What causes joint pain and how to treat it?
Summer is an active time when we are much more willing to
engage in sports activities and want to enjoy the joy of movement.
Unfortunately, there are situations when our activities are limited by such an
unpleasant factor as joint pain, most often in the knees. What causes joint
pain and what are the treatment and prevention options?
Why do joints wear out?
The orthopedist explains - a universal risk for any joint
(knee, ankle, hip, shoulder) is an increased load. Feet are often damaged by
overweight, including hard work, strenuous sports, age, synovial or joint
inflammation. Joint wear can be genetically determined, inherited. Arthrosis
begins, which develops because the cartilage cells - chondrocytes - lose their
ability to maintain and restore the joint complex. Elastic cartilage, on the
other hand, is needed for one bone to move easily along the other. So the
function of cartilage is cushioning - to reduce the load that the bone has to
endure on a daily basis, to withstand shocks. If the cartilage is intact, it is
of normal thickness (the knee joints can reach up to a centimeter), but as soon
as the cartilage wears out, the bone is no longer flexible and also begins to
wear out. As a result, the bone changes, the cell structure disappears, it
becomes monolithic, homogeneous and solid. This means that sclerosing occurs -
the bone prepares for a heavy load and becomes very firm. It then not only
sclerotizes, but tries to reduce the load by forming so-called horns - salts -
on it and making the joint stiffer.
What are Hyaluronic Acid Injections?
The joint is made up of two main shells - the outer is a
fibrous capsule that firmly holds the joint, while the inner synovial sheath
produces fluid that supposedly lubricates the joint. Hyaluronic acid is found
naturally in many human tissues and is a key component of synovial fluid.
Thanks to this lubricant, we can move easily and without pain, it also feeds
cartilage. However, over the years, the protein in the joint fluid becomes less
and less, and the cartilage does not receive enough of the necessary nutrients.
It becomes more fragile, more mechanically vulnerable and more easily damaged
by microtraumas.
Hyaluronic acid injection is a ready-made gel mass. When two
to three milliliters of this product is injected into the knee joint, it covers
all the uneven surfaces of the cartilage and the less healthy joint starts to
slip, less to grip and interfere, to move well. There are times when one
injection is enough, but basically three to five injections with a weekly break
are needed. They have a very positive effect on the cartilage of the joint
itself, because the composition of hyaluronic acid is similar to the
composition of the joint fluid and is well accepted. After the course of the
injection, the complaints decrease or even disappear and the problem is solved
for a longer time. The injection may need to be repeated after a year, but it
all depends on the situation.
Age is important
Hyaluronic acid will not be injected immediately in a young,
athletic person who may not have had age-related changes in their joints or
cartilage. If one or both knees start to hurt, orthopedic traumatologists first
think that there may be a meniscus or cartilage or ligament damage. So the
patient must first be examined, the exact diagnosis made, and then treatment
prescribed, depending on the fault found. Either they are anti-inflammatory
medications, procedures and regimens, or surgery. The most common are
arthroscopy - meniscus surgery, ligament surgery or cartilage leveling. But no
hyaluronic acid injections are given immediately. When is a young person
injected with hyaluronic acid? When we see that we can't help with tablets. For
example, magnetic resonance imaging has shown that the meniscus is healthy, but
there is damage to the cartilage - it is uneven in places. Or, when
arthroscopic surgery of the meniscus, we find that the cartilage is also weak.
Then we recommend hyaluronic acid injections for a young person, the doctor
emphasizes.
What about seniors?
If the X-ray clearly shows that the joint gap between the
two bones has narrowed, if we see the so-called horns or salt deposition, if
the magnetic resonance shows degenerative changes in the knee - osteoarthritis,
progressive joint wear, caused by no other disease, no other disease load,
genetic predisposition, if the cartilage is worn, the surfaces are uneven, the
ends of the bones rub against each other, there is pain Then the scenario is
different. The first step is to remove the pain in the knee, and therefore
perform the so-called blockade - corticosteroid injections. These are hormonal
preparations that act as powerful anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce the
inflammation of the inner capsule. If the positive effect lasts for four to
five days after the first injection and then the pain returns (but will not be
as intense), the injection can be repeated after a week, with a third dose
given a week later. When the knee has calmed down, there is no more pain and
the person says - well - then hyaluronic acid can and should be injected into
his knee joint. But it alone will not remove the pain! Therefore, it does not
make sense to immediately inject expensive hyaluronic acid injections into the
painful knee joint - a person will only be disappointed, because there will be
no expected positive effect, but the money will be spent.
Do ointments help?
They can be used to relieve the condition because they
contain one of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac, profenac
or another, which is absorbed through the skin to a certain depth. Only to be
taken into account: if knee pain is caused by inflammation, cooling ointments
should be used; if the discomfort is due to mechanical damage to the knee
joint, a warming ointment should be chosen, the doctor indicates.
Pharmacist advice
The pharmacist recommends thinking about joint health in
advance and using fish oil and vitamin C for prevention, which helps to keep
the joints healthy. However, if your joints start to hurt a little and make you
feel unwell, it is recommended that you take medicines and supplements
containing glucosamine and chondriotine for up to six months.
Of the minerals, copper and manganese are very important.
Copper provides proper enzyme activity, while manganese provides bone health.
Mother Nature also offers us various anti-inflammatory products, such as
extracts of bosvenia, ginger and white willow. As the inflammation decreases,
so does the pain.
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