For arthropathy of the ankle, symptoms and treatment will largely depend on the type of injury and the degree of neglect of the patient's condition. Don't ignore the diagnosis, so you should consult a specialist. Only the attending physician will tell you in detail how to cure ankle joint disease, what dangers it poses in itself, and whether it is possible to get rid of the problem forever.
cause of disease
In the development of ankle osteoarthritis, there are two groups: primary (occurring without a specific cause) and secondary (occurring due to external adverse factors). Other names for this condition: Osteoarthropathy (damage to the right or left ankle) or Osteoarthritis. With calf osteoarthritis, the cartilage tissue undergoes a degenerative process, which subsequently leads to many deviations.
In most cases, the disease is seen in older men and women. Over time, the organs in the internal system don't work so aggressively and correctly, and in some cases, the malfunction can lead to thinning of bone and cartilage tissue. Under normal conditions, joints slide freely during motion and do not touch each other.
If they are negatively affected in osteoarthritis, the joint deforms and starts to rub against the other joint. This causes extra load, which is then passed to the bone, causing it to deform. When the joint is injured again, the surrounding tissue is also affected. The legs are incapacitated and unable to withstand heavy loads (paralysis).
other reasons
A common cause of ankle hemorrhage is active physical activity, which has a direct effect on the musculoskeletal system. The person at risk has work related to carrying heavy loads or any other active work. Similar reasons can cause discomfort in professional athletes or people who have been active in sports for a long time. Due to incorrect loading, a great deal of pressure can be placed on the limb, which can lead to damage.
Acute arthropathy is a common problem in overweight people because during exercise, the lower extremities are compressed and the legs cannot bear it. If a person is diagnosed with obesity from an early age, the disease may also develop in young adults (around the age of 20). Other disorders that cause deformity of the ankle joint (the causes are discussed above):
- gout;
- diabetes and atherosclerosis (metabolic disease);
- Congenital deformities of the legs and ankles (equinus);
- Any nerve compression.
This can disrupt the function of muscle organs (eg, osteochondrosis). As a result of flat feet or club feet, in addition to the deformed condition, the subtalar joint (named for the change in the talus) also occurs.
Various injuries to the knees or legs (incorrect squatting), as well as wearing uncomfortable, small or poorly made shoes, are also causes of ankle joint disease. Women are especially at risk. They have negative symptoms leading to wearing high heels.
Symptoms and Stages
Years can pass from the initial manifestation of the disease to the final stage of the disease. The timing of development will depend on the initial state of the body, the appropriateness of treatment and applicable therapy. Signs of arthropathy can vary in many of the symptoms that characterize it.
First, people start to feel tingling in the legs when the joints are subjected to any even slightly increased load. The same thing happens if the patient moves long distances at a slow pace. The joints often crackle and squeak.
The patient begins to twist the leg, sometimes resulting in a dislocated ankle. This is due to violation of the function of muscles and tendons until muscle tissue atrophy (reduction or change in muscle tissue, which is subsequently replaced by connective tissue that cannot perform basic motor functions). For the same reason, the legs often feel stiff and swollen.
Doctors distinguish 3 stages of disease development. The first two were completely treatable, after which the man completely returned to his old life. At grade 3, patients are often disabled by arthropathy.
During the development of the 1st degree disease, the symptoms of arthropathy appear very mild. A person can go to a medical facility complaining of rapid fatigue in the extremities and mild pain in the legs, which disappears with rest. A diagnosis of extremity arthropathy is rarely established because no lesions were found in patients during the study period.
In the second stage, the pain does not go away after rest. Swelling and redness of the legs, which will cause the temperature to rise. Pain increases and swelling occurs during positive changes in weather conditions.
In the final stage, the cartilage tissue ossifies, causing considerable discomfort to the patient, who suffers from severe pain as a result. The legs have lost mobility, and a crunch can be heard with every step. If the disease starts, this can lead to another diagnosis - a foot deformity. This pathology confers the right to receive disability, so treatment should be started immediately.
