It has been observed that more than 6, 000 search engine users are interested in the differences between osteoarthritis and arthritis every month. At first glance, the diseases are similar: both cases lead to painful joint damage. However, ignorance of the main differences of this defeat is a real trap that leads to irreparable complications. The nature of these diseases is different, which means that treatment and prevention are different from each other. Let's look at each of them in as much detail as possible and find out all the similarities and differences.
What is arthritis
Before going into the causes and symptoms of the disease, it is worth mentioning the numbers. Arthritis is a disease with more than 200 varieties that manifest themselves in different ways. In contrast to osteoarthritis, which talks about itself with age, arthritis occurs as early as 25 to 40 years of age. According to the WHO, more than 19% of cases of disability were due to complications.
Arthritis is an inflammatory joint disease caused by weakened immune processes or severe infections (intestinal or urogenital). Metabolic disorders, stress, hypothermia often become the cause of the development of inflammation.
The main symptoms of the disease are fever in the center of the lesion, redness, swelling, and swelling. In addition, the patient may experience generalized hyperthermia, loss of strength, conjunctivitis, and painful urination.
Arthritis begins with joint pain, but in its advanced form it affects the heart, liver, kidneys, eyes, etc. Often the disease proceeds in a hazy asymptomatic form, but its first manifestations are standard:
- sharp pains that appear both in motion and in a state of complete rest;
- persistent or periodic edema that occurs at the site of the lesion;
- The painful joint is "stormy" and this can be determined by touch.
- Pain and stiffness of the movements worry in the early morning hours (4-5 o'clock).
Advanced arthritis can progress to osteoarthritis, and this will be a whole different story.
What is osteoarthritis?
According to the WHO, 70% of cases of this disease occur in people over 64 years of age. Osteoarthritis is referred to as a disease by "pianists and athletes" because it puts stress on the wrists, knees and ankles.
Osteoarthritis is a disease that causes deformation of the joint tissue to the point of complete destruction. It develops due to a decrease in the amount of synovial fluid and circulatory disorders. In the affected joint cartilage, the nutrition is disturbed, causing it to "dry out" and "wear out".
The main job of a joint is to keep neighboring bones from touching. This enables a person to move about freely and painlessly. Dehydrated articular cartilage is slowly but surely destroyed, resulting in the same bone contacts. The further the disease progresses, the more the person suffers from pain and stiffness of movements, up to and including disability.
The first symptoms of deformity have their own characteristics:
- Joint stiffness after a long pause that subsides with movement;
- dull clicks, crunches and crunches;
- painful sensations when walking and physical exertion.
Osteoarthritis only affects the joints without affecting other organs. Inflammatory processes are absent in this case.
Side by side comparison of diseases
To understand exactly how arthritis differs from osteoarthritis, it is worth drawing a parallel between the main differences and summarizing the following:
- Pain. It accompanies both the first and second diseases, but its manifestation is of a different nature. In the case of osteoarthritis, pain occurs only with movement and force loads and is often mild. Because of this, a person is unaware of serious pathologies and does not start treatment in a timely manner. With each further stage, however, the pain becomes more intense and begins to disturb even at rest.
Arthritis here does not always depend on physical activity and is only eliminated with pain relievers. The disease is characterized by pain that occurs in the early hours of the morning.
- Crunch. Grinding and grinding isn't always a cause for concern. In osteoarthritis, however, it has a peculiar, coarser and drier sound that increases with each further stage. It becomes a signal for the destroyed cartilage layer and the beginning of bone friction. Grinding is not common in arthritis.
- Deformation. With osteoarthritis, the joint is deformed and inflammatory processes can also occur. With arthritis, there are seals, edema, redness and hyperthermia, but deformation only occurs when one disease has passed into another.
- Immobility. With osteoarthritis, the affected joint becomes stiff.
- Age threshold. Arthritis can develop even in children. According to statistics, however, the average age of the patients is between 25 and 40 years. Osteoarthritis is considered a "disease of old age" and is the result of natural aging. People whose lives are associated with stress on the joints are also at risk.
- Development of symptoms. The symptoms of arthritis are noticeable in the early stages of the inflammation. The second disease develops slowly and asymptomatically, which is why it misleads the patient without cause for concern.
How is arthritis treated?
The disease is already noticeable in the first stage, which is why in most cases it is treated in good time. If during the diagnosis no lesions of the internal organs are found, then the recovery will go smoothly. The course of treatment of the disease is carried out with the help of anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting drugs, as well as antibiotics. If the situation is carried out, it will repeat until it is fully recovered.
Recovery occurs in a complex way, so the patient is prescribed special therapeutic exercises, nutrition and rejection of bad habits. Electricity loads are excluded during this time.
If arthritis is chronic and rheumatoid, it cannot be completely cured. For temporary improvement, strong drugs are used - cytostatics, corticosteroids. Medicine today makes it possible to achieve long-term remission in this disease and to avoid an excess of hormonal agents. However, to prevent such a development of events, you should not self-medicate and postpone a visit to the doctor.
How is osteoarthritis treated?
The effectiveness of osteoarthritis treatment depends on the stage of the disease: the sooner it is detected, the sooner a person will recover. The age of the patient also plays an important role. As a therapeutic measure, the patient is instructed to regulate the load on the affected joint with the medication of the liver.
The disease, which has taken a chronic form, does not go away for good. However, modern medicine is able to competently control the disease and prevent further deformation of the joint. In a neglected form, they resort to artificial endoprosthetics when it cannot be restored.
Regardless of which of the two diseases a person encounters, treatment should be competent and timely. If you have the slightest suspicion of an illness, seek advice from an experienced specialist, because lost time is forever lost health. Contact the clinic for help from a qualified orthopedic traumatologist.