A detailed overview of types of arthrosis, including rare ones. Types of arthrosis Types of arthrosis

Arthrosis

Arthrosis- a chronic non-inflammatory joint disease associated with premature wear of articular cartilage. Unlike arthritis, an acute inflammation of the joints caused by various infectious agents, arthrosis develops throughout life and at first has almost no symptoms.

Unfortunately, arthrosis, like old age, cannot be cured, but the patient’s condition can be significantly alleviated, and most importantly, the development of the disease can be restrained.

Manifestations of arthrosis

Arthrosis belongs to the category of chronic diseases. Sometimes the disease can go unnoticed for years, only occasionally showing pain when putting pressure on a joint or clumsily moving. But it also happens that the disease rapidly develops to a severe stage in just a few months. In any case, it is important to remember that if the disease is not treated, its symptoms will increase over time, worsening the quality of life, and in severe cases, leading to disability and immobility.

Initially, with arthrosis, the normal function of the joint is disrupted. Characteristic symptoms of the initial stage of arthrosis are pain when moving and putting stress on the joint. If you give the joint a rest, the pain goes away, but returns when the load is resumed. Later, pain in the joint appears at night. Soft tissues may become inflamed, swelling and a characteristic crunch in the joint may appear. The patient may feel tension in the muscles adjacent to the joint. As the disease progresses, gradual deformation of the joint occurs, as well as limitation of mobility, first due to pain, and then due to pathological growth of cartilage tissue and deformation of the joint, which do not allow it to move normally.

Causes of arthrosis

The main cause of arthrosis is the aging of cartilage tissue cells. And hereditary predisposition, endocrine disorders, low physical activity, metabolic disorders, salt metabolism and trauma accelerate the progression of the disease.

Like any other tissue of our body, the joint periodically renews its cells. At a young age, the rate of death of joint cartilage cells is synchronized with the rate of birth of new cells. Over time, regeneration processes slow down and do not have time to replace dead cells. An important factor in this process is the nutrition of the joint, which occurs due to the joint fluid. With age, the amount of this fluid decreases, so the nutrition of the joint is also impaired. The joint fluid serves as a lubricant, allowing the articular surfaces to slide freely. A decrease in the volume of joint fluid leads to damage to the articular cartilage. Minor damage is not noticeable at first, but with every movement the injury is repeated and over the years leads to increasing destruction of the joint.

Types of arthrosis

Arthrosis can be primary and secondary.

Primary arthrosis occurs due to age-related changes in cartilage. Arthrosis may appear earlier or later depending on hereditary predisposition, metabolic disorders, excessive stress on the joints due to excess weight or working conditions. Recently, arthrosis has become younger; the disease begins to develop after 30 years. Men suffer from arthrosis 2.5 times less often than women. By the age of 50, changes in the joints are found in 30% of the population, and by the age of 60, manifestations of arthrosis occur in almost everyone, regardless of gender.

Secondary arthrosis has a history of trauma and can develop regardless of age.

The most common joints affected by arthrosis are the knee (gonarthrosis), hip (coxarthrosis) joints, interphalangeal joints of the hands, and the spine. The very first symptom of arthrosis is pain in the joint, which appears only during exercise and disappears with rest.

Gonarthrosis

The development of arthrosis of the knee joint depends on many factors. Aging of the body increases the risk of developing gonarthrosis, but not all older people suffer from arthrosis of the knee joints. It has been noted that gonarthrosis is often inherited. Research has shown that genes can influence collagen, the main building material of cartilage tissue, as well as the tissue's ability to repair itself or respond to inflammation. Gonarthrosis is more common in women over 50 years of age.

People who are overweight are at risk. Injuries often lead to arthrosis of the knee joint. This is why arthrosis is so common among athletes.

Coxarthrosis

Coxarthrosis - arthrosis of the hip joint is one of the most common. The main complaint with coxarthrosis is pain, the intensity, nature and duration of which depends on the stage of the disease and the severity of destructive processes in the joint.

Arthrosis of the interphalangeal joints of the hands

Women are more likely to suffer from this type of arthrosis. Over time, the joints thicken, the periarticular tissues become denser, and then bone growths, the so-called Heberden's nodes, appear. At the first stage, painful sensations appear when you strain your fingers and come into contact with cold water. In the acute stage, swelling, stiffness of movements may occur, a feeling of numbness and decreased sensitivity of the fingertips may occur.

Arthrosis of the spine

Arthrosis of the spine (Bechterew's disease) causes limitation of the motor capabilities of the spine due to the fusion of some joints.

You can evaluate how much arthrosis has limited the mobility of the spine using the following tests:

Bend forward as much as possible without bending your knees. In the absence of arthrosis, the distance to the floor will be within 5 mm.
Stand with your back to the wall, pressing the back of your head, buttocks and heels against it. Patients with spinal arthrosis cannot touch the back of their heads.
Stand up straight and tilt your head to the side, trying to touch your shoulder with your ear. This is impossible to do with arthrosis.

Prevention of arthrosis

Unfortunately, it is impossible to prevent the occurrence of arthrosis. But you can slow down the progression of the disease. To do this, you should exclude excessive stress on the joints (including excess weight) and injuries. You should avoid long, stationary sitting positions and remember that moderate exercise is very beneficial. It allows you to maintain muscle tone, improve blood microcirculation and nutrition of the joints. To prevent arthrosis, it is good to perform any repetitive rhythmic movements: skiing, walking. People who are overweight need to normalize their weight to relieve stress on their joints. Normalization of metabolic processes slows down the development of arthrosis, so it is important to take care of your health and promptly treat diseases of the endocrine system, as well as monitor proper nutrition.

Treatment of arthrosis

If you begin to experience joint pain that occurs during exercise, a slight feeling of stiffness, heaviness, crunching in the joints or other signs of arthrosis, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible. Unfortunately, medicine is not yet able to reverse the changes that have occurred in the joints. However, the sooner the doctor gives the necessary recommendations and prescribes treatment, the easier it will be to control the negative process, preventing it from progressing quickly. With timely treatment, pain and limited joint mobility can be significantly reduced or completely eliminated.

In addition, it is important to immediately make a correct diagnosis and make sure that it is arthrosis. Similar symptoms may appear in other diseases that are of a different nature and are treated differently.

The choice of treatment method depends on which joint is affected by arthrosis, how severe the symptoms are and how large the changes in the cartilage are.

In official medicine, at the initial stages of arthrosis, conservative treatment methods are used: massage, various physiotherapeutic procedures, anti-inflammatory, hormonal and painkillers.

There are reflexotherapy techniques that allow you to normalize metabolism, improve microcirculation in tissues and thereby stimulate recovery processes. Homeopathic methods for restoring joint tissue are also used.

In some cases, when the disease has progressed too far and it is impossible to relieve pain and restore mobility, surgical intervention is required. The destroyed joint is removed and replaced with an endoprosthesis.

Therapeutic exercise for arthrosis

An important component in the treatment of arthrosis is special daily physical exercise. When performing any exercise, it is important to remember that movements should not cause pain. There is an opinion that you need to “develop” joints, not paying attention to pain signals. This is wrong. All exercises should be done until pain appears, at first only 3-5 times, gradually increasing the number of repetitions. Otherwise, muscle spasms and spasms of blood vessels develop, overexcitation of the nervous system occurs and the general condition worsens.

Moderate physical activity reduces pain, improves joint mobility, relieves muscle tension and increases muscle tone. Rhythmic tension and relaxation of muscles and tendons help normalize venous outflow, eliminate venous stagnation and normalize microcirculation in joint tissues.