Arthropathy is dangerous at this stage. Some people distinguish another 4 degrees, when the pain disappears completely, but the person loses the ability to walk, because the cartilage in this stage is completely destroyed, and paralysis occurs. Meanwhile, the 4th degree is characterized by frequent occurrences of ankylosis (when joints fuse together) and new joints (when unwanted or false joints form between displaced ends of bones).
post-traumatic arthropathy
Posttraumatic arthropathy of the ankle requires prompt treatment because, unlike deformity and acuteness, it is characteristic of young people as it occurs after injury. For example, dislocations, fractures and sprains.
Any post-injury tissue damage does not go without a trace, directly touching blood vessels and nerves.
At first, the patient didn't feel any discomfort, but over time he began to notice that the foot twisted during walking because the ligaments had weakened and could no longer support the entire leg.
Over time, with osteoarthritis of the ankle joint, physical activity (especially in athletes) becomes more difficult, and the legs can quickly tire during exercise. In this situation, girls often complain that they cannot sit on the ropes even with long and properly executed stretches every day. The improvement is followed by continuous relief, during which the leg is swollen, painful and does not calm down even after rest.
Often, posttraumatic arthropathy results in pseudoarthrosis, a bone defect that causes severe joint mobility. For example, you can bend your arms not only backwards, but also forwards. False joints occur during bone healing, when tissues don't grow together properly.
Often, posttraumatic arthropathy of the ankle is the result of surgical intervention during other operations. Scars form in areas of tissue, impairing blood circulation. The risk increases when part of the affected joint is removed as needed during surgery. The treatment of posttraumatic arthropathy of the ankle joint is carried out according to the same method as for other types of conditions.
Arthritis Precautions
Can this disease do physical exercise? It is important to minimize the load on the diseased joint, so after diagnosis, try not to lift weights, avoid running, and avoid jumping, squatting, pressing, and pressing while standing. , perform impact cardio, perform asymmetric exercises, and perform static loads (eg, seated squats). You can use crutches to help relieve arthritis pain while walking.
Nonetheless, total rejection of physical activity is not recommended. Conversely, normal blood circulation in a jointed ankle is achieved faster through exercise. Brisk walking or swimming is recommended for ailments, especially post-traumatic osteoarthritis of the ankle.
Every extra kilo of weight adds stress to the legs and can cause swelling in the ankles, so even a slight weight loss can significantly speed up recovery time. Losing weight too quickly is not recommended, and moderate exercise and a proper (but not debilitating) diet will gradually bring the body back to normal. For joint disease, a single diet will not help, and those that will drastically change the usual diet. If you're going to switch to a vegetarian diet, it's best to wait until you're fully recovered.
Choose shoes with low, wide soles. For the ankle, you can and should wear a small, wide heel, but not ballet flats or sneakers. These shoes are the most comfortable and safe to wear and significantly increase foot stability while walking. A soft sole will further reduce some of the load on the joints.
Tops should be soft and roomy without pressing your feet, but the wrong size of boots will only increase the risk of injury. This only adds to the problem if you have flat feet. When a person steps on the ground, the shock to it, along with the twisted foot, must be dissipated through the joints. In this case, special orthopedic insoles or instep supports can help.
When sitting, try to keep your knees slightly below your hips. Furniture with high legs will help, preferably armrests. This seat with handles is especially important for existing pain, as this will reduce the load on the knee joint when lifting. When working in the office, set up your office chair to avoid numbness in your legs. If the furniture is of poor quality, don't sit still and stand up occasionally to warm up.
If you do a foot massage yourself or seek professional help, remember that massaging the knee itself is strictly prohibited. The joint capsule itself is also inflamed, and the active blood circulation inside it only increases the pain. Is it possible to heat the joint in the bath or use various heating dressings in the treatment? Yes, but only if the patient is confident of his diagnosis and the attending physician has no objection to such procedures. Do not heat if prescribed to inject arthropathy in the form of corticosteroids.
medical treatement
How is ankle osteoarthritis treated? Treatment must be comprehensive and use multiple techniques. First, try to minimize the load on the ankle, especially during periods of increased pain. Bandages or walking with crutches, emphasizing leg health, will help with this. Don't overload and temporarily give up physical activities like jogging (running is dangerous).
Medications by themselves do not increase a person's motor activity, but they can ease movement and reduce pain. Good pain relievers are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs for short).
