With ankle joint disease, the symptoms and treatment will largely depend on the type of injury and the degree of neglect of the patient's condition. Do not neglect the diagnosis, so you should consult a specialist. Only the treating physician will tell you in detail how to treat ankle joint arthropathy, what is so dangerous in itself and if it is possible to get rid of this problem forever.
Causes of the disease
During the development of osteoarthritis of the ankle, there are 2 groups: primary (appear without special reasons) and secondary (appear due to external adverse factors). Other names for this disease: cruciate ligament (the right or left ankle is affected) or osteoarthritis. With osteoarthritis of the lower leg, degenerative processes occur in the cartilaginous tissues, which then cause a number of deviations.
In most cases, the disease is found in older men and women. Over time, the organs in the internal system do not function as actively and properly, and in some cases, failures involve thinning of the bone and cartilage tissues. In the normal state, the joints glide freely in motion without touching each other.
If they are adversely affected in osteoarthritis, the joint deforms and begins to rub into another joint. This causes an extra load, which then goes to the bones, which entails its deformation. When the joint is injured again, the surrounding tissues are further affected. The legs lose their mobility and do not tolerate heavy loads (with paralysis).
Other reasons
A common cause of ankle hemorrhage is active physical activity, which has a direct effect on the musculoskeletal system. At risk are people whose work is related to the transport of heavy loads or any other active work. A similar cause causes a disease in professional athletes or those who are actively involved in sports for a long time. Due to incorrect loads, significant pressure is exerted on the extremities, which in turn causes damage.
Acute arthropathy is a common problem for overweight people, because during movement, a mass presses on the lower extremities, which the legs can not withstand. With obesity, the disease can also develop in young people (about 20 years old) if a person has been diagnosed with it since childhood. Other diseases involving deforming ankle joint disease (reasons discussed above):
- arthritis;
- diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis (metabolic diseases).
- congenital deformities of the legs, ankles (clubfoot).
- any condition in which a nerve is pinched.
This disrupts the function of the muscular apparatus (for example, osteochondrosis). Due to the flat foot or lateral foot, in addition to the deforming condition, sub-ankle arthropathy also occurs (so called due to changes in the ankle).
Various types of injuries to the knees or feet (improper squatting), as well as the use of uncomfortable, small or poorly made shoes, are also causes of ankle joints. Women are particularly at risk. They have negative symptoms that lead to the use of high heels.
Symptoms and stages
It can take years from the initial onset of the disease to the final stage of the disease. The development time will depend on the initial condition of the human body, the treatment and the suitability of the applicable treatment. The signs of arthropathy will vary in a number of its characteristic symptoms.
First of all, with any, even slightly increased, load on the joints, a person begins to feel a sharp tingling pain in the legs. The same is true if the patient is moving long distances at a slow pace. The joints often creak and creak.
The patient begins to twist his legs, which sometimes results in dislocations in the ankle. This occurs due to violations of the function of the muscles and tendons, up to the atrophy of the muscle tissue (reduction or change of the muscle tissue, followed by its replacement with connective tissue that can not perform basic motor functions). It is for the same reason that stiffness and swelling are often felt in the legs.
Doctors distinguish 3 stages of disease development. The first two are completely curable, after which the person returns completely to his previous life. In grade 3, patients often have a disability for arthropathy.
During the development of grade 1 disease, the symptoms of the joint appear very slightly. A person can go to a medical facility with a complaint of rapid limb fatigue and slight leg pain, which disappear after rest. The diagnosis of limb arthritis is rarely established, since studies do not identify pathologies in the patient.
In the second stage, the pain does not disappear after rest. Swelling and redness appear in the legs, which will lead to an increase in temperature. The pain intensifies during an active change of weather conditions, swelling occurs.
In the last stage, the cartilage tissue is ossified, causing the patient significant discomfort, from which the person suffers from severe pain. The legs lose their mobility, and with each step a sting is heard. If the disease starts, it can lead to another diagnosis - deformity of the foot. This pathology entitles him to receive a disability, so treatment must begin immediately.
At this stage, arthritis is dangerous. Some distinguish another 4th degree, in which the pain disappears completely, but the person loses the ability to walk, because the cartilage at this stage is completely destroyed and paralysis occurs. At the same time, the 4th degree is characterized by the frequent development of ankylosis (when the joints fuse together) and neo-joints (when an unnecessary or false joint is formed between the displaced ends of the bones).
