Osteoarthrosis, also known as degenerative arthritis, etc., is a common disease among the elderly, especially elderly women. According to domestic statistics, patients with osteoarthrosis account for about 8% of the total population, and the incidence rate reaches more than 60% among those over 50 years old.
According to statistics, the prevalence of osteoarthrosis in the domestic population over 50 years of age reaches more than 60%. Raising awareness of osteoarthrosis will make the rest of your life less painful for your joints.
Osteoarthrosis, also known as degenerative arthritis, is a common disease among the elderly, especially elderly women. According to domestic statistics, patients with osteoarthrosis account for about 8% of the total population, and the incidence rate reaches more than 60% for those over 50 years old. In China, it is estimated that as many as 100 million people suffer from osteoarthrosis, which seriously affects the quality of life and health of the elderly.
The initial stage of osteoarthrosis development has mild symptoms and is often not taken seriously. When the symptoms significantly affect normal activities, the disease has often progressed to a serious stage. Therefore, it is important to recognize and prevent the development of the disease at an early stage.
What is osteoarthrosis?
There is a lot of confusion about osteoarthrosis. On the one hand, some joint pain may be considered arthritis, but on the other hand, there is a lack of understanding of what arthritis really is. So, what is osteoarthropathy? Osteoarthrosis is a chronic progressive disease and is not a well-defined condition. Its causes include joint injury, overuse, deformity, obesity, genetics, and many patients without a clear cause. Clinically, it often presents with joint stiffness, immobility, pain, swelling, and joint deformity in advanced stages. Characteristically, symptoms are mild and slow to develop in the early stages and severe in the late stages, with a significant impact on the patient’s mobility. x-rays can be helpful in diagnosis. In general, the deformities caused by osteoarthrosis are relatively mild compared to other arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, resulting in mild joint dysfunction and slow progression. The joints commonly involved in osteoarthrosis are the knee, hip, small joints between fingers and fingers, and small joints between vertebrae in the spine.
Correct understanding facilitates diagnosis
Osteoarthritis ≠ osteoarthrosis
Patients are used to calling osteoarthritis arthritis and often associate it with pain, but in fact, there is a difference between the two. Generally speaking, the term “inflammation” refers to an acute pathological process, while the term “disease” often refers to a chronic pathological development. Therefore, the name osteoarthrosis is more representative of the disease process, and its natural course is a slowly developing clinical process dominated by cartilage degeneration.
Orthopedic surgeons recommend that middle-aged and elderly people with joint pain should seek diagnosis from a specialist in a timely manner. The diagnosis not only includes whether you have osteoarthrosis, but the doctor can also help you determine the extent and stage of development of the joint disease, understand the trend of the joint disease and choose the best treatment plan so that you can get the best treatment.
Osteoarthrosis may also have acute manifestations
Although osteoarthrosis is a chronic process, it can also manifest acutely, called an “acute attack of osteoarthrosis,” which can be caused by a variety of stimuli. Acute joint pain, swelling, joint effusion, increased skin temperature and other acute inflammatory manifestations may occur. Conservative treatment can be effective in relieving symptoms, but it cannot cure the disease.
Trauma in early life can also trigger osteoarthrosis
Many patients who develop osteoarthropathy early in life as a result of some trauma are often skeptical about their doctor’s diagnosis, believing that a minor trauma can cause arthropathy. In fact, this pathological process is a potential development with age and the accumulation of injuries, which can lead to osteoarthrosis.
General diagnostic steps for osteoarthrosis
Take a detailed history and carefully examine the body.
In most cases, X-rays should be taken to determine the degree of degeneration of the bony structures of the joint and to lay the foundation for future management.
If joint effusion is present, arthrocentesis and routine laboratory tests are useful for diagnosis and differentiation.
If necessary, laboratory tests, including routine blood tests, blood sedimentation, rheumatoid-related tests, etc., are performed for differential diagnosis.
For patients with high-risk factors, the symptoms of osteoarthrosis must be taken seriously and treated promptly.
Risk factors for osteoarthrosis include: obesity, female, repeated joint strain, diabetes, etc.
External manifestations of osteoarthrosis
In osteoarthropathies of the small joints of the spine, there are often only clinical symptoms and no deformities are visible.
Deformities and nodular growths that occur in the small joints of the hand are commonly found in the small joints of the fingers, appearing early on both sides of the back of the joint with or without pain, and in severe cases the interphalangeal joints of all fingers can be deformed. Most cases do not result in loss of function as in rheumatoid.
The knee joint, where osteoarthrosis most often occurs, has no early changes in joint appearance, but with the gradual development of arthrosis, atrophy of the thigh muscles, inversion, valgus deformity or flexion deformity of the joint, etc. It is also seen that the joint gap is full and the joint appears hypertrophic. Hip joint lesions often manifest as flexion deformity, pain, limitation of movement and limping.