Physiotherapy exercises should be prescribed by a physical therapy doctor, taking into account the degree of joint damage and the general condition of the body and be carried out under the supervision of an experienced instructor.

Exercises for the knee joint

In order to reduce the load on the knee joint, it is necessary to strengthen the quadriceps muscle. Here are simple exercises that are easy to do every day:

This exercise should be done every time you sit down. You should lean back on the chair (chair) to control your posture, and then slowly raise your straight leg for a count of 10, and also slowly lower it. Do several repetitions for each leg.
Lying in bed (morning and evening), bend one leg at the knee, straighten the other and slowly raise it to a count of five by 10 cm, hold it there for another five counts, then lower it. Repeat the exercise for each leg at least 5 times.
Muscle stretching exercise. Perform at least once a day, lying down. Bend one leg at the knee and place a rolled towel under the ankle of the other leg. Straighten your leg on the towel and slowly pull your knee towards the bed. Repeat 3-5 times for each leg. This exercise not only helps strengthen the quadriceps muscle, but also prevents your knees from being bent all the time.

Exercises for the hip joints

Lie on your back, legs extended. As you inhale, move one leg to the side, and as you exhale, return it to its place. Repeat with the other leg. Feet should be kept vertical.
Starting position - sit on a chair, press your back against the back of the chair, legs bent at the knees. As you inhale, move your leg to the side without straightening your knee, and as you exhale, return it to its original position.
Stand up and lean your hands on the back of the chair. As you inhale, lift your leg to the side, as you exhale, return it to its original place.
Perform swings with straight legs back and forth.

Exercises for finger joints

Straighten your fingers, then bend your thumb so that they reach the base of your little finger, straighten your fingers again.
Straighten your fingers and then bend them at the middle and upper joints. Try to touch your fingertips to your palm at the base of your fingers.
Clench your fists for a count of five, then relax.

Exercises for the spine

Starting position - lie on your back and bend your knees. Roll from side to side several times.
Exercise "Cat". Get on all fours, first arch your back, and then bend and pull yourself forward.
A good exercise for stretching the spine is hanging on a horizontal bar. You need to start with 5 counts, gradually increasing the time. Rotating your body and dangling your legs is not necessary, but it is possible.

Treatment of arthrosis with folk remedies

Traditional medicine stores a large number of recipes for the use of medicinal herbs in the treatment of joint diseases. The choice of herbs depends on the general condition of the patient, concomitant diseases, as well as place of residence and the availability of certain medicinal plants.

Treatment of arthrosis in the bath

An ideal folk remedy in the complex treatment of arthrosis is the Russian bath. Steaming allows you to remove decay products from the body, and properly performed massage, steaming with a broom and water procedures can improve blood circulation and prevent the development of degenerative-dystrophic phenomena in the joint. The use of special bath decoctions will enhance the positive effects of bath procedures.

Decoction recipe No. 1. In equal parts, take the herb of violet tricolor, string of tripartite, veronica officinalis, wild strawberry leaves, burdock root and wheatgrass root. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon of dry mixture with 1 cup of boiling water, let it brew for 45 minutes. Strain the broth and dilute with 2-3 liters of water. Splash the solution onto the hot stones in the bathhouse.

Decoction recipe No. 2. Take equal parts of pine buds, common barberry fruits, wild rosemary grass, stinging nettle, and cinnamon rose hip root. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon of dry mixture with 1 cup of boiling water, simmer in a water bath at a gentle boil for 15-20 minutes, wrap and let sit for about 40 minutes. Strain, dilute in 2-3 liters of water and splash the solution onto the hot stones in the bathhouse. Inhalation of the resulting steam has a beneficial effect.

Recipe for decoction No. 3. Take equal parts of lingonberry and black currant leaves, as well as cinnamon rose hips. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon of dry mixture with 1 cup of boiling water, leave covered for 30 minutes. Strain the broth, dilute it in 2 liters of water and splash the solution onto hot stones. This solution can also be taken orally - 1/3 cup 3 times during bath procedures.

Treatment of arthrosis with herbal baths

Good results in the treatment of arthrosis are obtained by using baths with medicinal herbs.

Peppermint leaf infusion. Pour 1 cup of dry leaves with 3 cups of boiling water, wrap and leave for about 30 minutes. Strain the infusion and pour into a prepared hot bath with a water temperature of at least 39 degrees. Take a bath for no more than 15 minutes. The procedure is contraindicated for heart and vascular disease.

Mustard infusion. To prepare the infusion, dilute 100-150 g of mustard in a bucket of water, stir so that no lumps form. Pour the infusion into a hot bath with a water temperature of at least 39 degrees. Take a bath for no more than 10-12 minutes. The procedure is contraindicated for heart and vascular disease.

Oat straw decoction. Helps destroy bone growths, stimulates metabolic processes and normalizes kidney function. To prepare the decoction, pour 2/3 of straw into an enamel bowl and add water. Place on the fire, after boiling, simmer for 30 minutes, then let it brew. Strain the broth and pour into a prepared hot bath with a water temperature of at least 39 degrees. The procedure should not take longer than 15 minutes.

Infusion of a mixture of medicinal herbs. In equal parts, take common heather grass, stinging nettle, wild rosemary sprigs, meadowsweet grass and flowers, lingonberry leaves, burdock root and pour 2-3 liters of boiling water. Leave for 20 minutes. Strain the infusion and pour into a hot bath with a water temperature of at least 39 degrees. Take a bath for no more than 12-15 minutes.

Pine needle extract. To prepare the extract, take needles, cones and branches, add water and boil for 30 minutes. Let sit covered for 12 hours. A high-quality extract will be brown in color. Fill the bath with hot water, add 1.5 liters of the prepared extract. Take a bath for no more than 15 minutes.

Decoction of hay dust. The decoction pacifies pain, relieves swelling and inflammation. To prepare the decoction, pour up to 1/2 the volume of hay dust into a bowl and add water. Boil and simmer over low heat for another 15 minutes, then let it brew. Pour the broth into a hot bath with a water temperature of at least 39 degrees. Take a bath for no more than 15 minutes.

Recipes for compresses for joints

Compress with wormwood. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon of wormwood herb 1 glass of boiling water, let it brew under the lid for 12-15 minutes. Apply a compress to the joint, use the infusion hot, but not scalding.

Compress with pine needles. Brew a certain amount of dry or fresh crushed pine needles with boiling water, let it brew for 10-12 minutes. Squeeze out the steamed pine needles, wrap them in linen cloth and apply to joints affected by arthrosis.

Oatmeal compress. Pour 5-6 tbsp. spoons of oatmeal with 2 glasses of water and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Cool and strain. Apply a compress to the sore joint for up to 1 hour.

Recipes from medicinal plants for oral administration

Celery. Drink 1-2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed celery juice up to 3 times a day. You can use a decoction. Brew 1 tbsp. spoon of fresh roots with 2 cups of boiling water and let it brew under the lid for 4 hours. Drink 2 tbsp. spoons up to 4 times a day 30 minutes before meals.

Bergenia root. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon of crushed root with 1 cup of boiling water. Simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, then let sit for another 30 minutes. After straining, drink 1 tbsp. spoon 30 minutes before meals up to 3 times a day.

Adonis spring herb. Brew 7 g of herb with 1 cup of boiling water, leave, wrapped, for 1 hour, strain. Drink 1 tbsp. spoon 30 minutes before meals up to three times a day.

Birch leaves. Pour 1 tbsp. a spoonful of crushed dry birch leaves with 1 cup of boiling water. Let it brew under the lid for 6 hours. After straining, drink 1/2 glass 2-3 times a day.

