Joint pain is not only a problem for the older generation. Young people are often faced with this. In some situations, pain relievers are saved from 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 pain in the joints can be both mechanical and infectious. After an injury, no one is surprised by the pain when moving. But when pain occurs for no obvious reason, the patient does not understand how to act to get rid of the problem.
However, a bacterial infection can cause pain. When pathogens enter the synovial fluid, they invade nearby soft tissues. An infection can get into a joint in several ways:
- As a result of prosthetics, due to poor-quality sterilization of materials.
- Due to deep tissue damage in skin infections;
- After any surgical intervention performed in violation of the rules of antiseptic processing.
In addition to bacteria, the joint is also threatened by fungus. These microorganisms also enter the synovial fluid as a result of infection obtained during surgery.
Few people associate stomach ailments or bladder damage with knee or elbow pain. Nevertheless, 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 are deposited in the joint cavity. Joint risks are:
- diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- lesions of the urinary system;
- venereal 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, a late diagnosed sore throat, or a patient's refusal of prescribed antibiotics, can lead to disability. This is due to the fact that streptococcus, which causes angina, is 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 main treatment, the immune system itself will destroy the joint tissue, fighting the infection.
Viral infections also affect the joints. These are diseases such as:
- rubella;
- hepatitis C;
- hepatitis B;
- herpes.
Mankind has not yet invented a proven effective drug that would 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 human immunity. To protect yourself from infections that can destroy joint tissue, you can arm your immunity with vaccinations. Vaccinations against rubella and hepatitis are included in the mandatory calendar.
How to relieve pain
As a symptomatic treatment of joint pain, orthopedists practice non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
In case of unbearable pain, you will need to see a specialist who will block it. This is a procedure that allows you to introduce anesthesia into the joint itself and into the near-root zone of 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 the crunch in the joints say?
Joint crunching 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, the one-off crunch that can be heard when bending or extending the joint to its extreme position is the sound made by gas bubbles bursting inside the joint fluid.
If there is a constant crunch during movement, you need to reduce the load on the moving part. It is better to eliminate the cause through the office of an orthopedic traumatologist. Taking the advertised drugs on your own will not only not help, but can also harm. X-rays will show the condition of the bones and inter-articular cartilage. If it turns out that he is depleted, individual recommendations will be given. If, with the developed cartilage, you independently clog the pain with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, it will only be possible to reduce the sensitivity in the joint, while continuing to exploit it. Over time, thin cartilage becomes the cause of inflammation of the intra-articular tissue, which will lead to arthrosis.
Arthritis or arthrosis
For those who have no medical education or have not personally encountered problems with bones and joints, two concepts: 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 suffix "it" speaks of an inflammatory process. This can be seen in other terms: rhinitis - inflammation of the sinuses, bronchitis - inflammation of the bronchi; otitis media - an inflammation of the ear. At the same time, the term does not speak about 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, without a description of the cause.
Arthrosis is a disease in which the inter-articular cartilage is affected. Long-term unexplored 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. Hence, the destruction of cartilage tissue occurs.
Prevention of joint disease
Proper nutrition ensures the health of all body systems. Adequate amount of protein, calcium, iron and vitamins allows you to provide cartilage tissue, ligaments, synovial fluid and bones with everything you need.
In addition, an active lifestyle will keep muscles in good shape, thanks to which they provide additional support for the entire skeleton in general, and joints in particular. And in order to protect yourself from dangerous viral infections that affect the joints, you need to be vaccinated in a timely manner.