NSAIDs have adverse effects on the gastric mucosa and can cause many problems and pain, so they are best used in the form of various ointments or injections. These funds are designed to reduce pain, and many of them allow you to reduce swelling and inflammation. For the same reason, corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory drugs are also injected into the joints. They are recommended when the disease is at a critical stage and other drugs are no longer having any effect, as corticosteroids are powerful drugs.
In modern treatments, the drug is injected directly into the joint itself (one for the same cosmetic purpose) with the help of steroid hormones or hyaluronic acid. Treating ankle osteoarthritis this way is expensive but effective. Injected hyaluronic acid is similar in composition to intra-articular fluid and enters the joint to regenerate damaged joints, replacing fluid that disappears during the course of the disease.
The treatment of edema can be performed with the help of a dropper, various ointments increase the tension of the veins. Chondroprotective agents are the last drugs used because their main task is to restore and further protect the joints from negative effects. Treatment of ankle disease involves the use of chondroprotective agents. Depending on the severity of the disease, the results of the use of funds were available at least 3 months later. This is why the remedy is usually prescribed for a year or more of treatment, but only in the first two stages, because otherwise they are useless.
Operations and their varieties
Surgery is performed at 3-4 stages of the disease and is also suitable for people whose previous treatments have not given correct results. There are several subspecies of surgical treatment of ankle arthropathy:
- Arthroscopy is a well-known and frequently used method.
- Tibial osteotomy (also known as hip arthropathy).
- Arthroplasty.
- Internal prosthesis.
During an arthroscopy, the surgeon makes a small incision near the joint and inserts a small camera into it to assess the general condition of the joint and bone. After that, the necessary surgical instruments are inserted inside and the surgery itself is performed. Arthroscopy is considered the least labor-intensive treatment because people recover quickly after surgery and the incision does not take longer to heal than any ordinary incision.
In some cases, deformation of this organ can lead to ankle deformity osteoarthritis (treatment for which will be different from that of other types of disease) because the load is not distributed correctly across the ankle. Osteotomy is done to correct this curvature (hip disease) and align the bones. It is usually contraindicated in the elderly and used to treat younger patients. In an arthroplasty, a portion of material is removed from the femur, relieved of a heavy load, and transferred to the ankle joint. Using an endoprosthesis approach, the affected area is completely or partially removed and replaced with an artificial but structurally similar device.
Other Treatment and Prevention
The treatment of ankle joint disease is not limited to the use of various drugs. The next step in treatment will be a variety of options. Therapeutic exercise (kinesiology) restores muscle tone and restores the ankle to its previous mobility. Exercise plans are developed by experts. First, physical therapy exercises are performed in the prone position, over time - sitting and standing.
Another option is to fix the legs. In such classes, it is recommended to use bandages to immobilize the legs or refer to the principles of tape. This is done with the help of special tapes and plasters (teips). Therefore, the risk of injury is reduced to a minimum, as the comfortable lotion helps with this. This principle is well known among professional athletes.
Another method is kinematic tape. Here, cotton tape made of hypoallergenic material is attached to the leg. The latter dries quickly on the legs, is easy to fix and does not cause any discomfort.
Some doctors are skeptical about the next approach to treating osteoarthritis of the ankle. However, it has been scientifically proven that magnetic therapy, electrophoresis and Vitafon treatments can significantly enhance the effects of medications, so they are perfect for pain relief.
Each massage should be performed by a specialist and last about 15-20 minutes. At the same time, the movement is performed not only on the ankle joint, but also to the adjacent area, as the muscles of the foot improve the overall work of the entire leg. The course usually lasts 2 weeks with a 2-day break, but treatment can be adjusted according to specialist advice.
Ankle joint disease diet should be balanced, including the use of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, minerals. Under no circumstances should arthropathy nutrition be scarce. Anyway, all kinds of dishes are good and healthy. Vitamins for joint disease are also important. They can be obtained either with the help of tablets or by using vitamins from fruits and vegetables.
To prevent the disease from developing, follow some simple rules and the disease will not manifest itself.
For example, control your diet. Don't give up on your favorite harmful products at all - try to keep their consumption to a minimum.
When working or exercising, try to avoid injuries and heavy objects. Be sure to warm up before your favorite workout. Squats are contraindicated in patients with arthropathy, but they should be as careful as possible if they are free of the disease and resume their old activities. Patients should wear comfortable shoes. Prioritize high-quality shoes, which is why you should ditch high heels.