Ledum and nettle. Prepare a mixture of 25 g wild rosemary and 15 g stinging nettle. Pour 15 g of raw material into 1 liter of boiling water and let it brew for about 30 minutes. Strain the infusion and take 1/2 cup up to 6 times a day.

Mixture of medicinal herbs. For pain in the knee joints: take 20 g of linden and black elderberry flowers, St. John's wort and centaury. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon the mixture with 1 glass of boiling water, leave covered for 2 hours. Drink 2 glasses a day.

Roots, flowers or branches of black elderberry. Pour 1 tbsp. spoon of raw materials 1 glass of boiling water. Leave, covered, for 3 hours, then strain. Drink 1/4 glass up to 4 times a day 30 minutes before meals.

grape leaves. To treat joint pain, place green leaves in a three-liter jar and fill with water. Infuse for three days. Drink 100 ml of infusion three times a day. The extracts can be used for baths and poultices for radiculitis, lumbago, and neuralgic diseases.

Tea with grape juice. For joint pain, pour 60 ml of strongly brewed hot tea into a glass, add 40 g of sugar and 100 g of sour (from unripe, green berries) grape juice. Take 1 glass of the mixture, the pain subsides after 1.5-2 hours, improvement occurs.

Arthritis and arthrosis are diseases that affect the joints. There are many varieties of these pathologies. If we consider arthrosis, then gradual age-related deformation of joints is divided into types depending on which particular human joints are affected by the pathological process:

Inflammation of the knees (gonarthrosis), cervical deformity (uncovertebral arthrosis), diseases of the hip joint (coxarthrosis), problems of the shoulder joint, primary polyosteoarthrosis, lesions of the ankle joint, diseases of the spine (spondyloarthrosis) are common.

Arthrosis develops in adulthood. They usually affect people over 40 years of age.

There are also several types of arthritis today. The disease, unlike arthrosis, affects younger patients.

Among the main preconditions that result in the development of arthrosis, special mention should be made of the natural aging of the body. With age, the cartilage tissue covering the surfaces of the joints loses its elasticity and loses its natural resistance to stress.

It is important to note that aging will not always be the onset of arthrosis. The immediate impetus for the development of the problem will be the resulting mechanical injuries. An excessive degree of mobility of individual parts of the joint can also lead to arthrosis.

In addition to the above reasons, arthrosis is provoked by a person’s professional activity if it is associated with increased stress. For example, arthrosis of the knee joint is a common diagnosis among miners.

This chronic disease is characterized by changes that occur in the articulating joints that make up the bones. If at the very beginning of arthrosis pain can occur only in the inner area of the bursa, then soon, if there is no appropriate treatment, pain occurs in the cartilage covering the surface of the bones. Gradually this happens:

softening of cartilage on bone;
its destruction.

Moreover, along with this pathological process, a significant compaction of bone tissue is observed, which causes the formation of osteophytes (bone growths).

Main types of arthrosis

The changes that occur during the development of arthrosis affect only the joints. Most often they suffer from arthrosis of the knee joint, because it is this part of the leg that is most vulnerable. Usually affects older people. The pathological process covers the knee joint area on both legs, but only one of them can hurt.

With coxarthrosis, the most severe type of arthrosis that develops in middle-aged and elderly people, the patient feels severe, sometimes excruciating pain in the pelvic area. It is characteristic that women suffer much more often, and their pathology is more pronounced.

Uncovertebral arthrosis directly depends on the patient’s age: the older he is, the higher the chance of getting sick. This pattern is explained by the fact that over time the following is observed:

loss of the former natural elasticity of cartilage;
gradual decrease in the volume of synovial fluid in the joints.

Shoulder arthrosis is no less common among our compatriots, but its treatment process is much easier and faster when compared with other groups of diseases. Pathology develops in older people.

Women are characterized by osteoarthritis of the hands, and it progresses after menopause. Signs of a problem will be:

burning in the joints;
tingling in fingers;
decreased hand mobility.

If the ankle joint is affected, this occurs after injuries, dislocations, sprains and bruises of the foot ligaments. The causes of the disease can be diabetes, dysplasia and rheumatoid arthritis.

Spinal diseases are a separate group of arthrosis, in which the cartilage tissue of the spinal column is damaged. This provokes various overloads in its departments.

When a person suffers from weakening of articular ligaments and muscle dystrophy, then we are talking about primary polyosteoarthrosis. This type of disease develops in women during menopause and is explained by hormonal changes in the female body. The disease usually manifests itself as tendonopathy (damage to the tendon at the site of attachment to the bone) and discopathy (wear of the intervertebral discs).

The inflammatory process in arthritis of the knee joint is usually accompanied by:

swelling of the joints;
redness;
severe pain syndrome.

The pain does not stop even at rest and after a long rest. In some situations, the pain even intensifies.

The occurrence of arthrosis of the knee joint, elbow, and hip is associated with the development of inflammation in the patient’s body, hormonal disorders or excessive activity of the immune system, which, due to an error, directs all its work to actively fight against its own body.

Arthritis and polyarthritis

Arthritis is characterized by an inflammatory process in one joint or several at once. When arthritis affects two or more joints, the condition is called polyarthritis.

Doctors distinguish several types of disease, depending on what exactly its prerequisites are:

rheumatoid;
infectious;
reactive;
exchange;
psoriatic.

The signs that appear as the pathology progresses largely depend on its cause. Common symptoms of arthritis will be pain in the joints, especially when the weather changes, swelling, increased overall body temperature, and decreased appetite.

If polyarthritis of an infectious nature develops, then redness of the skin over the diseased joint, limited mobility and swelling may be observed. With the rheumatoid form of the disease, the patient will notice a significant increase in temperature and pain in the internal organs.

Types of polyarthritis

As for polyarthritis, not everything is clear with it either. Rheumatoid polyarthritis is associated with the penetration of infections into the cavity of the joint capsule. This type of disease provokes the development of chronic damage in several joints, for example, inflammation of the knee and ankle joint.

The disease is extremely difficult to treat, especially if it is advanced. As a result of the disease, damage to the connective tissues of the joint occurs.

Infectious polyarthritis covers the joints following an infectious disease suffered by the body. Provided timely and high-quality treatment, getting rid of it will not be difficult, however, there are exceptions. If therapy is ignored, the normal functioning of the knee joint and the entire body is disrupted.

The metabolic type of polyarthritis is a condition that arose against the background of disruptions in metabolic processes. The main reason for the problem is the accumulation of salts (urates) in the joints, for example, lesions:

knee;
elbow joint;
big toe.

Psoriatic inflammation in several joints can begin to bother a person even at an early age. Most often, the ankle and knee joint area are affected, and only six months after the first symptoms characteristic of the skin pathology of psoriasis. The causes of psoriasis have not been fully studied by medicine at the moment. It is believed to be caused by problems with the immune system.

Reactive polyarthritis is distinguished by a special, peculiar reaction of the human body to infectious infections of internal organs (one or more). This variation of arthritis causes colitis, polyneuritis and conjunctivitis, which significantly complicates treatment.

Arthrosis develops in adulthood. They usually affect people over 40 years of age.

There are also several types of arthritis today. The disease, unlike arthrosis, affects younger patients.

Causes of arthrosis

softening of cartilage on bone;
its destruction.

Moreover, along with this pathological process, a significant compaction of bone tissue is observed, which causes the formation of osteophytes (bone growths).

Main types of arthrosis

The changes that occur during the development of arthrosis affect only the joints. Most often they suffer from arthrosis of the knee joint, because it is this part of the leg that is most vulnerable. Typically, gonarthrosis of the knee joint affects older people. The pathological process covers the knee joint area on both legs, but only one of them can hurt.

loss of the former natural elasticity of cartilage;
gradual decrease in the volume of synovial fluid in the joints.

