Anyone who has had joint pain at least once in their life knows how disabling it can be. Arthritis, arthritis, osteochondrosis of the spine, the consequences of sports injuries and inflammation of the periarticular tissues can deprive sleep and enjoyment of favorite activities. Doctors are sure: the problem can be solved if you do not put off treatment for a long time.
Because joint disease is a common occurrence, there are many drugs on the shelves of pharmacies that promise to relieve pain, swelling and stiffness in a matter of hours. Private medical centers vied with one another to offer the “most effective” and “most affordable” approaches to treat diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Traditional medicine is not lagging behind: hundreds of different recipes can be found on the Internet, which are recommended to relieve discomfort and inflammation, strengthen bones and restore cartilage.
Doctors keep repeating: there is no universal answer to the question of how to cure a particular joint disease. Approaches are individual for each specific pathology and for each patient, taking into account the peculiarities of lifestyle, concomitant diseases, age and well-being. In most cases, it helps to make progress and remove the issue of surgical treatment with a set of therapeutic measures, including medication, acupuncture, physical therapy, and therapeutic exercise. Let’s work out together how it works.
Conservative (medication) treatment of joint diseases
The first recommendation from the doctor who is approached by a patient with complaints of joint pain is usually to take painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications. There is nothing strange about this: to begin with, it is worth relieving pain and stopping the inflammatory process to make the patient feel comfortable.
Medicinal treatment works quickly, and this is its main advantage. However, there is another side to the coin: pills, ointments and injections can not completely cure the pathology of the joints, if we are talking about a severe chronic disease. In addition, some types of drugs have pronounced side effects, so abuse them is dangerous to health.
Doctors prescribe the following groups of medications for medical treatment:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs): a broad group of drugs that include aspirin[1], ibuprofen[2], diclofenac[3], nimesulide[4], meloxicam[5] and other drugs. They have a triple effect: they relieve pain, reduce fever, and arrest inflammation. Short courses of use of NSAIDs do not have a negative effect on the patient’s condition. However, uncontrolled intake of drugs from this group is fraught with stomach and kidney problems.
- Vasodilators play an important role in treatment, if due to swelling or deformity of the joint, blood vessels that provide blood supply are narrowed or compressed. Pentoxifylline[6], aminophylline[7] accelerate blood flow in the pathological focus, stimulating recovery processes.
- Myorelaxants (tolperizone[8], tizanidine[9] and others) are prescribed in cases when stiffness in the joint or compression of nerve fibers leads to overstrain of surrounding muscles, which increases pain sensations and limits mobility even more. Drugs from this group are prescribed for a short time, as their effect may have a negative impact on the functioning of other organs and body systems.
- Steroids (hydrocortisone[10], diprospan[11] and others) are prescribed when pain syndrome and an active inflammatory process are pronounced, when other drugs are ineffective. More often they are used in injections, injecting the drug directly into the joint area. As with the use of other hormones, regular use of steroids leads to complications, so competent doctors in joint disease try not to prescribe steroids for a long course.
- Chondroprotectors are another important group of drugs that are prescribed for diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Drugs containing chondroitin sulfate[12] and glucosamine[13] promote the synthesis of cartilage tissue, so that the symptoms of arthritis, osteochondrosis and other pathologies recede. It is important to note that chondroprotectors have a cumulative effect, so they should be taken for at least six months.
In addition to tablet and injectable forms of drugs, therapeutic ointments and creams that contain active ingredients from the above pharmacological groups are used for joint diseases. Their advantages include ease of use and lack of side effects, to the disadvantages — poor penetration through the skin (no more than one-tenth of the medication reaches the diseased joint).
Non-invasive treatment
Of decisive importance in the treatment of joint disease are non-invasive procedures — physical therapy, kinesitherapy (movement therapy) and nutritional therapy. Given the chronic nature of most pathologies in this group and the advanced age of many patients, it is important to avoid excessive “infatuation” with drugs, but at the same time to prevent the progression of the disease to severe stages, when the only effective method of treatment will be surgery.
Physiotherapy
- Shockwave therapy is a relatively new physical therapy procedure. It is based on the cavitation effect, in which dynamic pulses of a certain frequency stimulate blood circulation, bone and cartilage synthesis in the joint, and destroy mineral salt deposits and inflammatory adhesions.
- Myostimulation helps to simultaneously train and relax the muscles surrounding the joint, which relieves pain, reduces stress on the bone joint and burns fat deposits. This procedure is often prescribed for weakened and obese patients as a preparation for physical therapy and manual therapy sessions.
- Phonophoresis is an ultrasound therapy combined with the introduction of local medications. This approach allows for a better effect of pharmaceuticals, which reduces the cost of treatment. In addition, ultrasound vibration stimulates blood circulation and regeneration of the joint.
- Ozone therapy is primarily indicated for infectious joint diseases: the effects of active oxygen has a decontaminating effect. It also promotes recovery from trauma, relief of edema and pain relief of the pathological focus. It is an important component in the treatment of patients suffering from drug intolerance.
Kinesitherapy
- Contrary to the opinion that people with painful joints should avoid physical activity, physical therapy is indicated for most orthopedic conditions. After all, regular exercise on specially designed schemes strengthens the muscular corset, increases range of motion and restores the patient’s joy of movement. Patients often note that they feel better than they did before the onset of their joint problems thanks to LFC.