Post-traumatic arthropathy
Post-traumatic arthropathy of the ankle joint requires timely treatment, because, unlike deforming and acute, it is characteristic of young people, as it occurs after injury. For example, with dislocations, fractures and sprains.
Any tissue damage after injury does not go unnoticed, directly affecting blood vessels and nerves.
At first, the patient does not feel any discomfort, only over time he begins to notice that when walking the leg is twisted, because the ligaments have weakened and can no longer support the entire leg.
Over time, with osteoarthritis of the ankle joint, physical activity (especially among athletes) becomes more difficult, the legs get tired quickly during exercise. Girls in such cases often complain that they can not sit on the string even with daily large and well-performed stretches. The improvement is constantly followed by a recession, during which the foot swells, hurts and does not calm down even after rest.
Often, it is post-traumatic arthritis that causes pseudoarthrosis, a bone defect that causes severe joint mobility. For example, it is possible to bend the arm at the elbow not only backwards but also forwards. Pseudoarthritis occurs during bone healing, when the tissues grow incorrectly together.
Often, post-traumatic ankle arthropathy is a consequence of surgery during other surgeries. Scars form in the area of the tissues, reducing blood circulation. The risk increases when part of the affected joint is removed as necessary during surgery. The treatment of post-traumatic ankle joint disease is done according to the same methodology as in the case of other types.
Do's and don'ts for arthritis
Is It Possible To Exercise With This Disease? It is important to reduce the load on the affected joint as much as possible, therefore, after making the diagnosis, try not to lift weights, running is prohibited, you can not jump, squat, push and push with heavy weight while standing, deal with aerobic shock, perform asymmetric exercises and exercise static loads (for example, squatting). You can use a cane to relieve arthritis pain while walking.
However, refusing physical activity is not recommended at all. On the contrary, normal blood circulation in the ankle with joints is achieved faster with sports. Recommended for diseases (especially for post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the ankle) brisk walking or swimming.
Each extra pound of weight will add stress to the legs and cause swelling in the ankle, so even a slight weight loss will significantly speed up the recovery time. Excessive weight loss, moderate exercise and a proper (but not exhausting) diet will gradually restore the body to normal. From arthritis, mono-diets will not help, as well as those that will dramatically and radically change the usual diet. If you are going to switch to a vegetarian diet, it is best to wait until you are fully recovered.
Choose shoes with a low and wide sole. For the ankle joint, you can and should wear a small wide heel, but not ballerinas or sneakers. These shoes are the most comfortable and safe to use and significantly increase the stability of the foot when walking. The soft sole will further reduce some of the load on the joint.
The top should be soft and spacious, not compressing the foot, but the wrong size of boots will only increase the risk of injury. If you suffer from flat feet, this only increases the problem. When a person steps on the ground, the impact on it, along with the twisted foot, must be erased from the joint. In this case, special orthopedic insoles or foot supports will help.
While sitting, try to keep your knees slightly lower than your hips. Furniture with high legs, preferably with arms, will help with this. Such seats with handles will be especially important for existing pain, as this will reduce the load on the knee joint during lifting. When working in the office, adjust your office chair so that your feet do not become numb. If the furniture is of poor quality, do not sit still and occasionally stand up to warm up.
If you do foot massage yourself or seek help from a specialist, remember that knee massage is strictly forbidden. The knee joint also becomes inflamed in the joint sac itself and the active blood circulation inside will only increase the pain. Is it possible to warm the joints in the bathroom or use a variety of heating compresses in the treatment? Yes, but only if the person is sure of his diagnosis and the treating physician has no objection to such procedures. Do not use heat if joint injections are prescribed in the form of corticosteroids.
Medical care
How to treat osteoarthritis of the ankle joint? The treatment must be complete and work with various techniques. First of all, it is necessary to reduce the load on the ankle as much as possible, especially during the period of pain exacerbation. A bandage or walking stick with an emphasis on a healthy foot will help. Do not overload it, give up jogging and other physical activities for a while (running is dangerous).
Medications alone will not increase a person's motor activity, but they can facilitate movement and relieve pain. Good analgesics that relieve pain are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
NSAIDs have a bad effect on the gastric mucosa, causing a number of problems and pain, so it is best to use them in the form of various ointments or injections. These funds are aimed at reducing pain, many of them allow you to remove the swelling and inflammation. Corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory drugs, are injected into the joints for the same reasons. Their use is indicated when the disease is at a critical stage and other drugs no longer give any effect, since corticosteroids are strong and powerful drugs.