Shoulder arthrosis is no less common among our compatriots, but its treatment process is much easier and faster when compared with other groups of diseases. Pathology develops in older people.

Women are characterized by osteoarthritis of the hands, and it progresses after menopause. Signs of a problem will be:

burning in the joints;
tingling in fingers;
decreased hand mobility.

If the ankle joint is affected, this occurs after injuries, dislocations, sprains and bruises of the foot ligaments. The causes of the disease can be diabetes mellitus, gouty arthritis, dysplasia and rheumatoid arthritis.

Spinal diseases are a separate group of arthrosis, in which the cartilage tissue of the spinal column is damaged. This provokes various overloads in its departments.

The inflammatory process in arthritis of the knee joint is usually accompanied by:

swelling of the joints;
redness;
severe pain syndrome.

The pain does not stop even at rest and after a long rest. In some situations, the pain even intensifies.

Arthritis and polyarthritis

Arthritis is characterized by an inflammatory process in one joint or several at once. When arthritis affects two or more joints, the condition is called polyarthritis.

Doctors distinguish several types of disease, depending on what exactly its prerequisites are:

rheumatoid;
infectious;
reactive;
exchange;
psoriatic.

Types of polyarthritis

The disease is extremely difficult to treat, especially if it is advanced. As a result of the disease, damage to the connective tissues of the joint occurs.

knee;
elbow joint;
big toe.

Etiological information
Symptomatic picture
Diagnostic measures
Therapeutic complex

Arthritis of the foot is a set of pathological conditions of inflammatory origin that affect the joints of the tarsal, metatarsal bones and phalanges of the foot.

Among all forms, rheumatoid, post-traumatic, gouty, and infectious are common. They have an acute or chronic onset. Damage to the joints of the foot is often combined with arthritis of the ankle and arthritis of the fingers of the lower extremity.

The human foot is the main component of the musculoskeletal system and is represented by a complex anatomical and functional structure that is subject to enormous dynamo-static loads.

Disorder of any function of the foot due to injury or pathology can lead to the formation of pathological processes in the articular joints of the spinal column, pelvis and the entire lower limb.

The bone formations of the foot are combined with the bones of the lower leg and with each other through the articular joints of the tarsometatarsus and phalanges. The articular joints of the posterior portion (tarsus) are the articulations of the talus, calcaneus, cuboid, sphenoid and navicular bones. The talonavicular and calcaneocuboid joints form the Chopart joint or the transverse articular joint of the tarsus.

The bone structures of the mid-anterior section are combined by the tarsometatarsal (Lisfranc), intermetatarsal, metatarsophalangeal and interphalangeal joints.

The pathological process can develop in each of the described joints. The joints of the posterior-middle section are characterized by low mobility in comparison with the articular joints of the anterior section.

Etiological information

Inflammatory phenomena in arterial joints can form primarily (as an independent unit) or as a result of infectious, metabolic, or autoimmune processes existing in the body. In etiology, a connection is often visualized with previous trauma to the joints or the bones themselves. Moreover, the intermediate period between injury and manifestation is quite long. In the case of an open fracture or injury, inflammatory phenomena can occur as a result of direct bacterial entry into the synovial zone. In some cases, the pathological process occurs against the background of long-term injury to articular joints (wearing uncomfortable shoes, sports activities, ballet).

In a number of variants, the infectious origin enters arterial joints through the lymphatic pathways from septic foci localized adjacent to the synovial cavity (with boils, erysipelas, osteomyelitis, infected wound surfaces, bites).

The reactive form, manifesting after a genitourinary or intestinal process of infectious etiology, is observed in Reiter's syndrome.

The disease is a pathology with an insufficiently established etiological factor. Destructive transformations are formed as a result of damage to the synovial layer of the cavity by IR formed in the body.

In arthritis against the background of gouty lesions, the pathological process is triggered by urate deposits in the articular cavity of the thumb.

Provoking factors are old age, excess body weight, intense physical activity, smoking, immunodeficiency states, impaired metabolic processes, etc., which, in fact, can aggravate the process, leading to arthrosis-arthritis of the foot.

Symptomatic picture

Regardless of location and etiology, there are a number of common clinical manifestations:

pain sensation;
change in the appearance of the articular joint;
functioning disorder.

Along with this, each variety has its own specific characteristics. The pain sensation is characterized by constancy, intensifying when walking or standing for a long time and subsiding after rest. The gouty form is characterized by an attack-like pain sensation. The soft tissues over the damaged joints are swollen, the skin is hyperemic and hot to palpation. Dysfunction is represented by a decrease in foot mobility, a decrease in the volume and amplitude of motor acts. Loss of usual mobility can be caused by severe pain and an increase in the size of bone growths. It is often accompanied by a typical crunching or clicking sound.

Typical signs include:

Stiffness in the morning. Patients usually complain that they cannot move around after prolonged sleep or lying down.
Numerous joint damage.
Characteristic deformities of the phalanges and feet.
Painful sensations are added to limited mobility, which is why the gait changes, the patient begins to limp or cannot stand on his foot at all.

Arthritis of the foot (except for the post-traumatic type) is mainly a symptom of polyarthritis.

Diagnostic measures

During the physical examination, the position, shape of the foot, the nature of passive-active motor acts, palpation with temperature assessment are assessed; skin analysis, gait analysis, etc.

In diagnostic measures, the main role is given to x-ray examinations of the foot, ultrasound examination of articular joints, MRI and CT scans of distal areas of the lower limb. The following are used as additional studies:

immunological analysis;
biochemical blood test, paying attention to the level of CRP, RF, uric acid, sugar.

Diagnostic puncture of the small joints of the foot can help in identifying the infectious origin.

Therapeutic complex

The treatment complex consists of pathogenetic and symptomatic therapy, rehabilitation measures, and in severe cases, surgical intervention.

A prerequisite is to limit the load on the foot and avoid long-term injury. In the acute period, immobilization with a plaster splint and walking with crutches are prescribed.

A dietary approach is mainly necessary for the gouty form.

For different types, oral, parenteral and local NSAIDs are used.

In the case of an infectious etiology, antibiotic therapy is prescribed, and GCS is often administered intra-articularly.

During the rehabilitation period, chondroprotective agents, physiotherapeutic procedures, exercise therapy and massage are indicated.

Deforming arthrosis of the knee joint grades 1, 2, 3: causes, symptoms, treatment

Deforming arthrosis of the knee joint is a very common disease that can occur in both young and old people. The fact is that the knee is considered one of the most mobile and loaded parts of the support system. Over time, the tissue wears out, and pain and stiffness appear in the affected joint. Treatment of the disease should be mandatory.

Features of the pathology

Arthrosis of the knee joint is characterized by the development of degenerative and dystrophic processes within it. The cartilage tissue is gradually destroyed. Untimely treatment leads to joint deformation and inability to move normally. In addition, due to the destruction of cartilage, the body turns on the immune response and begins to grow bone tissue - osteophytes. This further limits the functionality of the knee.

This disease is constantly progressing. Its treatment is necessary in order to stop further deformation of the joint. If the therapy was incorrect or untimely, then arthrosis will deform the knee joint, after which it will no longer be possible to change anything.

Causes of pathology

So, deforming arthrosis of the knee can be provoked by completely different factors, but the risk group includes people with a hereditary predisposition to diseases of the supporting apparatus, and with excessive body weight. Too much weight aggravates the condition of the joints. Moreover, deforming arthrosis of the knee can be unilateral or bilateral.

