Treatment of arthrosis of the elbow joint

Fractures, bruises, and bone cracks often lead to degenerative processes in the joints. However, arthrosis of the elbow joint occurs not only due to injury. After 45 years, the body’s metabolism is often disrupted and a deficiency of vitamins and minerals develops. All this has a negative impact on the structure of the cartilage, the composition and amount of synovial fluid, first discomfort appears, and then pain. What are the prognosis for such a diagnosis and what treatment is most effective?

Arthrosis of the elbow joint is diagnosed infrequently and mainly in people over 45 years of age

How do you know if you have arthrosis of the elbow joint?

Pathological changes in cartilage tissue make themselves felt as follows:

when bending and straightening the arm, pain appears, which can be spontaneous, but over time it begins to radiate to the neck and is felt when pressing on the elbow;
mobility in the elbow joint is limited, especially due to the growth of osteophytes;
due to the friction of bone surfaces, a dry crunch appears (this sound should not be confused with normal physiological clicks during certain movements of the elbow);
Some, mainly athletes, note muscle weakness, but this symptom is quite difficult to detect.

Who's at risk

Arthrosis of the elbow joint develops for many reasons:

due to injuries;
due to metabolic disorders - metabolic processes in the joints;
against the background of a genetic predisposition or disease of the endocrine system;
after intoxication of the body, an infection that has spread to the joint, hypothermia;
as a complication of rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

At risk are all representatives of the older age category, as well as those who seriously engage in weightlifting or expose the elbow joint to other mechanical stress. Women are also susceptible to the disease during periods of hormonal system disruptions, most often during menopause.

Arthrosis of the elbow joint is often diagnosed in tennis players

Disease prevention

As an excellent preventive measure that can prevent the occurrence of pathological processes in the elbow joint, it is recommended:

systematic moderate load on the joint;
giving up bad habits;
protection of the elbow joint from mechanical damage during professional activities or sports;
saturating the daily diet with vegetables and fruits high in vitamins and beneficial microelements.

IMPORTANT! When the first signs of the disease appear, consult a specialist. Remember that self-medication can not only aggravate the situation, but also cause serious harm to the body, which can cause irreversible consequences

Stages of arthrosis of the elbow joint

Over time, the disease progresses:

At the first stage, unexpressed pain is noted during exercise, but there are no external manifestations. Retraction of the arm back is somewhat limited, as is flexion-extension, but does not yet cause discomfort to the person. It is not difficult for a doctor to make a diagnosis for such symptoms, unlike patients who often attribute ailments to banal fatigue.

At the first stage of arthrosis, a slight narrowing of the joint space is noticeable in the image.

At the second stage, noticeable pain appears, including at rest, as well as a dry crunching sound when moving. It becomes impossible to bend your arm at the elbow, as well as to move it back. Muscles begin to atrophy, joint tissues begin to deform, and leading a normal lifestyle is already quite difficult.

At the second stage of arthrosis, the image shows numerous osteophytes - bone growths

At the third stage, the aching pain becomes constant. It is almost impossible to move your hand. To reduce pain, many people fix their hand in a certain position. The cartilage is completely destroyed, the joint space is absent in the picture, and the muscles are atrophied.

At the third stage of arthrosis, the damaged arm becomes smaller than the other

Osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint

Initially, osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint manifests itself as discomfort or mild pain in the shoulder when it is in a certain position. When changing position, the pain may subside or disappear altogether. As the pathological process progresses, the pain becomes stronger and can bother the patient regardless of body position. Grade 1 osteoarthritis of the shoulder joint is characterized by nagging and aching pain. They may be permanent.

When weather conditions change or physical activity occurs, the pain intensifies. Some patients experience pain throughout the shoulder; sometimes the pain syndrome can affect the back muscles or upper limb. Deforming osteoarthritis of the 2nd degree of the shoulder joint is characterized by increasing restrictions in movements. In severe cases, the patient cannot move his arm. With osteoarthritis of the right shoulder joint, the patient loses the ability to self-care.

Symptoms of deforming arthrosis of the elbow joint

An X-ray image allows you to distinguish ordinary arthrosis from deforming arthrosis, when pathological changes occur on the periphery of the humerus:

at the first stage, osteophytes are noticeable not only in the joint area, but also in the area of the distal epiphysis, which does not happen with ordinary arthrosis;
on the second, bone growths are distributed evenly around the elbow joint, without limiting mobility, but gradually leading to dysfunction;
on the last one, the image shows signs of sclerosis of adjacent bone lobes.

About 50% of cases of arthrosis of the elbow joint are deforming arthrosis

Arthroscopic findings

In addition to thinning of the cartilage, arthroscopy may reveal intra-articular loose bodies. Overgrowth of synovial tissue is detected in all cases. Before assessing the size of osteophytes, a partial synovectomy must be performed.

In most cases, treatment of osteoarthritis involves complex therapy, which includes the use of medications, physiotherapy, and exercise therapy.

The main goal of treatment is to reduce the severity of pain by reducing irritation of the joint. In most patients with severe degenerative changes, it is possible to increase the range of motion only to a small extent or not at all.

