Recommend
Official site Hondrox

What is the difference between arthritis and arthrosis and how to prevent them from destroying the joints?

Both arthritis and arthrosis affect the joints, and since it is joint pain that forces the patient to go to the doctor in the hope of relief, he does not see the difference between the two diseases.Arthritis, arthrosis - why these subtleties?Prescribe pills, make the pain go away!

But there is a difference and it is often very important for further treatment: arthritis and arthrosis differ in the nature of the disease and the causes of the disease.

To better understand this difference, rememberhow the joint works.

In a typical case, the joint consists of two bones, the heads of which are covered with a special sliding material - hyaline cartilage.It makes it easier for the bones to rub against each other.Synovial fluid works on the same task: the bones are not tightly joined, there is a small gap between them that is filled with this fluid.The synovial fluid and the point of contact of the bones that make up the joint are isolated from other organs and tissues by the joint capsule, which consists of dense connective tissue.

how the joint works

In arthritis, the cartilage becomes inflamed;in arthrosis, the intra-articular cartilage suffers.

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is a collective nameinflammatoryjoint diseases.In arthritis, the joint lining of the joint becomes inflamed and the connective tissues of the body are affected.Arthritis can be caused by immune disorders, infections or injuries.As a rule, it is accompanied by pain, swelling, redness and limited joint mobility.Arthritis is characterized by "flying" pain in the joints - it bothers one joint, then the other.Arthritis can develop at any age, even in teenagers (so-called juvenile arthritis).Advanced arthritis can be complicated by wear and tear of intra-articular cartilage (arthrosis).

What is arthrosis?

Arthrosis is chronicdegenerativejoint disease characterized by progressive wear and tear of cartilage tissue.It can occur in any joint, but the knees, hips, shoulders and wrists are most often affected because these are the joints that are under the most stress.Arthrosis causes pain, stiffness and deterioration of joint mobility;the pain always affects the same joint or group of joints.Arthrosis is typical for elderly patients, although the first signs of this disease can be found in thirty-year-olds.

So, the main difference between arthritis and arthrosis lies in the causes of their occurrence and manifestations.Arthritis is associated with joint inflammation, while arthrosis is associated with degeneration and wear and tear of cartilage tissue.It is important to note that although these two conditions have different mechanisms of development, they are interconnected, because inflammatory processes can contribute to the degradation of intra-articular cartilage, i.e. arthrosis, and wear of hyaline cartilage can cause secondary inflammation in the joint.

Causes of arthritis and arthrosis

Reasonsarthritiscan become:

  1. Rheumatic diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, etc.).
  2. Reaction to a trigger pathogen (usually bacteria that cause intestinal or sexually transmitted diseases): the body cannot stop in time and, although the infection has already been defeated, the immune system continues to attack, now affecting its own joint tissue.
  3. Entry of pathogens into the joint cavity due to injury or through the flow of lymph and blood.
  4. Entry of capillary blood into the joint cavity due to injury.
  5. Arthrosis (joint inflammation as a complication).

Reasonsarthrosiscan become:

  1. Excess weight, which increases the stress on the joints of the legs.
  2. Hard physical work.
  3. Sedentary lifestyle.
  4. Joint instability due to injuries to ligaments and tendons.
  5. Old age.
  6. Surgery involving the joint.
  7. Congenital characteristics of the body.
  8. Arthritis (hyaline cartilage begins to deteriorate due to inflammatory processes in the joint).

Often, arthrosis is caused not by one reason, but by a combination of them.

Clinical signs of arthritis and arthrosis

Joint pain in arthrosis and arthritis is different.

Acute arthritis is characterized by:

  1. Significant redness of the skin around the affected joint.
  2. Severe swelling in the affected area.
  3. The joint hurts both during movement and at rest.
  4. Prolonged morning stiffness (about an hour).
  5. General poor health: weakness, poor performance, body aches, sweating, and sometimes fever.

Arthrosis is characterized by:

  1. Joint pain mainly during movement.
  2. Difficulty in performing normal activities (for example, with knee arthrosis, it is painful to climb stairs).
  3. Relatively short-lasting morning stiffness (up to half an hour).
  4. Initial pain: when the patient goes from rest to activity, the joint bothers him for a while, but it passes quickly.
  5. Extraneous sounds (clicking, grinding, grinding) in the later stages of the disease./li>
  6. Narrowing of the joint space and/or deformation of the bone, which can be observed by palpation of the joint (in the later stages of the disease, the deformation is easily visible to the eye).
  7. Swelling of the affected joint, if the patient suffers from arthrosis for a long time and has secondary inflammation.

Radiography will help to definitively establish the diagnosis.In arthritis, there will be no pathological changes in the image, but in arthrosis, you can see a decrease in the height of the joint space or even bone growth.

Treatment of arthritis and arthrosis

Arthritis therapywill differ depending on the type of disease and the causes that caused it.This may include:

  • antibiotics;
  • immunomodulatory drugs;
  • non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs);
  • corticosteroids (if NSAIDs are not effective enough).

When inflammation can be alleviated, physical therapy is also used to maintain joint function and physiotherapy, incl.exposure to magnetic fields.

Treatment of arthrosisis also comprehensive and includes drug and non-drug methods.

The most commonly used drugs are NSAIDs, often in the form of gels and ointments.

Of the non-medical methods for arthrosis, exercise, massage and magnetotherapy are recommended.

Continuous exposure to magnetic fields with specially selected parameters for arthrosis enables:

  • relieve pain, secondary inflammation and swelling;
  • improve the nutrition of the affected joint and thereby slow down the development of the disease;
  • prolonged periods without exacerbations.

Things to remember:

  1. The difference between arthritis and arthrosis lies in the causes of their occurrence and manifestations.Arthritis is associated with joint inflammation, while arthrosis is associated with degeneration and wear and tear of cartilage tissue.Arthritis and arthrosis are interconnected, because inflammatory processes can contribute to the degradation of intra-articular cartilage, and wear and tear of hyaline cartilage can cause secondary inflammation in the joint.
  2. Acute arthritis is characterized by swelling and redness of the skin around the affected joint, pain when moving and at rest, long-lasting morning stiffness and the patient's general poor health.Arthrosis is characterized by pain in the joints during movement, difficulty in performing normal activities, short-term morning stiffness and initial pain;swelling of the joint is possible (with the development of secondary inflammation).In addition, with arthritis, there will be no pathological changes on the X-ray, but with arthrosis, there will be a decrease in the height of the joint space.
  3. Treatment of both arthritis and arthrosis should be comprehensive.Depending on the cause of the arthritis, the doctor may recommend antibiotics, immunomodulatory drugs, NSAIDs or corticosteroids.When the inflammation subsides, exercise and magnetic therapy are added.NSAIDs, exercise therapy, massage and magnetotherapy are used for arthrosis.