In the modern method of treatment, the drug is injected directly into the joint itself with the help of steroid hormones or with the help of hyaluronic acid (the same that is so popular for cosmetic purposes). Treating osteoarthritis of the ankle with this method is expensive but effective. Injectable hyaluronan is similar in composition to intra-articular fluid and, by penetrating, regenerates the damaged joint, replacing the fluid that has disappeared during the course of the disease.
The treatment of edema can be carried out with the help of a dropper, various ointments will increase the tone of the veins. Chondroprotectants are the latest drugs to be used, as their main task is to restore and further protect the joint from adverse effects. Treatment of ankle arthropathy involves the use of chondroprotectors. The effect from the use of funds appears after at least 3 months, depending on the severity of the disease. This is why the drug is usually prescribed for treatment for a year or more, but only in the first two stages, because otherwise they are useless.
Function and its varieties
The operation is prescribed in 3-4 stages of the disease, as well as in those in whom the previous methods of treatment did not give the right result. The treatment of ankle joint arthropathy with surgery has many subtypes:
- Arthroscopy is a well known and frequently used method.
- Tibial osteotomy (also called coxarthrosis).
- Arthroplasty.
- Endoprosthesis.
During the arthroscopy, the surgeon makes a small incision near the joint and inserts a small camera into it, assessing the general condition of the joints and bones. After that, the necessary surgical tools are inserted and the operation itself is performed. Arthroscopy is considered the most sparing method of treatment, since the person recovers quickly after the operation and the incision is not healed more than any usual incision.
In some cases, deformity of this organ causes deforming osteoarthritis of the ankle joint (the treatment for this will be somewhat different from the treatment of other types of diseases), as the load on the entire ankle is distributed incorrectly. Osteotomy aims to correct this curvature (coxarthrosis) and align the bone. It is usually contraindicated in the elderly and is used to treat young patients. During arthroplasty, part of the material is taken from the femur, which is not subject to a large load, and transferred to the ankle joint. The endoprosthesis method completely or partially removes the affected area and replaces it with an artificial, but similarly structured, device.
Other treatment and prevention
The treatment methods for ankle joint arthritis by no means end with the use of various medications. The next step in treatment will be a wide variety of options. Therapeutic exercise (exercise therapy) restores muscle tone and restores the ankle to its previous mobility. The program of exercises is determined by experts. First, physiotherapy exercises are performed in a prone position, over time - sitting and standing.
Another option is to correct the legs. During such classes, it would be advisable to fasten the leg with a bandage or refer to the beginning of the tape. This is done with the help of special tapes and plasters (teips). Thus, the risk of injury is reduced to a minimum, because comfortable lotions help with this. This principle is well known to professional athletes.
Another method is the kinesiology tape. Here, hypoallergenic cotton swabs are applied to the foot. The latter dries quickly on the foot, fastens easily and does not cause any discomfort.
Some doctors are skeptical about the next method of treating deforming osteoarthritis of the ankle joint. However, it has been scientifically proven that magnetotherapy, electrophoresis and Vitafon therapy significantly enhance the effect of the drugs, thus perfectly relieving pain.
Each massage session should be done by a specialist and should last about 15-20 minutes. At the same time, the actions are performed not only on the ankle joint, but also move to adjacent areas, as the leg muscles improve the work of the whole leg as a whole. The course usually lasts 2 weeks with breaks of 2 days, but the treatment can be adjusted upon the recommendation of a specialist.
The diet for ankle joint disease should be balanced and include the use of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, minerals. Diet for arthritis should by no means be infrequent. In any case, a variety of dishes is good and healthy. Vitamins for arthritis will also be important. They can be taken both with the help of tablets and with the use of vitamins from fruits and vegetables.
To prevent the development of the disease, follow a series of simple rules and this disease will not manifest itself.
For example, check your diet. Do not give up your favorite harmful products at all - try to reduce their consumption to a minimum.
When working or playing sports, try to avoid injuries and heavy loads. Before your favorite workout, be sure to warm up. Squat with arthropathy is forbidden, but if the patient has recovered from the disease and returned to his old activities, this should be done as carefully as possible. Patients should wear comfortable shoes. Give preference to high quality shoes, so you should give up heels.