Joint pain is not just a problem for the older generation.Young people also often face this.In some situations, painkillers help to alleviate 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 mechanical or infectious.After an injury, no one is surprised by the pain when moving.But when pain occurs for no apparent reason, the patient does not know 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 result of dentures due to sterilization of poor quality 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 infection received during surgical interventions.
Few people associate stomach illnesses 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:
- gastrointestinal tract diseases;
- damage to the urinary system;
- sexually transmitted diseases;
- rubella;
- angina;
- infectious mononucleosis;
- pneumonia.
This suggests that inadequate treatment of infectious diseases can lead to more serious consequences than imagined.For example, late-diagnosed tonsillitis or the patient's refusal to take 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 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 created a proven effective medicine that fights 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 schedule.
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 blockage.This is a procedure that allows anesthesia to be injected 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 joint crunching mean?
Crushing joints can be caused by a variety of reasons.On the one hand, the crisis indicates that the intra-articular substrate is depleted as a result of a violation of the water-salt balance.On the other hand, a single pop, 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 grinding sound during movement, you need to reduce the load on the moving part.It is best to eliminate the cause through the office of an orthopedic traumatologist.Self-administration of advertised medications 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 you have worn-out cartilage, you will only be able to reduce tenderness in the joint by continuing to use it.Over time, thin cartilage causes inflammation of the intra-articular tissue, which can lead to osteoarthritis.
Arthritis or osteoarthritis
For those who do not have a medical education or have not personally encountered problems with bones and joints, the two concepts: arthritis and arthrosis seem exactly the same.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 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, which means 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 in 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 joints disrupt metabolism, as a result of which the tissues do not receive adequate nutrition and become thinner.This is where the destruction of cartilaginous tissue occurs.
Prevention of joint diseases
Proper nutrition ensures health for all body systems.A sufficient amount of proteins, calcium, iron and vitamins allows you to provide cartilage tissue, ligaments, synovial fluid and bones with everything necessary.
Furthermore, 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, you need to be vaccinated in a timely manner.