What Is a Degenerative Muscle Disease?

Joint degenerative disease, also known as osteogenesis, is a degenerative disease of bone, which is a manifestation of arthritis. The causative factor of this disease is mainly due to the imbalance of mechanical stress distribution or excessive wear caused by cartilage.

Basic Information

nickname: Osteogenesis
Visiting department: orthopedics

Common locations: Neck, waist, knees
Common causes: Cartilage wear due to imbalance of main mechanical stress distribution or excessive load
Common symptoms: Neck, waist, knee pain, stiffness, numbness, restricted movement, etc.

Causes of joint degenerative diseases

Age

Older age is the most important risk factor for the onset of this disease.

2. Occupation

This disease is related to occupation. Repeated use of certain joints over a long period of time can increase the prevalence of these joints. Such as the elbow and shoulder joints of the founder, the spine and knee joints of the miner, the knee and ankle joints of the loader, the shoulder joints of the driver, the wrist joints of the repairman and weaver, and the metatarso joint of the ballet dancer. Cervical spine joints at desk.

3. Race genetic factors

4. Physical factors

Weight gain makes worn out and degenerate joints coupled with heavy loads more likely to be destroyed. Therefore, the disease mostly occurs in the hip, knee, calcaneus, lumbar spine and other parts with heavy load.

5. Poor posture

Such as long-term desk workers, poor sleeping posture, inappropriate pillows, the incidence of cervical degeneration is particularly high. This is because the paravertebral muscle ligaments and joints are out of balance, and the side with high tension is likely to cause different degrees of strain.

6. Intravenous stasis and intraosseous hypertension

Bone blood flow abnormalities characterized by intraosseous venous stasis and the resulting high intraosseous pressure reduce the arteriovenous pressure difference, reduce the blood flow of nutritional blood vessels, and nutritional disorders can cause trabecular bone necrosis, and bone cell necrosis may Is one of the causes of this disease.

Clinical manifestations of degenerative joint disease

Cervical degenerative disease

The neck has a strong feeling, limited movement, and neck movements have popping sounds. Pain often radiates to the shoulders and upper limbs. The hands and fingers have numbness and electric shock-like sensations, which can be exacerbated by the movement of the neck to an angle. Different lesions involve different parts and show different symptoms. In severe cases, the cervical spinal cord can be compressed and paralyzed.

Certain types of cervical spine can also cause cervical vertigo, cervical spondylotic hypertension, cardio-cerebral vascular disease, gastritis, angina pectoris, and difficulty swallowing.

2. Lumbar spinal degenerative disease

Waist three and waist four are the most common. Clinically, soreness, tenderness, stiffness and fatigue of lumbar spine and lumbar soft tissue often occur, and even bending is restricted. If the adjacent nerve root is compressed, it can cause corresponding symptoms, such as local pain, stiffness, posterior root neuralgia, and numbness. Such as compression of the sciatic nerve can cause sciatic neuritis, radiation paralysis of the affected limb, burning pain, throbbing pain, string pain, radiation to the entire lower extremity, leading to intermittent claudication when spinal stenosis.

3. knee degenerative disease

Slow onset knee pain is not serious, sustainable pain, increased pain when the temperature decreases, related to climate change, start activities after the morning, long walking, strenuous exercise or prolonged sitting and knee pain pain, stiffness After the activity, he improved, and it was difficult to go up and down the stairs. When he went down, the knee joint became soft and easily fell. Pain, stiffness, severe joint pain, cramping, limited joint function when squatting up, cramping, joint function limitation, the most obvious is squatting, stretching and flexion activity, some patients can see joint effusion, local swelling, tenderness phenomenon, combined Rheumatoid arthritis swelling and deformity.

Joint degenerative examination

Blood test

Blood tests, erythrocyte sedimentation, C-reactive protein, anti-chain "O", rheumatoid factor and other laboratory tests are generally in the normal range. In a few people with severe inflammation, ESR and C-reactive protein can be slightly elevated.

2. Synovial fluid inspection

Synovial fluid can increase in affected joints with synovitis. The typical ones are clear, sticky, and the number of cells is not high. Most of them are monocytes. Cartilage or bone fragment particles can be seen, and chondrocytes can be seen in cartilage fragments.

3. Arthroscopy

The articular cartilage and surrounding tissues can be clearly observed, but because this test is traumatic, it may be accompanied by adverse reactions such as infection or bleeding, and the cost is high, so it is not a routine test.

4.X-ray plain film

In the early stages, X-ray films are mostly normal. In the middle and late stages, asymmetry and narrowing of the joint space, sclerosis and deformation of the subarticular surface, osteophyte formation at the joint edge, cystic changes under the articular surface, and free joint space can be seen. X-ray films can be divided into five levels. Grade 0: No change; Grade 1: Slight osteophyte; Grade 2: Obvious osteophyte with normal joint space; Grade 3: Moderately narrow joint space outside the osteophyte; Grade 4: Severe narrowing of the joint space outside the osteophyte with subchondral Bone sclerosis.

