Over the past few decades, not only the elderly have complained about joint pain, but also the category of people who are almost 35 years old. Why this happens, there is no exact information, however, the problem is becoming more urgent every year and confuses more and more people.
identification
If the joint hurts, then you should not attribute the problem to factors such as weather changes, magnetic storms, hypothermia, hard physical labor. This problem has completely different causes.
So, why joints hurt, what can cause joint pain, how to treat diseased joints - this article is about all this.
Painful joints can express themselves in different ways: at first it can be just an unpleasant sensation, then crunching (crunching), after numbness and tingling, and only then the pain begins to manifest itself in different ways: back pain, breathing, burning. Joint pain is not a harmless phenomenon, and the causes can be very different.
Cause of pain
Why there may be pain in the joints, judged by the nature of the pain and its localization.
- With infectious diseases (tonsillitis, bronchitis), pain in the joints is attractive, the pain, as a rule, is not one joint that suffers, but several at once.
- During intoxication of the body (for example, in the case of poisoning with mushrooms, alcohol), pain affects several joints at once.
- With exacerbation of chronic diseases (cholecystitis, tonsillitis), joint pain is of a flowing nature, that is, it can occur in one place and move to another.
- In inflammation, the pain in the joint is acute, it shoots and stabs. As a rule, one joint hurts, in rare cases - several.
Therefore, the causes of joint pain can be different: infectious, inflammatory, intoxication and chronic. At the same time, if the cause is not traumatological, rheumatology, orthopedic, then joint pain is far from the only symptom that will disturb. Other signs of human health will be mixed with it:
- Increased body temperature;
- Fever;
- Runny nose;
- to tear;
- Loss of appetite;
- Palpitations in the chest;
- Dizziness and vomiting;
- Diarrhea;
- White coating on tonsils and tongue;
- loss of voice;
This is not a complete list of all possible signs.
Pain with musculoskeletal problems
When various diseases of the musculoskeletal system become the cause of joint pain, it's time to find out which joint is unhealthy and what to do about it.
Joint pain in traumatological causes (and close to them) is completely different from others. As a rule, symptoms in such cases can be as follows:
- Swelling and redness of the affected area.
- The sore spot is painful to the touch, hot.
- Pain in any particular joint.
- Fever.
- Numbness and stiffness in movement.
- Sharp stabbing pains when moving, and sometimes at rest.
- Joint defects.
So, orthopedic causes of joint pain may be the following diseases:
- Rheumatism of the joints;
- Arthritis (polyarthritis);
- Arthrosis (polyarthrosis);
- Polyarthritis rheumatica;
- Gout;
- meniscus tear;
- Rupture of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus;
- Functional joint pain;
Brief information about the disease
Joint pain occurs for various reasons, sometimes it can be a symptom of a non-rheumatological (traumatic) disease when caused by an infection. In such cases, it is futile to treat the joint without eliminating the source of infection. The pain will stop, but then all the symptoms will return. As a rule, joint pain disappears when the infectious process is suppressed.
Another, the most common, reason why the joint hurts is the pathological process that occurs in it, or the injury suffered.
- Rheumatoid arthritis (polyarthritis)- diseases, the catalyst of which is a severe infectious disease: tonsillitis, rubella, influenza, brucellosis. Usually large joints are affected, while the lesions are symmetrical: two elbow or knee joints at once. Joint pain is accompanied by high fever and fever during the exacerbation period, which practically does not happen with other diseases of the joints.
- Arthrosis (polyarthrosis)- a pathological process that leads to partial or complete (with advanced forms of the disease) cartilage destruction. Joint pain accompanied by impaired motor activity of the joint. The symptoms of arthrosis and arthritis are similar, but there is one difference: the painful place with arthrosis hurts when trying to move, which cannot be said about arthritis (thus, the joint hurts even at rest).
- Joint pain- a degenerative process that occurs in the joints, associated with inflammation of the joint tissue and its deformation.