Drug treatment:

NSAIDs (they are always the starting point for treatment to relieve pain during an exacerbation of the disease)
Hormonal drugs (they are used when there is no dynamics of recovery, and osteoarthritis progresses)
Synovial fluid substitutes (prescribed when osteoarthritis is in remission, and water implants are introduced into the elbow joint using injections)
Chondroprotectors (needed to remove swelling and inflammation of the elbow joint)

Physiotherapy:

Treatment of joints using physiotherapy includes exposure to pathological areas with physical and natural factors (cold, heat, magnetic field, laser, leeches, acupuncture).

Laser therapy
Cryotherapy
Magnetotherapy
Mid-wave UV irradiation
Electrophoresis
Darsonvalization
Diadynamo and amplipulse therapy
Massage

Arthroscopic treatment involves targeting cartilage defects, removing loose bodies, partial synovectomy and, if necessary, removing osteophytes.

What physiotherapeutic methods are most often used in stages 1 and 2

Electrophoresis with medications.
Paraffin therapy to stimulate blood flow.
Laser therapy to stop the growth of osteophytes and destroy existing ones.
Mud compresses to eliminate atrophic changes in tissues.
Acupuncture to reduce pain and restore muscle tone.
Massage is relevant at the rehabilitation stage.
Physiotherapy.

With the help of simple gymnastics, you can eliminate pain in the initial stages of arthrosis of the elbow joint. Contraindications to it are recent elbow injuries, elevated body temperature, influenza, ARVI, as well as a period of 3 months after surgery on the elbow joint.

How Noltrex intra-articular injections work

Noltrex is an artificial endoprosthesis that can replace the missing synovial fluid in the elbow and any other joint. Once inside the joint space, the drug evenly covers the surfaces, creates a shock-absorbing effect and gradually restores the desired viscosity of the joint fluid. Therefore, cartilage and bones stop rubbing against each other, the joint space widens, and the pain goes away.

Unlike injections based on hyaluronic acid, Noltrex:

It is biocompatible with body tissues, therefore does not cause rejection or allergic reactions;
does not contain components of animal origin, therefore it is eliminated from the body much longer;
has a minimum of contraindications, including only inflammation of the joint and in some cases diabetes.

The molecules of the polymer drug "Noltrex" are practically invisible to the body's immune cells, so the drug remains in the joint for a long time and has a prolonged effect. It is necessary to take a repeated course in the treatment of arthrosis of the elbow joint every 9-24 months, depending on the degree of the disease. During this period, the mobility of your elbow is completely restored, the pain goes away - you can enjoy life again!

Causes

Osteoarthritis is caused by degeneration of articular cartilage, a process that develops over time. The difference between arthrosis and arthritis is that with arthrosis there is no such inflammatory reaction as with arthritis (for example, rheumatoid arthritis or gout).

A severe sprain or fracture can actually damage the joint cartilage. Cartilage bruising can also occur when excess pressure is applied to the surface of the cartilage.

Osteoarthritis of the elbow joint can be idiopathic, that is, without an obvious cause. But most often, elbow osteoarthritis is associated with overuse of the arm. Initially, the surface of the cartilage does not change, and the effects of the injury may not be noticeable for a month after the injury. But sometimes cartilage damage can be serious. Pieces of cartilage may actually be torn from the bone and the pieces will not heal. As a rule, such torn pieces are removed through surgery. If pieces of cartilage tissue are not removed, they move freely inside the joint. Such pieces of cartilage can lead to pain and even greater damage to the cartilage tissue. The body cannot fully restore the area of cartilage with torn pieces, and these areas are replaced not by cartilage tissue, but by scar tissue. But scar tissue is not as smooth and elastic as hyaline cartilage. Trauma does not necessarily have to directly damage the cartilage tissue of the joint in order for the process of degeneration (osteoarthrosis) to start. Any injury to the elbow joint can change the mechanics of movement in the joint. For example, after a fracture of the ulna, the bone fragments may not consolidate perfectly evenly. And even a slight change in the shape of the bones can change the mechanics of movements and lead to degenerative changes in the joint, since the distribution of load vectors on different parts of the joint changes. Dislocation can also cause long-term mechanical problems. After dislocation, the ligaments are sprained and the elbow joint may move differently. This change in movement changes the vectors of force acting on the articular cartilage. Over many years, this imbalance in joint mechanics can lead to damage to the articular cartilage. And since articular cartilage is not fully restored, cartilage damage increases. And eventually, pain in the elbow begins to appear.

Arthrosis of the elbow joint is different from arthrosis of the knee or hip. Over an extended period of time, the articular cartilage of the elbow is intact. The joint space remains close to normal. The biggest changes are osteophyte formation and capsular contracture.

Capsular contracture is the process of drying and hardening of the joint capsule. The capsule consists of two layers: a fibrous covering that surrounds the joint and an internal lining. The inner layer is called the synovium. The synovial layer contains fluid to lubricate the inside of the joint (synovial fluid).