09/11/2023
Osteoarthritis is a group of diseases that are quite common in people aged 35 and over. Age, hormonal changes, heavy lifting, wrong posture are common causes of osteoarthritis. Here are the top 7 common musculoskeletal diseases
1. Osteoarthritis
inflammation and reduced joint fluid. The cause of osteoarthritis is mainly due to old age, besides there are also favorable factors such as osteoarthritis is a condition of damage to the joint cartilage and subchondral bone, there is an inflammatory reaction and a decrease in joint fluid. The cause of osteoarthritis is mainly due to old age, besides there are also favorable factors such as: genetics, obesity, frequent micro-trauma in joints, rheumatoid arthritis, infection match or have a history of strong trauma to the joint such as: fall, work accident, sports accident...
Symptoms of osteoarthritis include:
Pain around the joint: in the areas around the degenerative joint often appear dull pain, at first the patient just needs to rest, the pain will decrease, but when the disease worsens, the pain lasts and is intense. than.
Stiffness: Morning stiffness is a common symptom in patients with osteoarthritis. The most obvious manifestation when the patient wakes up, it is difficult to move the degraded, painful joints, after about 30 minutes, it can return to normal.
Deformed joints: It is possible that the degenerative joint area will be enlarged or the muscles will be atrophied.
Restriction of activities: activities of daily living are limited, such as bowing the head to the ground, turning the neck back.
There are many treatments for osteoarthritis such as:
Non-drug treatment: patients are guided to lose weight if they are overweight, and teach effective methods of combating knee osteoarthritis; Physical therapy treatment to relieve pain, correct bad posture and maintain muscle nutrition at the joint edge, treat associated muscle and tendon pain, prevent knee damage from being overloaded.
Drug treatment: anti-inflammatory pain relievers (oral, topical, injected into the knee joint), slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs (Glucosamine sulfate and chondroitin sulfate, Diacerein, piascledine,...).
Surgical treatment: Treatment under arthroscopy (resection, planing, joint washing), drilling to stimulate bone formation, cartilage cell transplantation, joint replacement surgery.
2. Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease, affecting the whole body, especially causing arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease, affecting the whole body, especially causing arthritis, presenting with swelling, heat, redness, stiffness and limited range of motion. Any joint can be affected, but the small joints of the hands and feet are most common. In addition to joints, other organs can also be damaged such as the heart, lungs, skin, and eyes. The joint damage that rheumatoid arthritis causes usually occurs on both sides of the body.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, so there is currently no cure. However, clinical studies show that symptoms are more likely to be relieved when treatment is started early with drugs called DMARDs (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs).
3. Herniated disc
A herniated disc is a condition when the nucleus pulposus of the spinal disc deviates from its normal position, through the ligaments, pressing on the nerve roots, causing numbness and pain. The cause of disc herniation is due to factors such as: genetics, wrong posture at work, movement, natural degeneration, accident, spinal trauma. In fact, it is common to experience pain that radiates from the lower back down the legs (sciatica) due to a herniated disc in the lumbar spine being the most common.
4. Spina bifida
Spina bifida is a condition in which the bone on the vertebral body, cartilage discs or ligaments around the joint is developed due to the degeneration of the cartilage and bone, the sharp surface of the joint and the spines that grow and press on the nerves, causing pain.
Most patients do not feel any symptoms at first. However, when the disease begins to get worse, the spines rub against other bones or surrounding soft tissues such as ligaments and nerve roots, then new pain gradually appears.
Some of the symptoms of spina bifida are:
Pain often occurs in the neck and lower back, especially when the patient stands or walks.
In severe cases, numbness in the neck spreads through the arms, pain in the back, down the legs.
Pain increases with walking or heavy exercise. Pain increases with movement and decreases with rest, thus leading to limitation of motion in these areas.
When the disease begins to get worse, the spines rub against other bones or surrounding soft tissues such as ligaments and nerve roots, then new pain gradually appears.
5. Sciatica
Sciatica is a term that describes pain that radiates from the buttocks down along the path of the sciatic nerve. Causes of sciatica include:
Herniated disc: This is the most common cause, the protrusion of the disc puts pressure on the sciatic nerve causing pain.
Lumbar spondylosis: Degeneration causes bone spurs to invade the intervertebral foramen, where the sciatic nerve exits the spine, bone spurs large enough will affect the sciatic nerve and cause pain. Sometimes degeneration that narrows the spinal canal is also a cause of pain.
Spondylolisthesis: When the vertebrae slip, it narrows the intervertebral foramen, causing impact on the sciatic nerve causing pain.
In addition, other causes of sciatica are trauma, inflammation...
6. Spinal degeneration
Spinal degeneration begins after the age of 30, the older the age, the faster the degeneration process. Degeneration affects both cartilage, subchondral bone and synovial membrane, in which articular chondrocytes and subchondral bone are of primary importance. In the spinal system, there are 3 areas where degeneration often occurs and depending on the location, there are different symptoms of spondylolisthesis:
Cervical spondylosis: patients with cervical degeneration will have symptoms such as pain in the neck (back of the neck), pain in the shoulder area, and may spread to the arm. Even severely ill people may experience numbness down the knuckles or pain spreading to the top of the head, tinnitus, or eye sockets...
Lumbar spondylosis: a common manifestation is frequent pain in the lower back. As the disease progresses, the patient may experience numbness along the buttocks down to the legs, and even pain in the feet.
Thoracic spondylolisthesis: less common than the above two cases, patients often present with back pain, pain pulling in front of the chest, even causing chest tightness and difficulty breathing.
7. Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a metabolic disorder of the skeleton that reduces bone strength leading to an increased risk of fractures.
Osteoporosis is a metabolic disorder of the skeleton that reduces bone strength leading to an increased risk of fracture. Bone strength is reflected through two factors: bone mass and bone quality. The cause of osteoporosis can be due to hormonal changes, age, medication... Especially in women, the rate of bone loss during menopause is from 1-3% per year, lasting from 5 to - 3% per year. 10 years after menopause.
Osteoarthritis is one of the common diseases and causes serious complications that seriously affect the quality of life of patients, especially those in middle age, the elderly, people with poor resistance. However, most osteoarthritis diseases can be detected and diagnosed very early, so regular health checkups are essential.