5. Other

With the application of new imaging techniques such as microfocus photography; CT, magnetic resonance and three-dimensional reconstruction, in addition to being helpful in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis, it is also valuable for understanding the progress of osteoarthritis lesions and the efficacy of drugs.

Diagnosis of joint degenerative diseases

Diagnosis based on clinical manifestations and imaging.

Treatment of joint degenerative diseases

Western medicine treatment

At present, western medicine has no effective treatment for this disease, and symptomatic treatment is often used, such as antipyretic and analgesics when pain; numb patients can choose B vitamins; joint swelling with fluid can be given local fluid Or partial closure and other therapies. However, these treatments are not ideal, and the condition is easy to relapse.

Cartilage protective agents such as glucosamine sulfate can promote cartilage synthesis and inhibit the breakdown of articular cartilage, while also having anti-inflammatory effects. Sulfate itself is also one of the essential ingredients for the synthesis of cartilage matrix. Such drugs can relieve pain symptoms and improve joint function. Long-term use (more than 2 years) can also delay the destruction of joint structure. Glucosamine sulfate has a slower onset of action, but the drug is safe and suitable for long-term use as a basic treatment.

2.Physiotherapy

The direct-current drug iontophoresis method fully exerts the role of the drug, but because the drug to be introduced is a liquid, it is volatile and the effect is not lasting, which limits the therapeutic effect of the method. The therapeutic effects of ultraviolet therapy are mainly manifested in the following aspects: bactericidal effect; anti-inflammatory effect; analgesic effect; promote wound healing; desensitization effect; promote the formation of vitamin D3; Other methods such as infrared, microwave, laser, and wax therapy have certain effects.

3. Surgical treatment

Surgical treatment is not the first choice. When conservative treatment is ineffective and the disease is severe and seriously affects the patient's life, surgical treatment can be considered.

4. Chinese medicine treatment

The arthritis caused by this disease belongs to the category of "bi-syndrome" of traditional Chinese medicine, and most of them belong to wind-cold and dampness. Different prescriptions can be selected due to different emphasis on wind cold and dampness evils. The winner of wind evils is the paralysis, the treatment is to remove wind and collaterals, disperse cold and dehumidify, and the prescription can be Xuanbi Dajing Decoction. The winner of the cold evil is pain, and the treatment is warming and dispersing cold, removing wind and dampness, and the prescription can be aconite soup. The winner of dampness is Bi, which is treated by dehumidification and collaterals, dispels wind and disperse cold, and the prescription can be selected from Coix Decoction.

Massage has a good effect in treating arthritis caused by degenerative joints. The methods can be summarized as methods to relieve soft tissue tension and convulsions, analgesic methods, loosen adhesion methods, increase patella activity methods, eliminate knee swelling methods, etc., which can obviously alleviate pain and joint dysfunction caused by degenerative joint diseases.

Acupuncture also has some effects. Acupuncture treatment is mainly based on local acupuncture points, combined with meridian and syndrome differentiation. Main acupoints: Ashi acupoints, local meridian points; acupoints: those who are paralyzed, plus Shuyu, Xuehai; those who are paralyzed, plus Shenshu, Guan Yuan; those who are paralyzed, plus Yinlingquan, Zusanli.

Joint degenerative disease prevention

1. Avoid prolonged strenuous exercise

Prolonged, excessive, strenuous exercise or activity is one of the basic causes of the disease. Especially for heavy-duty joints (such as knee and hip joints), excessive movement will increase the force on the joint surface and increase the wear. Long-term strenuous exercise can also cause excessive stress and tension on the bones and surrounding soft tissues, causing local soft tissue damage and uneven force on the bones. Therefore, long-term strenuous exercise should be avoided.

2. Proper physical exercise

Avoiding long-term vigorous exercise is not inactivity. On the contrary, proper physical exercise can effectively prevent the disease. Because the nutrition of articular cartilage comes from synovial fluid, and synovial fluid can only enter cartilage by "squeezing", which promotes cartilage metabolism. Proper exercise, especially the movement of joints, can increase the pressure in the joint cavity, facilitate the penetration of joint fluid into cartilage, reduce the degenerative changes of articular cartilage, and thereby reduce or prevent the proliferation and degeneration of articular cartilage.

3. Timely treatment of joint injuries

Joint injuries include soft tissue injuries and bone injuries. Degenerative joint disease is often directly related to intra-articular fractures. Due to incomplete reduction of the fracture, the articular cartilage surface is uneven, which results in traumatic arthritis. For patients with intra-articular fractures, if timely treatment is available and anatomical reduction is performed, traumatic arthritis and joint degenerative diseases can be completely avoided.

4. Lose weight

Overweight is one of the important reasons for degenerative spine and joint degeneration. Excessive weight will accelerate the wear of articular cartilage and make the pressure on the articular cartilage uneven. Therefore, for people who are overweight, proper weight loss can prevent degenerative diseases of the spine and joints.