Gonarthrosis, or, as it is sometimes mistakenly called, gonoarthrosis (arthrosis of the knee joint) is a chronic disease that progresses gradually, accompanied by degenerative changes in the cartilage tissue of the joint.
As the disease progresses, a person may completely lose the ability to move independently. Timely diagnosis and treatment of gonarthrosis makes it possible to stop the pathological process and save a person from pain.
Most often, this pathology is diagnosed in middle-aged and elderly people, but it can also occur in young people. Women are several times more likely than men to suffer from this disease. In this article we will consider the clinical signs and treatment tactics of gonarthrosis.
The main clinical signs of gonarthrosis
As we have already said, gonarthrosis has a gradually progressive course. So, in the early stages of a sick person, practically nothing bothers, but over time the symptoms intensify.
The main clinical sign is mild knee pain that occurs during prolonged or intense physical exertion. The patient indicates a certain feeling of stiffness in the joint, the appearance of a "starting" pain syndrome (occurring at the beginning of the movement, passing after the "scattered" person).
With this disease, there are no external changes in the knee. Sometimes people notice swelling.
As the disease progresses, the pain becomes more intense. Pain syndrome appears even with little physical activity, becomes more pronounced with prolonged load on the knee. At rest, the pain subsides, then returns with the resumption of movement.
In the future, the pain syndrome becomes constant, present both during exercise and at rest. The movements of the joint are limited, when the knee is bent, a rough creak is heard. With pronounced pathological changes, the knee is deformed, which further limits movement.
How is osteoarthritis of the knee treated?
Treatment of arthrosis of the knee joint consists of non-drug and drug methods, surgical intervention if necessary.
Patients with this disease are advised to avoid stress on the knee, try to unload it as much as possible with the help of various braces, canes. The most important point is weight loss. In 2017, scientists from the University of Medicine published an article in which it was found that obesity increases the likelihood of developing gonarthrosis by 4 to 10 times and occurs in one in three patients.
Also, a sick person is prescribed special therapeutic exercises, physiotherapy procedures, for example, UHF therapy.
Regarding drug treatment, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can be recommended to reduce pain. With their ineffectiveness, intra-articular injections of glucocorticoids are performed. In addition, the treatment plan is completed with chondroprotectors, injections of hyaluronic acid.
Note that any medicine can only be used as prescribed by a doctor.
In the later stages of the disease, the main method of treatment is surgical intervention, which involves the replacement of articular surfaces with artificial implants.