The application of new technology facilitates early diagnosis
In recent years, advanced diagnostic techniques have enabled the timely detection of previously undetectable early manifestations of osteoarthrosis. For example, magnetic resonance imaging can detect damage to articular cartilage and other signs of osteoarthrosis before any changes in the bone and joint are detected on X-ray, providing reliable evidence for early treatment.
Osteoarthrosis needs to be differentiated from rheumatoid arthritis
Osteoarthrosis is easily confused with rheumatoid arthritis because rheumatoid and joint pain are always associated together in people’s minds. Many people then think of osteoarthropathy as rheumatoid arthritis, and delay treatment. What is the difference between these two? Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that often involves joints and can also involve soft tissues, etc. The age of onset is mostly seen in adolescents, manifested as joint swelling, pain, stiffness, morning stiffness often lasts more than one hour, and progressively worsens, the natural course of the disease is significantly shorter than that of osteoarthritis, and the advanced stage leads to severe joint dysfunction, bony ankylosis and deformity, and loss of the ability to care for oneself. The joints often affected are mostly the hip and knee joints in the large joints, and the metacarpophalangeal joints of the hand and metatarsophalangeal joints of the foot in the small joints. Based on the medical history, clinical history and laboratory tests, it is not difficult to make a correct judgment. In contrast, osteoarthrosis has a slow course and mostly affects the elderly. Although the joints feel stiff in the morning, it can be relieved after activity and usually does not last more than 30 minutes. It is not usually accompanied by joint disability or serious deformity.
Treatment of osteoarthrosis
Basic treatment consists of two main categories: non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment. For advanced and severely dysfunctional osteoarthropathies, artificial joint replacement is a very effective treatment.
Non-pharmacological treatment includes functional exercises, protection of the involved joints, and avoidance of aggravated joint damage. Physiotherapy, massage and other physical therapy methods can also help to improve the joints.
How to do physical exercise
Functional exercise plays a very important role in the treatment. Through exercise, patients can prevent muscle atrophy, and strong muscles can increase the stability of the joints and reduce the burden on the joints, thus indirectly playing a role in joint protection. On the other hand, exercise can improve blood circulation around the joints and promote joint metabolism, which helps to control and reduce the development of osteoarthrosis. However, weight-bearing exercises can increase the load on the joints and lead to increased wear and tear of the joints, so the use of non-weight-bearing functional exercises and activities can achieve the purpose of exercise without increasing the burden on the joints. Such activities as swimming, walking, etc., while climbing, stairs, squatting, and strenuous confrontational exercises are harmful to the joints.
Orthopedic surgeons encourage patients with lower extremity dysfunction to perform repetitive straight leg raise functional exercises in the prone position, which are highly representative of non-weight-bearing functional exercises.
Medication
For patients with clear manifestations of osteoarthrosis, glucosamine analogues or hyaluronic acid can be applied to improve the metabolism of articular cartilage and thus improve joint function. For patients with significant joint pain or whose symptoms are significantly aggravated by certain factors, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs can be taken orally.
Chinese herbs are also useful for improving blood circulation around the joints.
Topical anti-inflammatory and analgesic rubs can also be used for synovitis with a clear site to bring it into a stable state and change the acute symptoms to a chronic passage.
When the pain site is clear and conservative treatment is not effective, local closure therapy can also be used, and accurate closure can rapidly reduce arthritic symptoms. It should be noted that after closure, attention should be paid to rest, reduce activities, pay attention to the protection of the injection local, injection should be strictly disinfected to prevent the occurrence of local infection. Once infection occurs, it can bring disastrous consequences to the joint. Closure therapy should not be repeated within a short period of time, because although the hormones used have the effect of rapidly reducing inflammation, repeated application will reduce the ability of local tissues to fight the injury and will easily re-injure them.
Prevention of osteoarthrosis is important
For high-risk groups or patients who already suffer from osteoarthrosis to prevent the occurrence or further development of osteoarthrosis.
1, to prevent repeated injuries to the joints, to reduce the external causes of osteoarthrosis, and to reduce strenuous weight-bearing activities and confrontational activities.
2.To actively treat the diseases that cause osteoarthrosis, such as osteoporosis and inversion deformity of the knee joint.
3, for patients already suffering from osteoarthrosis, to strengthen the protection of the joint and actively carry out non-weight-bearing functional exercises, such as straight leg raising functional exercises; reduce weight-bearing functional exercises, such as repeated squatting, strenuous exercise, long-term weight-bearing wear. Prevention of cold irritation, timely and effective braking rest in acute inflammation is also very necessary. On top of this, taking glucosamine, a class of drugs that nourish the joints, can also have a positive effect on preventing the development of arthrosis.
Osteoarthrosis is a degenerative disease of the articular cartilage caused by the vicissitudes of age in the locomotor system, and timely and proper diagnosis and early treatment to control and delay its progression are fundamental to treatment. The goal of treatment is not to cure osteoarthrosis, because “degeneration” cannot be cured, but to remove the cause, improve joint symptoms, and delay the development of osteoarthrosis, so that elderly patients can have normal motor function and live a long and healthy life.