The following reasons can provoke knee joint disease:

Meniscus injuries, knee fractures, dislocations, damage to ligaments or other components of the joint. They contribute to the development of gonarthrosis in young people. The victim feels severe pain and cannot move his leg. If you do not begin to treat the injured joint immediately, the risk of developing early arthrosis increases several times.
Removal of the meniscus due to surgery.

Too much stress on the knee joint. It is better to avoid intense training in old age. This can provoke the appearance of microtraumas, which at first do not make themselves felt.
Weakness of the ligamentous and muscular apparatus.
Other diseases of the knee joint.
Obesity. In this case, heavy weight increases pressure on the knee and contributes to the development of the disease, and also deforms the bones.

Disturbance of metabolic processes in tissues. In this case, they do not learn the necessary elements for normal functioning well enough. The cartilage gradually begins to deteriorate, and the knee begins to deform.
Frequent stress and nervous tension.
Circulatory disorders.

These reasons cause defarthrosis even in youth. Naturally, treatment of all these pathological conditions will help to significantly slow down the development of the disease.

General symptoms and signs of the disease

The following symptoms are typical for deforming arthrosis of the knee joint:

Pain extending to the lower leg.
The discomfort becomes stronger when climbing stairs or after prolonged standing (walking).
Stiffness in the affected knee.
Swelling of the joint.

When bending the knee, a crunching sound is heard in it.
Morning stiffness of the joint lasts until the person moves away.
The patient cannot fully bend or straighten the leg, as he feels severe pain.
If the patient has an early stage of knee arthrosis, the pain syndrome disappears after a short rest and at rest.

Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences Sergei Mikhailovich Bubnovsky tells how to distinguish the disease we are interested in from other similar ones in the program “About the Most Important Thing”:

It should be noted that each stage of the disease has its own symptoms. For example, the nature of the pain can be different:

Morning pain goes away within 30-40 minutes.
The inflammatory process provokes pain during certain movements.
Unpleasant sensations that disturb sleep appear due to neuropathy or muscle spasm.
Sudden severe pain due to pinching of the joint by muscles.

Each degree of knee joint disease is characterized by an intensification of the main manifestations.

Deforming arthrosis of the knee joint 1st degree: features of manifestation

Defarthrosis in this case is practically not noticed by the patient, since the symptoms and signs are practically not felt. Mild pain in the knee may only appear with intense movement. That is, the patient cannot yet suspect that he is developing arthrosis.

Even slight stiffness in the joint is not alarming. There is virtually no inflammation or acute onset of the disease. This stage is characterized by the accumulation of a small amount of synovial fluid, so the appearance of a Becker cyst is possible. However, most patients, even in this case, do not see a doctor.

Despite the fact that the cartilage is already undergoing pathological changes, they are not so serious as to deform the knee joint. At this stage of the disease, even X-ray examination does not always show any destruction. Therefore, additional instrumental diagnostic methods will be required.

Treatment of this stage of the disease is carried out not only with the help of anti-inflammatory drugs, but also with therapeutic exercises. Motor activity must be maintained so that the joint produces synovial fluid that nourishes cartilage and other tissues.

Associate Professor of the Department of Neurology and Manual Therapy of KSMA Olga Sergeevna Kochergina shares her knowledge about the disease:

Deforming arthrosis of the knee joint, grade 2

The second stage of arthrosis of the knee joint is characterized by increased pain, which sometimes impairs the ability to work, although the person can care for himself. This degree of gonarthrosis already forces a person to see a doctor.

The emerging symptoms disrupt the patient’s normal life, as the pain becomes almost constant and occurs with any even slight movement. It only calms down when at rest. It is especially difficult for the patient to take his first steps after waking up in the morning. Since at this stage of the disease the osteophytes grow quite strongly, this increases the discomfort. Sometimes the pain appears even at night, disrupting sleep. The man begins to limp.

The knee bends and straightens with difficulty, and swelling appears in the affected area. The muscles of the joint go into spasm. The second degree of gonarthrosis is characterized by the development of an inflammatory process. The limitation in mobility becomes very noticeable. The patient practically cannot walk without additional orthopedic devices.

Treatment of deforming arthrosis in this case is carried out using various methods: drug therapy, therapeutic massage and physical education, physiotherapeutic procedures. Complex cases require surgical intervention. Further development of the disease is fraught with disability.

Deforming gonarthrosis of the third degree: features of manifestation

The pain in the knee joint becomes constant and does not disappear even at rest. Moreover, the unpleasant sensations intensify even with a sudden change in weather. Characteristic of this degree is gait disturbance. The lameness becomes very noticeable.

Swelling of the knee joint lasts quite a long time and is significantly expressed. The deformation of the joint becomes noticeable. It takes on an X- or O-shape. The mobility of the leg is very limited, to the point that it does not bend or extend at all. Even small movements are accompanied by an unpleasant crunch.

In this case, the cartilage is destroyed very much. The x-ray shows a strong narrowing of the interarticular space. Inflammation provokes a large accumulation of fluid inside the joint. This degree of the disease is distinguished by the fact that all symptoms intensify several times. Often, drug treatment is no longer effective; surgery is required to replace the knee joint with an artificial prosthesis.

Arthrosis cannot be completely cured. The degenerative process deforms the joint so much that the person may already become disabled.

In order for the doctor to prescribe effective treatment, the patient must be examined. It uses not only radiography, but also MRI, ultrasound, and arthroscopy of the knee joint, which can also serve as a treatment.

Leading researcher at the Institute of Rheumatology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Elena Sergeevna Tsvetkova, will share useful information with you about treatment and prevention:

Features of treatment of the disease

Despite the fact that arthrosis cannot be completely cured, it should not be left to chance. You should try to slow down the development of the disease, eliminate the symptoms and restore the functionality of the joint.

Medication therapy involves the use of the following means:

Non-hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs: Ibuprofen, Indomethacin. They help eliminate pain and inflammation. Typically, NSAIDs are used before massage or exercise therapy is applied. But these medications are not able to treat arthrosis itself. They only relieve symptoms.
Chondroprotectors: “Teraflex”, “Dona”. These medications are the basis of treatment, as they restore damaged cartilage and improve its nutrition. Naturally, they cannot completely cure the disease, but they are quite capable of improving the patient’s quality of life. Without chondroprotectors, treatment of knee arthrosis will be ineffective. There are practically no other ways to restore cartilage.

Injectable corticosteroids that are injected directly into the joint: Hydrocortisone, Diprospan. They allow you to eliminate pain as quickly as possible, and for a long time. However, injections can only be given a few times a year.
Drugs for dilating blood vessels that will prevent the formation of varicose nodes: “Xanatinol”, “Trental”. They make it possible to restore blood circulation in the joint.
Hyaluronic acid injection once a year. It is effective only in the first and second stages of arthrosis development.
Local painkillers.

Diet is considered part of complex treatment. It does not involve fasting or strict food restrictions. However, the diet should promote weight loss if necessary. That is, meals should be frequent and fractional. It is best to follow a diet that involves eating half of the foods raw. Naturally, you should give up alcohol and tobacco.

Physiotherapeutic treatment

The use of medications is only part of the therapy. It is complemented by physiotherapeutic procedures, therapeutic exercises, massage and even folk remedies. As for exercise therapy, most exercises are performed in a lying or sitting position so that the load on the knee joint is minimal.

The most popular exercises are:

You should lie on your back, on the floor. The affected limb needs to be straightened and raised 20 cm above the floor. You should hold your leg in this position for as long as possible. This will make it possible to reduce symptoms and strengthen muscles.
While sitting on a chair, the right or left limb needs to be extended forward. Next, the foot moves up and down.

You should sit on a high pedestal and dangle your legs slightly. This exercise must be performed often and at a moderate pace.
While lying down, you need to bend your knees and pull them towards your stomach.