- Massage (including lymphatic drainage) and manual therapy are essential for all patients, regardless of the stage of disease or age. These procedures involve targeting the affected joints, which stretches and strengthens ligaments and muscles, and expands the joint cavity. Professional massage sessions are an excellent prevention of exacerbations of arthritis, arthrosis and osteochondrosis of any localization.
- Mechanical therapy involves the use of special orthopedic simulators, work with which improves joint mobility and strengthens the muscles of the back and limbs. Professional machines are too expensive and difficult to use at home, so the best option is to have the sessions in a specialized medical center under the supervision of a specialist.
- Joint traction. Straightening combined with a sedentary lifestyle has resulted in a person’s spine being constantly under increased stress — as are the joints of the lower extremities. A good way to overcome the natural or pathological deformity of the joints is traction. These sessions are supervised by computer software, which gently expands the joint cavities, increasing the longevity of the bone joints.
Nutritional Therapy
It is an indispensable step in the treatment of joint disease — because errors in the diet have a negative impact on metabolism (including protein and mineral metabolism, the building blocks of the skeleton). Getting rid of excess weight is also essential, because obesity leads to the fact that the joints wear out much faster under the influence of excessive load than they could.
Overweight and joint disease often go together, which leads to legitimate questions: Can these problems be solved simultaneously, getting rid of pain and preventing surgical procedures. Such a possibility does exist.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Chinese medicine considers the human body as a whole, the different parts of which are closely interconnected. Arthritis and other diseases of the joints for the TCM doctor are symptoms of certain problems in the body, about the disturbance of blood flow and vital energy Qi along the energy channels.
The treatment is chosen individually. The doctor of Chinese medicine performs a pulse diagnosis, determines the true cause of joint pain and makes a health recovery program for each patient.
- Acupuncture is the basis of treatment. The reflexologist acts on the biologically active points in a certain combination to remove any blockages of Qi in the body and to start the process of self-restoration of the body. After a course of procedures, mobility in the joints returns and pain is minimized.
- Moxotherapy — heating active points with a wormwood cigar. It improves blood circulation, reduces inflammation and normalizes the blood flow. The procedure is practically painless, strengthens the body’s defenses, relieves pain in the joints.
- Phytocompresses — tissue scraps that are dipped in a bath with a warm concentrated squeeze of herbs and applied to acupuncture points. The procedure helps relieve joint pain and restore joint function.
- Tuina therapeutic massage is a quick way to bring the joints back to life. The therapist chooses the technique depending on the diagnosis. He acts on acupuncture points with a specific force, time and sequence. Stimulates the circulatory system and warms up the muscles. The patient feels better after the procedure, the course of such massage allows you to relieve pain in the joints and improve their mobility.
Comprehensive procedures of Traditional Chinese Medicine help restore health of joints without pain and operations.
Surgical treatment of joint diseases
Many patients try to avoid surgical treatment of joint pathology, and they are understandable. Such a serious intervention in the body is risky, and recovery from surgery takes months or years. Nevertheless, in some situations, the help of a surgeon is necessary.
Among the surgical procedures used to treat joints are the following:
- puncture (minimally invasive intervention) is a mini-operation in which the doctor inserts a special needle into the joint cavity to remove inflammatory fluid or inject a therapeutic drug;
- Arthroscopic debridement does not require wide incisions: the operation is performed using flexible endoscopic manipulators, through small openings. During the intervention, surgeons remove non-vital tissues from the joint cavity and, if necessary, flush it with medication solutions;
- Periarticular osteotomy — a traumatic intervention that is recommended for those patients who, for some reason, are contraindicated to prosthesis of the joint. This surgery involves sawing the bones that make up the joint and then fusing them together at a new angle, which reduces the load on the painful joint and improves the mobility of the limb;
- Endoprosthetics is a radical procedure for large joints: the failed joint is replaced with a biocompatible prosthesis capable of performing the necessary functions for the rest of life. Endoprosthetics is a serious intervention, requiring a lengthy recovery and preparation of the patient’s apartment for rehabilitation during the first months after surgery.
Modern medicine generally adheres to the trend of reducing invasive effects on the patient’s body, so surgical treatment is used only in severe cases.
Folk remedies
Folk remedies can be useful when they do not replace, but rather complement a set of therapeutic measures prescribed by the doctor. Be wary of advertising all kinds of biologically active supplements. The effectiveness of folk remedies for the treatment of arthritis and arthritis has no scientific evidence, as well as information about the possible side effects of such effects. Be sure to tell your doctor about all the procedures you want to carry out on your own, in the order of self-treatment.
The best way to avoid early aging of the joints is prevention. Gentle physical activity, regular use of dishes containing gelatin (cold cuts, jellies and so on), giving up bad habits and clothes, matched to the weather, will allow you to avoid depressing diagnoses and maintain mobility and ease of movement for many years.
There are many medical procedures aimed at the treatment of joint pathologies. The success of treatment depends on the experience of the doctor and the accuracy of the diagnosis. To find a qualified specialist, it is important to go to a reputable clinic.
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