Joint pain is a symptom inherent in many diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Painful sensations are experienced one or more times by approximately half of the world's population. More often, the development of pathological processes begins in the second half of life, but often worries young patients. Joint pain affects adjacent tissues, muscles and tendons. If left untreated, the problem progresses rapidly, leading to significant deterioration in quality of life and disability. Timely contact with medical specialists helps to make a correct diagnosis and start treatment that completely relieves joint pain and eliminates its causes.
Causes of joint pain
Pain can arise from many reasons. Between them:
- Fresh or old lesions.
- Excess weight.
- High physical or sporting activity.
- Work that involves prolonged standing.
- Passive lifestyle.
- Age.
- Genetic predisposition.
- Weakening of the immune system.
- Infectious lesions of the body.
- Osteoarthritis, arthritis, gout.
- Vascular spasms during stress or overload.
Types of joint pain
Joint pain during the injury or immediately after is a natural phenomenon. But discomfort can be caused by a number of hidden reasons: inflammation, infections, overload and others. If you experience recurring joint pain in the absence of visible causes and if the disorder progresses, you should visit a specialist as soon as possible. Any intoxication of the joint is potentially dangerous.
| Kind of pain | Occurrence condition | Description | Possible reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical | It occurs in people of any age during physical or sporting activity | Aching pain that disappears at rest, with self-massage, physiotherapeutic procedures | Metabolic disorders, previous injuries, dystrophic changes in the cartilaginous tissue of the joints |
| Starting | Marked at the beginning of the movement | Acute pain and limitation of joint mobility decrease 3-5 minutes after starting physical activity | Arthrosis, osteochondrosis |
| Night | Pulling pain of intermittent intensity | It occurs at rest, during stress, excessive exertion, after consuming smoked meat or pickles | Osteoarthritis, gout |
| Reflex | Torsion, pain, pulling pain | It spreads to surrounding tissues. Occurs during sporting activity, excess body weight | Spine diseases, arthrosis, arthritis |
Doctor consultation and diagnosis
- Chiropractor
- Vertebrologist
- Osteopath
- Neurologist
During the consultation, a thorough diagnosis is carried out. Based on the results of the consultation, the doctor gives detailed recommendations for treatment and, if necessary, prescribes additional diagnoses.
Diagnostic tests
Advanced joint pain is fraught with extremely negative consequences. It spreads to adjacent tissues, affecting them pathologically. Large ulcerative lesions develop on the skin. Inflammation can affect the urinary system and genitals. The mobility of the limbs will decrease. The quality of life will decrease significantly.
To avoid getting such a sad result, consult a general practitioner, orthopedist, rheumatologist or neurologist. Don't let the pain become constant, painful, deform the organ and affect your overall health.
With a well-structured diagnostic process, the doctor, after listening to the patient's complaints and visual examination, collects an anamnesis and prescribes the following procedures based on reasonable suspicion of a specific disease:
- Blood analysis. By changing some indicators it is possible to immediately establish the causal disease;
- X-ray of the affected area. One of the most accessible and reliable studies;
- Synovial fluid sample. Thickening or changing properties indicate the development of changes in arthrosis;
- magnetic resonance imaging. It provides layer-by-layer visualization of the tissue structures of the joint and the surrounding area. Accuracy is improved by contrast. When planning surgery, such a diagnosis is mandatory;
- Ultrasound. Effective in inflammatory processes, systemic diseases, some types of injuries;
- Double-sided scanning. It allows you to evaluate the vascular environment of the organ and the quality of the blood flow within it;
- CT. It creates a three-dimensional image of the studied organ, allowing its functionality to be evaluated in movement.
A comprehensive examination of the body will help to obtain a complete picture of the disease, establish an accurate diagnosis, differentiate diseases with similar symptoms and begin restorative and rehabilitative therapy.
Therapeutic therapy for joint pain
The treatment chosen will depend on the disease diagnosed, its severity and the rate of progression. The earlier the causes of joint pain are identified, the easier the treatment will be and the better the results will be. In the initial stages, physical exercise and physiotherapy are sufficient, but more serious cases can lead to surgery.