Each exercise is repeated at least 5 times. Moreover, gymnastics for gonarthrosis must be done very carefully so that it does not cause discomfort.

Laser therapy is a useful physiotherapeutic procedure. It is often more effective than medications. The laser perfectly relieves the inflammatory process. Oxygen therapy has excellent reviews.

In the most difficult cases, surgical intervention is used. Knee arthrosis should be treated in this way only in extreme cases. The operation involves removal of osteophytes, as well as complete replacement of the joint.

It will be effective to use shock wave therapy (SWT) when treating stages 2-3. How this process takes place at the medical center, watch the video:

Traditional treatment of pathology

Defarthrosis can also be treated with folk remedies. For example, the following recipes are considered useful:

Compress made from horseradish root and blue clay. It should be applied to the right or left joint. Within a few hours the pain will go away.
Dandelion tincture. It is used for rubbing, taken in the evening. This remedy perfectly relieves swelling.

Celandine juice. It is used for compresses. Simply saturate the fabric with this liquid and apply it to the affected joint. Polyethylene is applied over the fabric. The procedure is repeated every day for at least a week. After this, you need to take a break for the same amount of time. The course of therapy must be repeated at least three times.
Massage with honey. To begin with, the joints need to be steamed using a heating pad. Next, you need to apply honey to it and lightly rub it into the skin for 20 minutes. After completing the massage, apply a cabbage leaf to your knee and wrap it. A two-week course of such treatment will help the patient improve his condition.

An important step in the treatment of deforming knee arthrosis is sanatorium treatment. Here the patient will undergo a course of therapeutic aerobics and mineral baths. In addition, the treatment recommends the use of orthopedic devices that relieve the load on the damaged joint: canes, orthoses.

In any case, deforming arthrosis requires complex treatment. This will improve the patient's quality of life.

You can learn about the basics of exercise therapy for illness from this video.

Medicine identifies about a dozen types of osteoarthritis that affect human joints. Each type of arthrosis has common symptoms, which we will talk about in a separate article. But there are differences in the course of the pathology and treatment features.

So, let’s highlight the main types of arthrosis:

knee (gonarthrosis);
arthrosis of the hip joints (coxarthrosis);
cervical (uncovertebral);
brachial;
osteoarthritis of the fingers and hands;
arthrosis of the spine (spondyloarthrosis);
ankle;
primary polyosteoarthrosis.

Knee arthrosis

Gonarthrosis is called osteoarthritis of the knee joints. One of the most common types of arthrosis group. Most often, people who have crossed the 45-year mark suffer. There are statistical data that women get sick somewhat more often than the male part of the population. The risk group includes people with excess body weight who have suffered injuries and bruises to their legs. Varicose veins also negatively affect the condition of cartilage tissue and bones. Gonarthrosis usually affects both legs, but pain can only be felt in one of the knees.

To identify the disease, a thorough x-ray examination is carried out, including images from three sides of the diseased knee, bent at an angle of 60 degrees. With deviations of knee arthrosis, “drawer syndrome” occurs, affecting about a third of patients. At the same time, the ligaments are weakened and stability deteriorates.

Osteoarthritis of the hip joints

Coxarthrosis leads among types of arthrosis in this sad statistics. Damage to the hip joints is recognized as the most severe type of osteoarthritis, difficult to treat. Considering the incidence from a gender perspective, we can say that the ratio between men and women is approximately the same, but the female gender suffers coxarthrosis more difficultly, and they are more likely to experience severe stages of the disease. Coxarthrosis mainly affects people of middle and retirement age, but the disease can also occur among young people, then most often joint dysplasia occurs, i.e. congenital disorders in the structure of bone and cartilaginous apparatus.

A striking symptom of coxarthrosis is sharp, severe pain in the hip area. This can cause a limp in a person's gait. Touching the sore spot causes pain, but no significant swelling is observed. As the disease progresses, atrophy of the adjacent muscles occurs, this contributes to the fact that a person involuntarily leans forward to reduce pain, further aggravating the condition of the joints not only of the hip, but also of the knee. Osteoarthritis of this type negatively affects the health of the spine, causing its curvature. The defeat of both joints by arthrosis and the curvature of posture causes a person to limp, from the outside it looks like a “duck walk”.

Cervical arthrosis

Cervical arthrosis is often called uncovertebral. This type of arthrosis is directly related to the natural aging processes in the human body, therefore the main group of patients with this disease are older people. With age, the structure of cartilage tissue loses its elasticity, the synovial fluid contracts, the layer between the bones becomes thinner, which causes dystrophic changes in the joints.
If cervical arthrosis is not dealt with in time, it can cause severe headaches, arterial hypertension, tinnitus leads to deterioration of vision, a decrease in the amplitude of neck mobility, heaviness in the shoulders, and curvature of the patient’s posture.

Shoulder arthrosis

Arthrosis of the shoulder joint is also very common among the population. However, it is easier to cure than, for example, coxarthrosis. In a neglected state, hand movement is affected. Elderly people suffer from this type of arthrosis, and it has been noticed that men suffer from it more often. Two thirds of patients have hand joint deformities.

The causes of shoulder arthrosis are the following:

inherited predisposition;
playing professional sports;
joint dysplasia (congenital structural abnormalities);
problems in metabolism in the human body;
receiving injuries, bruises, sprains;
arthritis.

Arthrosis of the hands and fingers

Osteoarthritis of the distal interphalangeal joints is another type of osteoarthritis. This disease is also called Heberden's nodes. Usually occurs in women during menopause. It occurs on several fingers; when palpated, you can feel pea-sized nodules that cause painful effects. Bone formations - osteophytes - also occur, as in other types of arthrosis. Symptoms of the disease include burning, tingling in the phalanges of the fingers, and decreased joint mobility.
Arthrosis of the proximal interphalangeal joints is a special case of the development of arthrosis of the distal phalangeal joints. Otherwise called Busher's nodes due to the formation of nodules in the fingers on the outer side, noticeable upon palpation. The disease significantly limits the amplitude of the fingers.

Spondyloarthrosis affects one or more vertebrae of the spinal column and may be associated with cervical osteoarthritis or with damage to the upper thoracic region. When the disease occurs, the cartilage tissue and the condition of the joints suffer, which is typical for all types of arthrosis. The causes of this type of disease are said to be overload of a specific part of the spine, for example, with scoliosis and other postural disorders.

The following subtypes are distinguished in spondyloarthrosis:

arthrosis of the thoracic region (dorsarthrosis);
arthrosis of the cervical region (cervicoarthrosis);
arthrosis of the lumbar spine (lumboarthrosis).

Pain due to spondyloarthrosis is of a permanent, aching nature, subsiding during rest and intensifying during bending of the body, when performing various actions that affect changes in the position of the spinal column.

Arthrosis of the ankle joints

This type of arthrosis is most often caused by foot injuries, subluxations, and bruises of the leg, which a person does not want to pay attention to. Sprains, osteochondrosis, herniated intervertebral discs negatively affect the condition of our ankles. Among the causes of arthrosis of the foot are also dysplasia, diabetes, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Long-term wearing of high heels by women automatically puts beautiful ladies at risk for arthrosis of the ankle joints. Participation in certain types of professional sports (football, hockey, figure skating) also threatens to affect the ankle with osteoarthritis.

Symptoms of the disease: crunching in the ankle; the appearance of aching pain when walking, subsiding at night; limitation of joint mobility; swelling of the foot; atrophy of adjacent muscles.

Confusion in the designation of osteoarthritis has existed for a long time; many clinicians who directly deal with arthrosis designate primary and secondary arthrosis differently (classified by the reasons for the development of the disease). In essence, various designations, such as arthrosis, osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis and arthrosis deformans, are combined into one subclass of MC diseases and represent the same disease.

