I. What is knee osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis of the knee is the most common degenerative joint disease in humans, which is often referred to as osteophytes and long bone spurs of the knee. It occurs mainly in the knee, ankle, y and other weight-bearing joints, and is mostly seen in middle-aged and elderly people, especially in women with fat bodies.
The main pathological changes of knee osteoarthritis occur in the articular cartilage, including wear and tear, degeneration, destruction, osteophytes, etc.
The disease has a serious impact on the quality of life of middle-aged and elderly people and is attracting more and more attention.
What are the risks of knee arthritis?
Osteoarthritis of the knee can cause joint pain, especially when moving, especially when moving, more obvious, in serious cases, joint dysfunction, and even disability, bringing inconvenience to daily life, quality of life seriously reduced. What are the causes of osteoarthritis of the knee?
There are various factors that cause osteoarthritis of the knee, and the common causes are as follows.
1, age factor With age, the joint years of accumulated strain, resulting in degenerative joint cartilage, lack of elasticity of joint cartilage, joint cartilage edge with osteophytes, that is, the occurrence of osteoarthritis in the elderly.
2, obesity factors The disease is related to weight overload, menopausal women weight gain can contribute to the occurrence of osteoarthritis.
3, climate factors People who live in a humid, cold environment have a high incidence.
4. Trauma and inflammation Patients with intra-articular fractures, dislocations, meniscal and ligament injuries, tuberculosis and rheumatoid arthritis are susceptible to secondary osteoarthritis.
5. Abnormalities of the joint structure, inversion and valgus deformity of the knee joint, large osteoarthrosis, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, etc. can be secondary to this disease.
6, occupation Long-term heavy physical labor miners are prone to knee or y-joint osteoarthritis, ballet dancers are prone to ankle arthritis.
How to prevent the occurrence of osteoarthritis of the knee joint?
Pay attention to a balanced and reasonable dietary structure, eat more calcium and gum-rich foods, and avoid being overweight. In daily life, you should get more sunshine, exercise in moderation, pay attention to protecting your joints at all times, avoid sitting and standing for a long time, wear less high heels, do less frequent ascending exercises, pay attention to keeping warm in cold weather and avoid getting cold, etc.
4. How to detect osteoarthritis of the knee at an early stage?
The earliest manifestation is the pain or stiffness of the knee joint, which is obvious in the morning, when getting cold or going up and down stairs, and the joint may also have swelling or even fluid accumulation. If these problems occur and are aggravated by cloudy weather, cold, overexertion, difficulty walking up and down stairs, and weakness in the legs, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible
X-rays are films taken to help with the diagnosis. x-rays often show changes such as hardening of the joint surface, bone spur formation, and narrowing of the joint space.
V. How should osteoarthritis of the knee be treated?
Once you have osteoarthritis of the knee, you should treat it as early as possible to prevent further development of the disease. The treatment is to relieve the symptoms and to protect the function of the joint.
1. Rest: When joint pain and fluid accumulation occur, exercise should be reduced, rest properly, avoid excessive weight bearing, cold and moisture, and avoid being sedentary. For those who are overweight, reduce weight.
2.Functional exercise: Non-weight-bearing activities should be the main focus, and exercises of flexing and extending joints and contracting muscles of lower limbs can be performed in bed.
Physiotherapy can relieve pain and muscle spasm, help improve blood circulation and reduce swelling.
4, the application of anti-inflammatory painkillers, such drugs through the elimination of local sterile inflammation to achieve the purpose of pain relief, the effect is still good. Commonly used oral medications include fentin, loxoprofen, celebrex, etc., and topical medications include futa soft forest ointment, bone pain ointment, etc.
5.Chinese herbal medicine treatment can help the recovery of the disease with internal or external Chinese medicine or herbal medicine with the effect of relaxing the tendons and activating the blood.
6.Injection therapy There are two kinds of injections: painful point injection and intra-articular injection. If the pain around the joint is obvious, injection treatment can be done to the muscle and ligament attachment points around the joint, which can significantly reduce pain; intra-articular injection of sodium vitreous acid injection has good effect on early and middle osteoarthritis. In recent years, the pain department has used joint cavity ozone rinsing combined with sodium glassate to treat osteoarthritis of the knee. Ozone (ozone.oxygen, O3) has shown good efficacy and great potential in the treatment of osteoarthritis because of its strong anti-inflammatory, analgesic and cartilage repair effects, and it is both a strong oxidant and a drug. It has achieved very good therapeutic results, improved patient satisfaction, and can reduce symptoms, relieve pain, and increase joint mobility.
7.Acupuncture treatment For patients with a long history of disease, local adhesions and poor results from the above methods, acupuncture therapy can often achieve better results.
8.Surgical treatment Patients with serious conditions need to consider surgery, and can go to the bone and joint surgery.