Dense osteoarthritis is an osteosclerotic disease of the sacroiliac joint, also known as “sacroiliac joint dense osteoarthritis”. Clinically, the symptoms are mostly chronic, intermittent lumbosacral pain, soreness, vague pain, and stabbing pain. Sometimes it can radiate down to the buttocks and the back of the thigh, sometimes accompanied by pain in the pubic bone. Walking, prolonged standing, weight-bearing and exertion or cold can aggravate the symptoms, and the symptoms can be relieved after rest or heat. Postpartum pain is obviously aggravated and may be accompanied by fear of cold and wind in the lower back and lower limbs. Blood tests such as blood sedimentation, C-reactive protein, HLA-B27 and rheumatology tests are not abnormal; X-ray film or CT indicates that the bone density of the iliac olecranon part of the sacroiliac joint surface is increased or the iliac surface is sclerotic, but there is no bone destruction, and the sacroiliac joint gap is normal.
Dense osteoarthritis occurs in young people aged 20-40 years, and is more common in women with a history of pregnancy, childbirth or long-term standing occupations. Especially in women with multiple births, back pain may increase with the number of pregnancies or births. The disease is also occasionally seen in men.
The etiology of the disease is unknown to date, and chronic inflammation, trauma, and chronic strain may be associated with its onset.
There is no effective treatment for dense osteoarthritis in Western medicine, and anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs are not effective. Physiotherapy, local closure, massage, acupuncture, cupping, drug soaking, fumigation, etc. can temporarily reduce pain, and symptoms are likely to recur after stopping treatment.
A more effective treatment for dense osteoarthritis is internal Chinese medicine treatment. Especially for patients with adnexitis, pelvic inflammatory disease or history of trauma, the overall concept of Chinese medicine is used to individualize the treatment according to each patient’s physique, the severity of symptoms and the causes of the disease, and the treatment with Chinese herbs can achieve more satisfactory results by dispersing cold, promoting blood circulation, nourishing blood and tonifying kidneys and warming yang.