According to the degree of development, arthrosis is divided into:

first;
second;
third;
conditionally, the fourth is deforming, namely:

gonarthrosis (deforming arthrosis of the knee joints);
coxarthrosis (deforming arthrosis of the hip joints).

By location:

hip joint;
knee-joint;
arthrosis of the hands;
spine;
arthrosis of the feet.

According to the form of localization:

localized and
generalized (polyarthrosis).

By type of localization:

knee joint (gonarthrosis);
hip joint (coxarthrosis);
elbow joint;
shoulder joint;
ankle joint;
cervical arthrosis;

Classification and description of rare types of disease

In general, the most common types of arthrosis are described sufficiently, but the rare ones require special attention.

Uncoarthrosis

When lifting heavy weights, degenerative changes in the cervical spine can occur

A pathological process that develops in the cervical spine, since it is here that the uncovertebral joints (hook + vertebra) are present.

The causes of uncoarthrosis can be congenital or acquired causes, in particular developmental anomalies or traumatic injuries of the cervical spine, as well as the consequences of flat feet. Provocative factors for the development of uncoarthrosis can be a sedentary lifestyle and excessive weight; it is these factors that are dangerous for urban residents, and stress provokes the disease in people involved in heavy sports.

Major changes in cartilage tissue

Uncoarthrosis is characterized by damage to the intervertebral disc, where cartilage tissue acts as a shock-absorbing “pad” located between the vertebrae. Its direct function is to protect against damage to intervertebral nerves and blood vessels.

When arthrosis develops, the cartilage disc loses fluid and becomes less elastic and thin, which leads to compression of nearby tissues, which is why the patient feels pain. Subsequently, osteophytes, a kind of sharp spines of bone tissue, begin to form on the cervical vertebrae. Since they grow towards each other, the sensitive ligaments of the spine are injured.

Important! Uncovertebral joints are joints (neoarthrosis) that form between the uncinate processes of the cervical vertebrae and the base of the arch and/or the body of the overlying vertebra. Normally they do not exist; they are formed as a result of a decrease in the height of the intervertebral discs.

Symptoms of uncoarthrosis

The main symptoms that appear in patients:

severe pain in the affected joint, especially with sudden movements or after being in one position for a long time (sitting);
subluxation of the joints between the facet processes;
clearly defined crunching sound when turning the head;
dizziness and headaches;
surges in blood pressure.

If such symptoms occur, it is important to undergo an urgent examination by an orthopedist-vertebrologist and neurologist. It should be remembered that in the final stages, treatment brings only short-term relief.

Hyparthrosis

This is a disease that does not exist in nature. Apparently, patients have difficulty translating their doctor's handwriting.

Defarthrosis

The development of the disease is based on metabolic disorders in cartilage tissue caused by inflammation, intoxication and injury.

Sounds like “deforming arthrosis” - sometimes this diagnosis is prescribed in the patient’s chart as an abbreviation. This disease is of a degenerative-dystrophic nature, characterized by a chronic course and irreversible changes that gradually lead to disability. Primary deforming arthrosis can occur anywhere, but most often deforming arthrosis occurs in the hip and knee joints.

The main cause leading to the development of defarthrosis cannot be identified, since degeneration is preceded by a whole complex of changes. There are primary (idiopathic, genuine) and secondary defarthrosis, which arise as a result of ligament injuries and bone fractures. Primary deforming idiopathic osteoarthritis is diagnosed when no visible cause of the disease is found. It is believed that the main cause of defarthrosis may be a hereditary factor, when the development of the components of articular cartilage, its biochemical structure and shell, is disrupted.

Secondary defarthrosis is usually preceded by the following factors:

mechanical. Joint injuries, intra-articular fractures, constant microtrauma and increased load on the joint, skeletal development abnormalities and obesity;
joint disease. Inflammation (arthritis), hemophilia (hemarthrosis of the right knee joint) when hemorrhage occurs in the joint, primary aseptic necrosis of bone tissue;
endocrine diseases and metabolic disorders. There is a disruption of metabolic processes in the body, changes in the production of sex hormones and somatostatin (growth hormone);
disorders of the blood supply to tissues (atherosclerosis of the vessels of the lower extremities, varicose veins, obliterating endarteritis), when there is a decrease in access of blood and nutrition to the joint.

As long as the cartilage cells (chondrocytes) are working hard, defarthrosis does not appear, but as soon as the reserves are depleted and the number of chondrocytes is reduced to a minimum, the hyaline cartilage becomes thinner, becomes fibered and cracks form. They gradually increase and deepen, which leads to increased load on the underlying bone tissue, sclerosis and the formation of osteophytes.

Rheumatoid arthrosis

Manifests itself in the form of characteristic severe pain in the joints of the hands and feet. With rheumatoid arthrosis, symmetrical changes are observed, in contrast to reactive arthritis of infectious origin (asymmetrical in nature), when not both joints ache, but one, and the pain smoothly “flows” from leg to leg.

It is important to remember: gout, rheumatoid and reactive arthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatism are not arthrosis, but other diseases that require different treatment.

Arthrosis is a disease of the joints when cartilage is destroyed. Inflammation occurs later and may not be constant. Rheumatoid arthrosis can occur when inflammation from the synovium (rheumatoid arthritis) spreads to cartilage and degenerative changes occur.

Patellofemoral arthrosis

In MC, this disease is absent; there is patellofemoral syndrome, although the term is often used in domestic and foreign literature. Patellofemoral arthrosis = patellofemoral syndrome.

Very often, changes in the knee joint begin with patellofemoral syndrome, and the same set of changes will be observed with repeated damage to the joint and excessive loads. Pain occurs between the surfaces of the patella joint and the adjacent part of the thigh, but there is no inflammation.

Signs of patellofemoral arthrosis (syndrome) in healthy people are found during clinical examination; laboratory and imaging observations are not required. When palpating, painful points are found under the edge of the patella, and pain can also occur when the thigh muscles contract and when the patella is kept from moving upward. Patellofemoral syndrome (arthrosis) does not require special treatment, but if pain interferes with movement, it must be dealt with.

Synarthrosis

A completely immobile connection of bones using connective (syndesmosis), cartilaginous (synchondrosis), and bone (synostosis) tissue. Literally – “joint together.”

Diarthrosis

A sedentary connection between bones or a continuous connection in which free movements occur (true joint). All articular ends are covered with hyaline cartilage, and the bones themselves are connected to each other by a ligament (capsule), the inner layer of which is formed by a thin synovial membrane. It produces synovial fluid. These joints differ in the type of connection of the bones and the type of movement carried out in them: hinge joint, flat joint, spherical joint, condylar joint, trochlear joint, saddle joint.

Neoarthrosis

This is the formation of a joint in an unusual place (between the surfaces of bones that are in mechanical contact during movements, between the massive transverse processes of an abnormally developed transitional lumbosacral vertebra and the lateral masses of the sacrum). Very often, neoarthrosis occurs when there is a long-term untreated dislocation or fracture of a bone inside the joint.

Neoarthrosis

Refers to false joints. Another name is pseudarthrosis, when the continuity of the bone is disrupted with the development of pathological mobility (occurs after treatment of open and closed fractures).

Contributes to the development of the disease:

infection;
disorder in the blood supply to the bones;
mobility of bone fragments due to their imprecise contact, short-term or unstable immobilization;
choosing the wrong method of fixation during osteosynthesis surgery and with frequent changes of plaster casts;
with suppuration of the fracture site and complications with postoperative osteomyelitis;
congenital problems due to abnormal intrauterine bone development.

