Joint pain is not just a problem for older generations.Young people often face this too.In some situations, pain relievers help to relieve unpleasant symptoms, in others drug treatment is required, and in the most 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 when moving.But when pain appears for no apparent reason, the patient does not understand how to act to get rid of the problem.
However, a bacterial infection can cause pain.When pathogenic microorganisms penetrate the synovial fluid, they infect nearby soft tissues.An infection can reach a joint in several ways:
- As a consequence of prosthesis, due to poor 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 synovial fluid as a result of an infection received during surgical interventions.
Few people associate stomach disease or damage to the bladder 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 sit in the joint cavity.Joint risks include:
- diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- damage to the urinary system;
- sexually transmitted diseases;
- rubella;
- angina pectoris;
- infectious mononucleosis;
- pneumonia.
This suggests that improper treatment of infectious diseases can have 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 the immune system recognizes the streptococcus that causes tonsillitis, as well as the cells of the heart valves and intra-articular tissue.If antibiotic therapy is not used as primary treatment, the immune system itself will destroy the joint tissue while fighting the infection.
Viral infections also affect the joints.These are diseases such as:
- rubella;
- hepatitis C;
- hepatitis B;
- herpes.
Humanity has not yet found an effective and proven medicine that can fight 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 the vaccine.Vaccines against rubella and hepatitis are included in the mandatory schedule.
How to relieve pain
Orthopedists use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories as a symptomatic treatment for joint pain.
If the pain is unbearable, you will need to contact a specialist who will install a blockage.This is a procedure that allows you to inject anesthesia into the joint itself and into the root zone of the nerve endings.But this solution to the problem is temporary.After 10 to 16 hours, the patient's condition will return to its original position.
What does creaking in the joints mean?
Cracking joints can be caused by several reasons.On the one hand, the crunch indicates that the intra-articular substrate is depleted as a result of a violation of the water-salt balance.On the other hand, a unique crackling sound, 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 there is a constant creak when moving, 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 will not only not help, but may 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 non-steroidal anti-inflammatories when your cartilage is worn out, you will only reduce the sensitivity in the joint as long as you continue using it.Over time, thin cartilage causes inflammation of the intra-articular tissue, which will lead to osteoarthritis.
Arthritis or osteoarthritis
For those who do not have medical training or have not personally had problems with bones and joints, the two concepts: arthritis and osteoarthritis seem exactly the same.The similarity of the names is explained by the fact that all diseases associated with the joints have the root "art".The prefix "it" indicates an inflammatory process.This can be seen on 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 inflammation, meaning it cannot be a diagnosis.Bronchitis, for example, can be both viral and bacterial.This means that the treatment 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 unexamined arthritis sooner or later leads to osteoarthritis.Inflammatory processes in the joint disrupt metabolism, so the tissues do not receive adequate nutrition and become thinner.This is where the destruction of cartilage tissue occurs.
Prevention of joint diseases.
Proper nutrition ensures the health of all body systems.A sufficient amount of protein, calcium, iron and vitamins allows cartilage tissue, ligaments, synovial fluid and bones to be provided with everything they need.
In addition, an active lifestyle will keep your muscles toned, thanks to which they provide additional support to the entire skeleton in general, and to the joints in particular.And to protect yourself from dangerous viral infections that affect the joints, it is necessary to get vaccinated in a timely manner.