What are bone and joint diseases and what are their symptoms?

Joints are the delicate bone connection structures of the human body and are the key connection points that ensure the free and coordinated movement of the human body. Once a joint becomes diseased, it may cause great pain to the patient, resulting in difficulty in movement and long-term pain. Many people don't know much about bone and joint diseases. Let's briefly introduce what bone and joint diseases are.

1. Definition

Degenerative osteoarthritis, also known as osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis, senile arthritis, and hypertrophic arthritis, is a degenerative disease caused by many factors such as aging, obesity, strain, trauma, congenital abnormalities of joints, and joint deformities, resulting in degenerative damage to articular cartilage and reactive hyperplasia of the joint margins and subchondral bone. This disease is more common in middle-aged and elderly people, and is prone to occur in weight-bearing joints and joints with more activity (such as cervical vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, knee joints, hip joints, etc.). Excessive weight bearing or use of these joints can promote degenerative changes. The clinical manifestations include slowly developing joint pain, tenderness, stiffness, joint swelling, limited movement and joint deformity.

2. Clinical manifestations

The main clinical symptom is joint pain, which is often pain at rest. The pain occurs after rest and is relieved by a short activity. However, the pain worsens after excessive activity. Another symptom is joint stiffness, which often occurs when you wake up in the morning or after the joints have been in a certain position for a long time during the day. Examination of the affected joints may reveal joint swelling and tenderness, and a friction or "clicking" sound during movement. In severe cases, muscle atrophy and joint deformities may occur.

3. Treatment

The main treatment for this disease is to reduce the weight-bearing and excessive large-scale activities on the joints to delay the progression of the disease. Obese patients should lose weight to reduce the load on their joints. When there are lesions in the lower limb joints, crutches or a cane can be used to reduce the burden on the joints. Physical therapy and appropriate exercise can maintain the range of motion of the joints. When necessary, splints, braces, and canes can be used to help control acute symptoms. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs can relieve or control symptoms. For advanced cases, if the patient's general condition can tolerate the surgery, artificial joint replacement is currently recognized as an effective method to eliminate pain, correct deformities, and improve function, which can greatly improve the patient's quality of life.