In the fracture zone, connective and cartilaginous tissue develops instead of bone formation.

Arthrosis of the foot (feet)

Arthrosis of the joints of the feet is a degenerative disease in which cartilage tissue is destroyed.

Degenerative-dystrophic changes in the area of the feet of a chronic form, when the shape of the fingers is distorted, sharp pain occurs when walking, sometimes at rest. Painful calluses form in areas of increased stress. The most common joint that is affected is the big toe joint, but in very rare cases the problem occurs throughout the entire foot.

Often, patients are initially diagnosed with grade 1 arthrosis together with flat feet. It all starts with heel pain, and then the disease progresses, the feet begin to “burn”, sometimes it seems that “something is itching” inside, pain occurs when the foot bends inward and it becomes difficult to step on the feet.

Arthrosis in the foot area is preceded by repeated hypothermia of the legs, constant low pressure in which the arms and legs are almost always cold (blood “does not reach” the feet), excessive loads (carrying heavy objects, pregnancy, prolonged exposure to heels). Very often, problems in the foot area are accompanied by enlarged veins above the knee on the back of the leg; they hurt when squatting and “burn.”

Doctors note a predisposition to arthrosis of the feet - women most often suffer from small weight (up to 50 kg) and height (up to 165 cm), thin, nervous, pedantic, “eating themselves,” twitchy.

Cruzarthrosis

In other words, “osteoarthrosis of the ankle joint”, occurs most often as a secondary manifestation of arthrosis, developed against the background of an injury in the ankle joint or as a result of rheumatoid arthritis. These may be severe fractures of the ankles, destruction of the distal epiphysis, combined injuries with rupture of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis, separation of large fragments of the anterior and posterior edges of the tibia

Many doctors note that cruzarthrosis occurs in patients in 9-25% of all cases of arthrosis. An important aspect of this disease is intra-articular friction. Clinically, osteoarthritis, as a secondary manifestation of damage to the ankle joint, is characterized by limited mobility in the joint, pain, which manifests itself especially when rolling from heel to toe and when walking on uneven roads.

At stages 1 and 2, for crusarthrosis, conservative treatment is carried out, and for rheumatoid causes, synovectomy is indicated; at stages 3, only arthroplasty is performed.

Arthrosis of the big toe is called “bunions”, which manifest themselves with degenerative changes in the foot, as well as with transverse and longitudinal flat feet. Often arthrosis of the thumb develops after a severe injury or with constant overstrain associated with loads (ballet, wearing narrow shoes with heels).

Osteoarthritis of the metatarsal joint

Means the same damage to the big toe. There are three degrees of the disease, each of which is characterized by its own symptoms:

1st degree, tear of single fibers, presence of injury, pain in the area of the tarsometatarsal joint, slight swelling of the dorsum of the foot, pain when loading the metatarsal bones and gentle lameness;
Stage 2, there is a partial rupture of several ligaments or a complete rupture of one of the ligaments (except for the Lisfranc ligament). It is impossible to lean on the injured foot, swelling of the dorsum of the foot is pronounced and there is pain in the area of the Lisfranc joint. Some time after the injury, hemorrhage occurs on the plantar part of the foot, and a hematoma of the deep cellular space of the foot;
3rd degree, complete rupture of ligaments, including rupture of the Lisfranc ligament (or separation of it with bone fragments from the base of the second metatarsal bone). Sharp pain syndromes appear, swelling is pronounced, pain on palpation in the area of the Lisfranc joint, increased pain when loading the metatarsal bones. It becomes impossible to lean on the sore leg, the presence of Barsky's symptom is noted.

With changes in the big toe, arthrosis cannot be completely cured, but it is still possible to stop the process in the early stages. It is important to eliminate all factors that contributed to the occurrence of “bunions.”

Arthrosis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)

The disease is chronic and characterized by dystrophic changes in connective, cartilage and bone tissue.

Causes of the disease:

neurodystrophic, metabolic, endocrine disorders and infectious diseases;
inflammatory process in the joint, load on the articular surface of the head of the lower jaw (bruxism), lack of teeth, deformation of the dentition.

With arthrosis of this joint, the surfaces become significantly thinner, and when moving, pain and limited movement appear in it.

With arthrosis of the temporomandibular joint, the cartilage covering the articular surface of the head of the condylar process undergoes degeneration and partially disappears, subsequently perforation of the disc occurs, the head is deformed - it becomes hook-shaped or club-shaped.

Osteoarthritis of the wrist joint

It is very rare and can be post-traumatic, as a complication after a fracture or dislocation of the wrist bones. Develops over a long period of time (weeks, months), is characterized by a crunch in the joint, pain that occurs only with certain movements, especially when flexing and extending “all the way.”

Patients, when doctors diagnose arthrosis of the wrist joint, are very surprised, since the disease does not appear outwardly in any way - the hand looks healthy. Visible deformation can only occur when the disease is caused by a fracture with severe displacement.

Treatment of arthrosis of the wrist joint almost always gives a good result, but only when the damaging factor is eliminated, microtraumas are prevented and the wrist joint is immobilized with a special bandage.

Generalized arthrosis (polyarticular, polyarthrosis)

Arthrosis, characterized by multiple joint damage. All symptoms appear according to the stage and location of the disease, and treatment is prescribed taking into account the complexity of the lesion.

Polyarthrosis

With polyarthrosis of the joints, dystrophic changes occur in several joints simultaneously. As a rule, this is the primary form of the disease and develops in old age under the influence of menopausal disorders, endocrine-metabolic, toxic and other reasons. Sometimes it occurs at a young age. Polyarthrosis is characterized by combined lesions of the spine and joints of the extremities, with manifestations of Heberden's nodules.

Rhizarthrosis

It is a special case of osteoarthritis of the finger joints (5%). The lesion concerns the joint, which is located at the base of the thumb, connecting the metacarpal bone to the wrist joint.

It is not difficult to make a diagnosis when rhizarthrosis is a consequence of polyosteoarthrosis of the fingers. But in a quarter of cases, rhizarthrosis is an independent disease that manifests itself in people who put a lot of stress on the thumb. In this case, it is quite difficult to distinguish rhizarthrosis from de Quervain's tenosynovitis, since the symptoms of these diseases are similar.

With de Quervain's tenosynovitis, X-rays rarely show only changes in the soft tissues above the joint, and with rhizarthrosis, deformation of the bones of the diseased joint occurs.

Gouty arthrosis

With gouty arthrosis (arthritis), it should be remembered that “classic” gout (gouty arthritis) is more common in men, unlike women. Affects any joints on the hands and feet, manifests itself at the age of 20-50 years with inflammation of the joints of the toes and hands or ankle joints.

In treatment, trying to push aside psoriatic arthritis, they combine therapy against psoriasis and against arthritis of the joints.

With gout, acute attack-like phenomena occur; completely unexpectedly, they usually begin against the background of complete health, and, most often, at night. They “make you want to climb the wall,” and the joint itself turns red, the skin becomes bright purple and hot to the touch. The attacks last from 3 to 10 days, and pass suddenly, without consequences.

Intermittent hydrarthrosis

This is a chronic disease with frequent relapses, which is characterized by acute attacks of hyperproduction of synovial fluid. There is an increase in the volume of the joint, discomfort, and stiffness. Hydarthrosis is mainly observed in large (knee) joints.

Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis (arthrosis) is called inflammation of the joints due to psoriasis. At the same time, reddish spots appear on the skin covered with white or grayish flaky scales. Psoriatic arthrosis occurs in approximately 10% of patients with psoriasis, but the exact cause of its occurrence is unknown. Perhaps the development of the disease is due to the interaction of immune and genetic factors, as well as environmental factors.