What is degenerative joint disease? What are the usual manifestations? Common in whom?
Degenerative osteoarthropathy is an inevitable phenomenon of normal aging of "machine parts" for everyone, also known as osteoarthritis. The key to degenerative osteoarthropathy is the word "degeneration", which is a osteoarthropathy formed by the decrease of synovial fluid of bone and joint with the increase of age, mainly in the knee joint, manifested in the form of bone hyperplasia (bone spurs), synovitis, etc., manifested as swelling, pain, fear of cold, poor flexion and extension, etc., and serious joint deformation. Difficulty standing and walking. The root cause of this disease is the obstruction of blood circulation in the bone and the tissues around the joint. Therefore, the key to the treatment of degenerative joint disease is how to improve blood circulation in the bone.
Degenerative joint disease is not all the elderly, some young adults, a large amount of activity, love sports, will also occur.
Two, how to treat?
(1) Non-drug treatment:
Weight loss: If you are overweight, weight loss can be beneficial in reducing symptoms and slowing the progression of the disease by reducing pressure on the joints.
Exercise and rest: Appropriate activity and planned functional exercise are necessary. Appropriate exercise in the elderly can strengthen the stability of the joints and slow down the occurrence of degenerative changes. However, be careful to avoid excessive activity and chronic injury. There is a misconception that some people think that as they get older, they should reduce their activity to protect their joints. In fact, this idea is not correct. Experts believe that proper exercise does not increase the risk of osteoarthritis, and even patients with anatomical or biomechanical abnormalities or who already have early stage osteoarthritis can benefit from regular exercise.
(2) Drug treatment:
Analgesics: "Use if necessary" is recommended. Such drugs have certain side effects, such as rash, nausea, vomiting, liver and kidney toxicity, especially for the elderly and patients with impaired liver and kidney function should be cautious.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: These drugs can relieve pain and suppress the inflammatory response. The most common side effects are asymptomatic gastrointestinal bleeding, especially in elderly women. Other side effects include rashes and allergic reactions.
Surgical treatment: When the condition is severe and non-surgical treatment is not effective, surgery is considered.