Joint pain is not only a problem of the older generation.And young people often encounter this.In some situations, painkillers help relieve unpleasant symptoms, in others, drug treatment is necessary, and in the most severe cases, the help of a surgeon is necessary.
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 the 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.Infection can enter the joint in several ways:
- As a result of prosthetics, due to low-quality material sterilization.
- 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 as a result of infection received during surgical interventions.
Few people associate stomach disease or bladder damage with knee or elbow pain.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.Some of them are deposited in the joint cavity.Common 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 the immune system recognizes the streptococcus, which causes tonsillitis, in the same way as the cells of the heart valves and intra-articular tissue.If antibiotic therapy is not used as the primary treatment, the immune system will destroy the joint tissue itself 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 devised a proven effective drug to fight the virus.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 vaccinations.Vaccinations against rubella and hepatitis are included in the mandatory calendar.
How to relieve pain
Orthopedists use non-steroidal 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 the block.This is a procedure that allows you to inject anesthesia into the joint itself and into the radicular zone 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 creaking in the joints mean?
Crackling joints can be caused by several reasons.On the one hand, crunching indicates that the intra-articular substrate is depleted as a result of a violation of the water and salt balance.On the other hand, a crackling sound, which can be heard when flexing or straightening the joint to its maximum position, is the sound made by gas bubbles bursting within the joint fluid.
If a constant screeching sound is heard during movement, it is necessary to reduce the load on the moving part.It is better to remove the cause in the office of an orthopedic traumatologist.Self-administration of advertised drugs will not only not help, but can also harm.The X-ray will show the state of the bones and interarticular cartilage.If it proves to be exhausted, individual recommendations will be given.If you treat the pain with NSAIDs when you have worn cartilage, you will only be able to reduce the sensitivity in the joint as you continue to use it.Over time, the thin cartilage causes inflammation of the intra-articular tissue, which will lead to osteoarthritis.
Arthritis or arthrosis
For those who do not have a medical education or have not personally encountered problems with bones and joints, the two terms: arthritis and arthrosis seem exactly the same.The similarity of the names is explained by the fact that all joint-related diseases have the root "art".The prefix "to" indicates an inflammatory process.This can be seen on the example of other terms: rhinitis - inflammation of the sinuses, bronchitis - inflammation of the bronchus;otitis – ear inflammation.However, the term does not indicate the causes of inflammation, which means that 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 an inflammation of the joint, without a description of the cause.
Arthrosis is a disease that affects the interarticular cartilage.Long-term untreated arthritis sooner or later leads to arthrosis.Inflammatory processes in the joint disturb the metabolism, due to which the tissues do not receive proper nutrition and become thinner.This is where cartilage tissue is destroyed.
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 will keep your muscles in tone, thanks to which they provide additional support to the entire skeleton in general, and joints in particular.And in order to protect yourself from dangerous viral infections that affect the joints, you must get vaccinated in time.