The following methods are used in the treatment of joint pain:
- Manual therapy. Manual correction of musculoskeletal problems. Return joints and bones to physiological positions;
- Physiotherapy. Effective treatment with natural and artificially created factors. Light, water, magnetic or electric field, temperature influence and others are used. Painless procedures that activate the body's defenses;
- Massage. Mechanical effect on subcutaneous receptors, relieving spasms, tension, optimizing blood flow;
- Orthopedic shoes, insoles. Eliminate foot deformities, correct postural disorders, relieve joints;
- Reflexology. Insertion of needles into biologically active points of the body. Improves microcirculation, blood pressure and reduces pain;
- Ozone therapy. Saturates tissues with oxygen, accelerates the regeneration of damaged organs, increases personal immunity, cleanses from toxic damage;
- Plasma therapy. Injecting your own platelet-rich plasma restores joints, skin and other organs;
- Pharmacological therapy. Pain syndrome is relieved by taking painkillers. Chondroprotectors are used to restore affected joints. Injections into the internal cavity of the joint are possible;
- Surgery. Joints destroyed by the disease are replaced with modern prostheses that have the same functionality and a considerable resource of time. Indicated for serious cases of injuries.
Prevention of joint pain
To strengthen joint tissues and keep them in good condition, it is recommended:
- perform sets of special exercises that support optimal joint function;
- go swimming;
- avoid overload and hypothermia of the joint capsule;
- control your weight, avoiding being overweight;
- drink 2-3 liters of water a day;
- minimize alcohol consumption, quit smoking;
- perform regular industrial exercises during routine sedentary or standing work;
- treat infectious and viral diseases in a timely and high-quality manner. inflammatory diseases;
- undergo a scheduled annual medical examination; if you notice any signs of joint discomfort, consult a doctor immediately.
Joint diseases: successful treatment in a modern clinic
For many years, the clinic's specialists have been providing effective treatments for various joint diseases, getting back on their feet the most difficult patients who other doctors or clinics had rejected. A guaranteed positive result is the natural result of using an integrated approach that combines classic therapeutic methods proven by many years of experience and modern innovative achievements of medicine in the field of joint pain. The professional arsenal of the clinic's doctors includes a huge number of rehabilitation and recovery programs, which are constantly updated with the latest and most effective developments. To do this, doctors regularly attend training courses, retraining, seminars or conferences in the best clinics of other countries and know the advanced results of therapy and surgery.
Patients of the clinic are offered free consultation and diagnosis, drawing up a preliminary treatment plan. The results of the effectiveness of the therapy will not be long in coming; after the first sessions, patients notice a significant reduction or even complete disappearance of annoying painful symptoms.
FAQ
Is it true that only the elderly suffer from joint pain?
Joint pain can occur in people of any age. The cause of its occurrence are many infectious diseases, bacterial infections, diabetes mellitus, chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and many other problems of the body. Joint pain at a young age can be a consequence of dysplasia syndrome, in which there is weakness of the connective tissue.
Could the joint pain be a reaction to the change in weather?
Yes, joint pain makes people dependent on the weather. Changes in pressure where you live increase or decrease your intraosseous blood pressure. The increase leads to excruciating pain. Typically, pressure changes precede weather changes. In addition, diseased joints react strongly to heat or cold. Therefore, people with gout will feel more comfortable in winter, and people with osteochondrosis in summer.
Are joint diseases hereditary?
It is not the disease itself that is transmitted, but the predisposition to its onset. In the presence of concomitant factors, diseases or incorrect lifestyle, the genetic predisposition will give impetus to the development of the disease.
Should I give up sport if I have joint pain?
Professional sports with huge loads are contraindicated for joint diseases. But to keep your joints in good shape, you need a strong muscle structure, which can only be achieved through exercise. Therapeutic gymnastics, a set of exercises specially selected to have a gentle effect on the affected joints, will help significantly reduce pain and protect the organ from further destruction.
Do you need a special diet for joint diseases?
For patients with gout, it is necessary to exclude tomatoes and other products of the nightshade family from the diet, as they cause severe pain and provoke the development of inflammation. For all others, no special diet is prescribed. But it is worth remembering that eating sweets, smoked meat and fats leads to excessive weight gain, which is harmful to joint health.