What is Arthrosis?
The joints are the components of the skeleton that allow the connection between two bones (such as the elbow, the knee, the hip, etc.) and, therefore, the movement. The cartilage is the tissue responsible for covering the ends of these bones and is essential for the proper functioning of the joint that acts as a shock absorber.
Osteoarthritis causes deterioration of the articular cartilage causing the bones start to rubbing against each other and the pain appears.
Joints affected by osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis of the spine or spinal column it is frequent, either cervical or lumbar spine.
Osteoarthritis of the knee it is more frequent than osteoarthritis of the hip.
Hips: Osteoarthritis of the hip is very disabling.
Hand: The most affected joints are the small joints of the fingers and the joint located at the base of the thumb.
Causes
Today, the causes why osteoarthritis occurs is unknown, but there are some risk factors associated with its appearance:
• Age: The risk potentially increase at the age of 50.
• Sex: Mainly affects women over 50-55 years. • Genetics: It can be a inheritance disease.
• Work activity: Repeated movements may lead to join overload in the long terms. Therefore, certain work activities (hairdressers, masons, etc.), can cause osteoarthritis.
• High physical activity: Elite athletes have a high risk of developing the disease.
• Menopause
• Obesity: It does not seem to participate in the development of osteoarthritis, but it can be aggravate it in certain joints such as the knees.
• Trauma: fractures and injuries can be a trigger.
HOW IS ARTHROSIS MANIFESTED?
Pain: Pains are the first apparent sign of the disease. It appears when making efforts and with movements.
In case of osteoarthritis of the knee or hip you may feel pain during the night when moving or even, sometimes completely still.
The pains in case of osteoarthritis of the hip is almost always felt in the groin and thigh and sometimes in the entire face of the thigh from behind in the buttock or even, only in the knee.
Rigidity
The pains in the morning are almost always accompanied by an impression of stiffness.
Functional difficulty
It is the discomfort you feel during certain activities. Osteoarthritis of the hip or knee causes walking difficulties with limitations defines by the maximum distance you can walk.
Diagnosis
X-ray are useful for diagnosis, which show a decrease in cartilage size, that is, the space that separates two bone limbs Other tests that can be used in exceptional cases are the scanner or MRI in some cases.
Treatment
The therapeutic possibilities are numerous. Several are used depending on the state of the disease, the existence or not of inflammatory signs that testify an access, the number of joints affected and the general condition of the patient.
Analgesics or “Pain killers” are medicines that act to suppress pain, those used in osteoarthritis are based on paracetamol.Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, naproxen, dexketoprofen and others are useful at the moment of pain and inflammatory access.
Medications that protect cartilage
Among them we find drugs such as chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate and hyaluronic acid.
Corticosteroid infiltrations consist of injecting an anti-inflammatory product derived from cortisone into a joint.
They are recommended when there is an attack of osteoarthritis with inflammation of joint. They produce relief of symptoms for a long period of time.
It is proposed in case of osteoarthritis of the knee with chronic or recurrent pain and effusion.
Surgical treatments
Joint prostheses: The interventions commonly performed consist of placing a joint prosthesis on the hip or knee. In advanced cases.
Forecast
Although this disease is not very serious, it does significantly decrease of patient quality of life, In fact, its prognosis differs quite a lot depending on the joint that is affected and the evolution of the pathology.
Many specialties are involved in the evaluation of a patient with osteoarthritis, first of all it is the general practitioner or family doctor who assesses the patient, and if necessary sends evidence and refer for an evaluation with the specialist, either a rheumatologist, as well as a traumatologist who treats osteoarthritis. Also the collaboration of other specialists, physiotherapist, nurse.
In Gran Alacant Family doctors we have a group of specialists trained to treat your joint problems, if you need it, come and meet us, it will be a pleasure to assist you.
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