How to treat knee arthropathy so that it is effective? You need to help your body, reduce stress, normalize metabolism, improve bowel function, facilitate the kidneys and liver. That is, to reduce excess weight, start eating right, reduce the amount of animal fats, meat, digestible carbohydrates. Include in the menu dishes of fermented vegetables, dairy products, rye, bran or wholemeal flour.
Proper diagnosis is the key to treatment. Joints are a symptom of many diseases with different treatment regimens. Therefore, a diagnostic error, and even more so an independent diagnosis can be very expensive for the patient.
The question of how to treat the knee joint is not new in modern medicine. For its treatment, there are now various methods, both therapeutic and surgical. Since surgical methods are always the last resort, consider therapeutic methods.
Medicines
The effectiveness of the treatment depends on the stage of the joint destruction, its timeliness. It usually starts with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
They do not have a direct effect on the cause of the disease and do not stop the destruction of the joint, their effect is exclusively in reducing the main symptoms. The signs of inflammation are reduced, the swelling subsides, the pain disappears or becomes much less.
With the help of anti-inflammatory drugs, intense pain sensations are relieved, which makes it possible to gradually switch to other methods of treatment, for example massage, which would be contraindicated due to pain and inflammation.
However, long-term use of these drugs is undesirable, as it obscures the manifestations of the disease, creating a picture of a complete cure, but in fact the disease can progress. In addition, side effects can further enhance cartilage destruction processes. Therefore, if there is a question about the need for long-term use of drugs of this group, selective anti-inflammatory drugs should be preferred.
If the diagnosis is made - joints of the knee joint, vasodilators are prescribed: enhancement of cartilage nutrition, the articular membrane of the joint stops the destruction and enhances the recovery processes. To reduce the allergic component, desensitizing drugs are prescribed.
Chondroprotective agents in the treatment of knee arthropathy
How to treat knee joint arthritis if you are not trying to restore the structure of the cartilage damaged by the disease?For this, a group of drugs called chondroprotectors are used.
They do not only act on individual symptoms, but affect the cause of the disease, helping to improve the condition of the cartilage surface, improving the production of joint fluid and its lubricating properties.
They improve the production of synovial fluid, improve its properties and restore the substance of cartilage. The only thing to remember is that you can only restore what still exists, but if the cartilage is completely absent, damaged, there are marginal bone growths, these drugs will not help.
So the best result from using chondroprotectors will be if you start using them early, no later than grade I or II of the knee joint grade and, over a long period of time, several times a year.
Unfortunately, these tools are far from instantaneous. Sometimes 2-3 cycles of treatment are required to achieve the result, and this lasts from six months to one and a half years. And the drugs of this group are completely ineffective in the third stage of the disease, when the cartilage has already been completely destroyed. However, of all the drugs used for arthropathy, chondroprotectants are the most useful for the patient, in addition, they have almost no contraindications and side effects.
Joint injection
Intra-articular drug injections work well, however, it should be borne in mind that the procedure itself can injure the capsule tissues and cause infection of the joint cavity. Corticosteroids are usually injected into the joint. For long-term action, steroid hormones are used (if necessary to relieve severe inflammation).
This procedure is usually performed to provide emergency care to a patient. This achieves rapid relief from pain and inflammation. But for various reasons it is undesirable to inject the same knee more often than once every 2 weeks.
If the joint is calmer, there are no obvious signs of inflammation, the chondroprotectors can be injected directly into the joint, reach the target quickly and have a positive effect.
Significantly improves the sliding of the articular ends of the bone in relation to each other and reduces the load of hyaluronic acid injections into the cartilage. Of course, these drugs are very effective if there is no severe cartilage destruction.
Outdoor installations
Patients often ask the question how to treat knee arthropathy by external means? After all, the first thing you want to do with a sore knee is rub it and wrap it warmly.
Unfortunately, neither ointments, nor creams, nor all kinds of rubbing can cure arthritis. But they can alleviate the patient's condition by reducing pain and do not act irritating to the gastrointestinal tract, as anti-inflammatory drugs. Heating ointments are used, as well as ointments based on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The skin absorbs only 5-7% of the active substance, so the effect of these ointments is not as effective as we would like.But compressions for knee joints are more effective. For them, medical bile may be suggested. They immediately relieve inflammation, have relief and analgesic effects.
Massage and physiotherapy
Physiotherapy for arthritis also has a positive effect. Procedures such as ultrasound, laser, magnetotherapy, phonophoresis are used. Thanks to them, the sensitivity to the pain of the joints is reduced, the inflammatory processes in them are reduced and the swelling is removed.
You can use radon, salt baths, apply bile compresses.
If possible, you can undergo a manual traction treatment. In this case, the ends of the bones move away from each other and their load is reduced. Only operations must be performed very carefully and by a qualified specialist. Manual therapy and massage of the knee joint also give good results, improving blood circulation in the disease, stopping the development of destructive processes in it and restoring its function as much as possible.
Massage is particularly effective in the early stages of the disease, when it has not yet had its full destructive effect. It is good to do this after practicing corrective exercise. A hot shower or steam bath is a good preparatory step for a massage. After that, the muscles warm up and the massage has a deeper therapeutic effect. In the treatment of arthritis of the knee joint, sanatoriums also have a beneficial effect. The healing of the mud improves the course of regenerative processes in the cartilage, improves the supply of nutrients to the joints and the supply of blood to them.
If the joint is completely damaged, only surgical treatment can help - replacing it with an artificial one.
Precautionary measures: reduction of the destruction process
The prevention of arthritis is due to the causes of its occurrence, the main of which are overweight, trauma and poor physical activity. Physical education, the realization of feasible physical exercises strengthens the muscles that surround the joints. Thanks to this, the load on the cartilage is reduced. Morning walks and swimming are useful.
At the same time, it is important to observe alternating load and rest and proper safety during exercise. Injury and overload should be avoided as much as possible. In addition, injuries are one of the main causes of joint pain. The appearance of micronuclei determines the presence of initial foci of inflammation. Therefore, for athletes and sports fans, we must not forget a protective equipment, such as the knees.
Preventing the knee joint also involves following a healthy diet. Every extra pound of weight puts extra pressure on the joints of the legs. You should eat less sweets and flour, as well as fruits and vegetables - as much as possible. Studies show that vegetarians are much less likely to develop arthritis. Coffee and strong tea have a bad effect on the joints, flushing calcium out of the bones, but natural dairy products help replenish its stores.