There are many misconceptions about arthritis. Many people think that arthritis only affects the elderly and that prevention is often a neglected problem. Unbeknownst to us, as the standard of living improves, the rate of arthritis in young and middle-aged people is increasing, especially in young people. Injuries caused by unscientific exercise and long-term exposure to hormone-containing cosmetics and foods are the main reasons for the increasing youthfulness of arthritis.
Arthritis is not a disease of the elderly
It is important to note that arthritis is not a disease of the elderly. Experts remind us that after we reach our twenties, we need to be more aware of arthritis prevention. At this time, the pituitary gland secretes less growth hormone, the body stops growing, and all of the body’s organs enter a maintenance phase and begin to age. This is also the time when the cartilage cells in the body move from the active phase to the maintenance phase, and then slowly age. Therefore, if you do not protect your joints when you are young, they will “age” prematurely, leading to arthritis.
Arthritis “favored” people
1, “sedentary people”. The deputy chief physician reminded: long-term sitting office family of white-collar workers should pay special attention to protect the shoulder, wrist, knee, ankle and other joint parts. Drivers grasp the steering wheel for a long time will also increase the chances of the onset of carpal syndrome, so that people gradually form joint “disuse” atrophy degeneration.
2, “high-heeled people”. Women who love to wear high heels are also a common group of people who suffer from arthritis attacks. High-heeled shoes will change the posture of the body by changing the position of the ankles, knees, hips and body joints, creating tremendous pressure inside the knees, and wearing high-heeled shoes for a long time may cause joint degeneration. Experts recommend not to wear high heels for a long time and should properly massage the acupuncture points of the feet. But not a single flat shoe is good for the joints, should wear shoes with soft soles, flexible slope heeled casual shoes.
3, “short skirt, short pants family. Some young women, in pursuit of beauty and thus ignore the freezing temperatures, always wearing skirts or shorts, exposed knee joints do not get the proper warmth and thus damage, resulting in limb numbness, joint pain, which in the long run will cause chronic rheumatoid arthritis.
4, “game family”. Nowadays there are many young people cell phones, computers, game consoles do not leave their hands, long time to press the keyboard or mouse, it is easy to induce tendonitis, and tendonitis and joint overstrain has a close relationship, often in the palm joint and thumb root. Its symptoms are numbness, edema, tingling, decreased sensitivity of the fingers, and difficulty in holding things. These are all warnings of arthritis to you and need special attention.
In addition to age, excess weight, injury and diabetes are also risk factors for arthritis, Naegan said.
Arthritis prevention and treatment in one
1. Physical therapy
Physical massage can help strengthen the muscles of arthritis patients during the chronic phase of osteoarthritis and improve the range of motion and function of the joints. But massage is best done by a specialist, do not blindly go to informal clinics for massage treatment or self-massage. Because first of all, massage does not play a direct therapeutic role, if improper treatment, but also aggravate the disease. The acute phase is good for pain relief and swelling. Deep transthermal therapy, such as short wave, microwave, ultra-short wave, ultrasound and pulsed electrical stimulation, has obvious effects on pain relief and improvement of function. In addition, the use of mineral spring therapy can also play a good effect on osteoarthritis.
2.Protect the joints
In daily life, try to avoid exercises that damage the joints, such as running, climbing, jumping, kneeling, repeated squatting, etc. Don’t let the joints stay in one position for a long time, don’t do repeated flexion and extension blindly, and try to reduce the weight and wear on the joints. Especially when the joint swelling should avoid the above-mentioned strenuous exercise. Weight loss: Obesity is a risk factor for osteoarthritis, and weight loss is important for weight-bearing joint osteoarthritis, especially in older women; Felson reports that weight loss of only 5 kg over 10 years can reduce the risk factor for knee osteoarthritis by up to 50%. Obese patients must be encouraged to carry out endurance exercise, persistent, both to improve cardiovascular adaptability, but also to promote weight loss.
3, appropriate exercise
For patients with osteoarthritis muscle wasting atrophy caused by the instability of the knee joint, improve the stability of the knee joint, enhance the quadriceps muscle strength is one of the keys to osteoarthritis rehabilitation. Usually perform some appropriate muscle exercises around the joint, this exercise should be mainly under non-weight-bearing exercise, such as swimming and cycling can increase endurance exercise, which can reduce the gravitational load on the joint, but also increase the patient’s oxygen capacity, improve cardiopulmonary function and sugar and fat metabolism, in order to enhance endurance and physical fitness. Straight leg raise quadriceps resistance exercise can make muscle movement coordination and muscle strength increase, which can reduce joint symptoms, enhance strength and endurance around the joint, while increasing the stability of the joint, maintaining and increasing the range of motion of the joint and improving the ability of daily activities. Exercise should be based on the patient’s specific situation, choose different treatment goals, within the range of motion of the diseased joint, by the patient automatically exercise, step by step. For patients in the acute phase of osteoarthritis, exercise is not recommended. The affected joint should be given adequate rest or only muscle contraction without joint movement. Beneficial exercises include swimming, walking, bicycling, and harmful exercises include training that increases joint torsion or overloads the joint surface, such as stair climbing, squatting and standing, and mountain climbing.
4. Medication
Appropriate drug therapy is also necessary, celecoxib, etoricoxib, etc. as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on behalf of COX-2 is the most characteristic of specific inhibitors is its analgesic effect including analgesic onset time and peak, similar to high-dose traditional NSAIDs, no adverse effects on the synthesis of cartilage matrix proteoglycan, and even have a role in promoting synthesis, cardiovascular and renal, the The minimal adverse effects on the cardiovascular and renal and digestive systems, non-dependence, and its non-addictive nature have made it the drug of choice. Proper calcium supplementation can prevent the occurrence of chondromalacia patellae, and Diquel or Calcium D is recommended.
5.Surgical treatment.
For osteoarthritis where conservative treatment is ineffective, surgical treatment can be taken, including arthroscopic cleanup and arthroplasty. Arthroscopy is a rod-shaped optical instrument with a diameter of about 5 mm to observe the internal structure of the joint, and is an endoscope used to diagnose and treat joint disorders. The arthroscope can see almost all parts of the joint, which is more comprehensive than cutting into the joint, more accurate because the image is magnified, and has a small incision, less trauma, less scarring, faster recovery, and fewer complications. It can be said that arthroscopic technology is an important part of joint surgery and fully reflects the development trend of minimally invasive modern surgery.
Arthroscopic arthroplasty is suitable for elderly patients with osteoarthritis stage III or above, during which the osteotomy corrects the inversion or valgus deformity of the joint, loosens the flexion contracture tissue, and restores the normal anatomical force line of the lower limb. It can completely reconstruct the joint function, almost immediately reduce the disease symptoms and restore movement, and is currently the most effective method for the treatment of intermediate and advanced osteoarthritis.
For the prevention of arthritis, young people need to strengthen exercise and physical fitness; avoid wind, moisture and cold; pay attention to the combination of work and rest; weight control is also not negligible, and timely treatment of joint trauma such as sports is also very important.