- Gout- violation of calcium and salt metabolism in the body, caused by growths that appear on the joints, which become inflamed and painful. Characteristic feature - pain at night.
- meniscus tear- Injury to the knee (or scapula), associated with a violation of the integrity of the meniscus. Pain in such cases occurs in the knee and gives back to it, when moving, you can hear a crunch in the joint.
- Functional joint pain occurs whennervous system disorders, it makes no sense to do anything with articulation, because the problem must be sought elsewhere. When it is eliminated, the discomfort will pass.
This, of course, is an incomplete list of why joints hurt, however, these reasons are the most common. What to do in such a situation should be decided only by a doctor after a thorough examination and diagnosis.
Treatment
The treatment of joint pain is a secondary task, the first goal is usually the elimination of inflammation and the cause of its occurrence.
It is important for the patient to understand that self-medication will not help him in any way and will only delay the treatment process, making the condition worse.All sick people need to do is see a doctor.If it happens that stiffness and pain in the joints arise at night and do not allow you to fall asleep, then you can drink anesthetic and do rubbing with warming ointment as needed.
The doctor starts the treatment of joint pain only after a thorough examination, obtaining the results of the examination and making a diagnosis.
Most orthopedic diseases are treated with traditional methods, and the use of surgical methods is carried out only as a last resort, when long-term drug treatment has proven ineffective.
Medical treatment (conservative methods)
Conservative methods are the most popular in this case.
No treatment for such diseases is complete without an appointment:
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which is used in various dosage forms: ointment, injection, tablet, patch, suppository. At the same time, it is not uncommon for doctors to decide to prescribe NSAIDs in several forms at once: injections and ointments, tablets and suppositories with ointment. The admission course is very long, the treatment conditions are determined taking into account a person's individual characteristics: age, physical. When prescribing, the presence of other diseases, contraindications, and possible side effects should be taken into account.
- Painkillersused in different dosage forms. With strong pain syndrome, strong injections are prescribed, if it hurts a little, then it is quite possible to cope with pills, warming ointments, patches.
If NSAIDs do not help, use:
- Corticosteroidswhich has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of treatment with these drugs is that the effect can be achieved faster than non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and the lack of hormones, which do not have a very good effect on the body as a whole and lead to unpleasant consequences. in the form of hormonal imbalance, weight gain. Therefore, doctors are not in a hurry to prescribe corticosteroids.
- Chondroprotectors, which is injected into the affected area to optimize the level of synovial fluid, normalizing friction, pressure and joint movement.
After completing the course of drug treatment, you can continue with folk remedies.
Correct treatment:
- Massage therapy;
- Gymnastics, swimming;
- Physiotherapy.
An important role is played by the prevention of recurrence of the disease, for this, a course of prophylactic treatment in the form of vitamin intake is carried out twice a year.and NSAIDs.
Operating Method
If conservative treatment turns out to be powerless and the joint still hurts, then surgery is prescribed, which operation will be performed, depending on the degree of tissue damage and diagnosis. If this is arthrosis in the third stage, then it is worth doing prosthetics, that is, replacing the articulation with an artificial one. If we are talking about the rupture of the meniscus, then with the help of a special puncture, it is sewn together. In any case, the doctor will do everything possible to avoid surgery, and the pain has stopped no matter what.
Conclusion
Therefore, joints can hurt for various reasons, it can be an infectious, and neurological problem. Joint pain is the main cause of pain. Do not ignore the pain, try to heal yourself or numb the pain with painkillers.
There are two main methods of tissue treatment:
- conservative method.
- Surgical treatment methods.
It is quite rare when surgical methods start treatment immediately, without using conservative methods. However, such cases also occur, for example, if a person does not move, and the degeneration process is at a point where it is not useful to treat with drugs. In such cases, it hurts so much that a person can lose consciousness from the intensity of the pain.