.