Arthritis, arthrosis, pinched meniscus, bursitis… Usually, all these joint problems are associated with old age. But this is far from true. Often we do not pay attention to the pain or crunch in the joints, relying “at random”. But for women it is very important to monitor the condition of their joints! Goodshapetips talks about the treatment and prevention of joint diseases.
Our skeleton during life withstands heavy loads, consisting of the weight of our body and all those burdens that we carry on ourselves. And the maximum load falls on the moving parts of the skeleton – the joints and spine.
Any injury, active sports, excessive stretching among gymnasts, heavy weight exercises in the gym – all this wears down the joints and can lead to arthritis (inflammation of the joint), or bursitis (inflammation of the articular sac with accumulation of fluid in it), and in the future , if the necessary measures are not taken in time, already to irreversible consequences – arthrosis (growth of bone tissue in the joint).
It should be noted with regret that the joints of women are much more susceptible to disease than men’s. Women’s ligaments are much weaker, and the loads that fall on the fragile shoulders of a modern woman, alas, are very large and sometimes are not inferior to men’s.
In the beginning, let’s look at how our joints are still arranged. A joint is a place where two (or more) bones meet. In order for the bones not to be erased in the area of the joints and the movement was smoother, there is cartilage tissue in the joint between the bones – the so-called meniscus of the joint.
And, finally, in order for the bones to hold and not “scatter in different directions”, there is an articular bag, consisting of ligaments that tightly envelop the joint and hold it in place. The knee joint has another constituent element – the patella.
In youth, all people are quite active, go in for sports, walk a lot and very rarely think about the joints of their body. To a greater extent, of course, this applies to the joints of the legs – the hip, knee and ankle – because they bear the entire weight of our body. The knee joints are the most susceptible to injury.
And the most unpleasant problem that can occur at a young age is the infringement of the knee meniscus, when the meniscus moves out of its proper place and is pinched by the edges of two bones. The main symptom of this trouble is a sharp pain when trying to straighten the leg in the knee joint.
Injuries, heavy loads, sprains and sprains of the muscles of the lower extremities can lead to infringement of the meniscus. At first, soreness can occur abruptly and just as abruptly pass. Do not turn a blind eye to this – you should immediately contact an orthopedic traumatologist.
At the initial stages, correction is possible with the help of a set of exercises. to strengthen the ligaments of the knee joint and wear an orthosis (a device that controls the amount of movement in the joint and the degree of load on the joint). In more advanced cases, treatment is only surgical – partial or complete removal of the meniscus.
The next most common problem is arthritis. After an injury, hypothermia, against the background of a viral or infectious pathology, after active sports, many of us experienced pain in one or more joints.
They can be quite short-term and end quickly, or they can turn into a serious problem – inflammation of the joint or joint bag. If you periodically feel pain in one or more joints, this is already a reason to see a doctor.
If the pain is accompanied by reddening of the skin over the joint, a local increase in skin temperature in the joint area, swelling, then arthritis or bursitis has developed, which requires immediate consultation and treatment by the surgeon by injecting drugs into the joint.
You should not close your eyes to a crunch in the joints – this may indicate a pathology of cartilage tissue. There are a number of drugs that restore the structure of cartilage (chondroitin sulfate and its analogues), which are prescribed and taken under the strict supervision of a doctor.
And finally arthrosis – a serious problem that most often still affects the elderly, but if the above problems are not treated or treated incorrectly, or with frequent dislocations or injuries, it can also occur in young people.
Alas, arthrosis is an incurable disease and if it started in any joint, then its development in this joint is already inevitable and can only be stopped by taking medication, wearing orthoses and observing the motor regimen. With severe arthrosis – surgical treatment to replace the joint.
And in conclusion, I would like to recommend several exercises to preserve and strengthen the joints, which are given to us once at birth, and our task is to prolong their youth for as long as possible!
Cycling and swimming, walking (not running!)
Perform the exercise “Frog”, in which from a full squat we jump as far forward as possible, do 4 sets of 15 times
Another useful exercise: stand with your back to the wall, bend your knees at an angle of 90 degrees so that the thigh is parallel to the floor and sit for 10 minutes
Do half squats at a slow pace. Repeat 10-15 times
Rotation of the lower leg on weight. Raise one leg to an angle of 90 degrees, bending it at the knee, and perform rotational movements of the lower leg from the knee clockwise and counterclockwise. In this case, it is necessary to keep the position of the thigh of this leg motionless. Repeat 10-15 times with each leg
In parting, I would like to wish everyone that your joints never interfere with your active plans in life!
Alla GRIGORYEVA,
general practitioner
