Polyarthritis

“The disease twisted,” you must have heard such an expression. So, this very accurately fits the description of polyarthritis. In general, of course, you won’t surprise the world with sick joints, but that’s why the disease does not become less serious.

Not only does polyarthritis cause severe pain and a lot of inconvenience to the patient, but it can also make you disabled. Therefore, it is very important to detect the problem at an early stage of development, and it is better to try to prevent it altogether.

What is polyarthritis

Polyarthritis is a disease that affects several joints at once. It can be caused by trauma, rheumatoid arthritis, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders and systemic diseases (lupus, acute rheumatic fever, vasculitis).

What you need to know about polyarthritis

Symptom polyarthritis

Usually a person himself – by the symptoms – understands that some kind of trouble is happening with the joints. But polyarthritis can be confused with other diseases. What are its symptoms?

1. Joint pain – at rest or after exercise.
2. Limitation of range of motion in the affected joints.
3. Swelling or swelling of the periarticular tissues.
4. Redness of the skin over the joints.
5. Rise in local temperature.
6. Feeling of stiffness – difficulty before starting to perform movements in the joints after a long rest.
7. A crunch in the joints, atrophy of nearby muscles and tissues with a long course of polyarthritis.

Focusing only on pain and crunching as symptoms of polyarthritis, you can misdiagnose yourself. You should not engage in self-diagnosis and self-treatment, but go straight to the doctors. To whom, specifically, is another question.

Diagnosis of polyarthritis

The name speaks for itself: arthritis – a disease of the joints, the prefix “poly” – speaks of plurality. But that’s oversimplified.

“Polyarthritis is an inflammation of five or more joints or joint groups,” says rheumatologist Luiza Lukmanova. – Primary polyarthritis is distinguished – as an independent disease, and secondary. And according to the nature of the course, acute, subacute and chronic polyarthritis are distinguished.

Now the details.

As an independent disease, polyarthritis develops due to hereditary predisposition to the disease and / or activation of risk factors.

Secondary polyarthritis occurs against the background of an existing pathology in the body. These include immune and metabolic disorders, infection, congenital structural features of the musculoskeletal system, trauma, and others.

Causes of polyarthritis

Consider the causes of the disease in more detail. To know if we fall into some risk group.

The reasons:

1. Heredity. According to our expert, in the presence of diseases of the joints in the next of kin, the risk of polyarthritis increases.
2. Features of labor.

   – Here we are talking about dynamic and static physical overload due to lifting and moving weights, forced body position, irrational working posture. This also includes excessive and prolonged pressure of objects on certain parts of the body (in particular, in the area of ​​uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe joints of the limbs), says Luiza Lukmanova. – Also, the disease can be provoked by vibration, hypothermia, industrial poisons, ionizing radiation and other adverse working conditions.

3. Infection. Yes, yes, there is a risk of “earning” such a diagnosis, even if you do not bother your body with heavy physical exertion.

   – Acute polyarthritis can develop after a respiratory tract infection (the causative agents of the disease are streptococci, staphylococci, rubella viruses, infectious mononucleosis, etc.), intestinal infections (for example, dysentery, salmonellosis) and genitourinary infections (chlamydia, ureaplasmosis, gonorrhea), notes Dr Lukmanova. – Chronic infectious arthritis can develop against the background of a long course and insufficient treatment of HIV infection, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, syphilis, tick-borne borreliosis, brucellosis, fungal and parasitic diseases. Bacteria that cause chronic periodontitis can provoke the development of rheumatoid arthritis.

4. Violations in the work of immunity.

   “When this happens, the body’s immune system begins to damage and destroy its own healthy cells and tissues (including joints) – an autoimmune inflammation occurs that is able to maintain itself in the body,” says our expert.

   Examples: rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, arthritis in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, in systemic lupus erythematosus and scleroderma, and others.

5. Metabolic disorders in the bone and cartilage tissue of the joints in diabetes mellitus, obesity, arterial hypertension and vascular atherosclerosis, diseases of the thyroid and parathyroid glands, gastrointestinal tract (fatty hepatosis, often exacerbated cholecystitis and pancreatitis, malabsorption syndrome in atrophic gastritis and colitis, after surgery to remove parts of the stomach and intestines).
6. Extensive injuries, for example, in professional athletes.
7. Congenital disorders of the development of the joints: dysplasia, hypermobility of the joints, violation of the axes of the limbs (X- and O-shaped deformity of the legs, etc.)

Diagnostics

“Due to the wide variety of causes and types of polyarthritis, accurate and timely diagnosis of the disease plays a huge role,” says Dr. Lukmanova. – Depending on the causes of polyarthritis, a therapist, a general practitioner, a traumatologist – an orthopedist, a rheumatologist, an infectious disease specialist, an endocrinologist and other specialists can deal with its diagnosis.

There may very well be such a situation: you go to the clinic to one doctor, confidently believing that the problem is in the joints, but later it turns out that it’s not the joints themselves that hurt!

According to the expert, the pain may be due to the primary lesion of the muscles, skin, tendon-ligamentous apparatus, bones, blood vessels and nerves. That is, the patient thinks that he has “some kind of arthritis”, but in fact – for example, osteoporosis, thrombophlebitis or tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon). What can I say! Even cellulite (though already advanced, third or fourth degree) is often accompanied by pain.

In general, as you understand, one cannot do without a specialist.

“During the appointment, the doctor must carefully interview the patient and get acquainted with the complaints and the history of the disease,” says Luiza Lukmanova. – Next, an examination and evaluation of the function of the joints is performed. If necessary, laboratory tests and instrumental diagnostic methods are prescribed: ultrasound, X-ray, MRI or CT of the joints, joint puncture with intra-articular fluid sampling for research, arthroscopy, joint tissue biopsy, densitometry, scintigraphy. According to the indications – consultations of specialized specialists.

Treatment of polyarthritis

Having diagnosed polyarthritis, identifying the causes that caused this disease, and also depending on the problem area and other individual characteristics, the doctor prescribes treatment. And here, too, everything is not so simple.

Therapies

Drug-free methods

This includes everything that does not need to be “applied inwardly”. Physical therapy and walking, swimming, aqua aerobics and aqua kinesiotherapy help to improve joint movements, increase endurance and muscle strength, reduce weight, which in turn leads to a decrease in the load on the joints.

To unload the joints of the lower extremities, it is recommended to wear shoes with a wide, low (2-4 cm) heel with a soft elastic sole. In the presence of flat feet, doctors advise to constantly wear special shoes with arch supports (insoles that support the arch of the foot and reduce the load on the joints), and in certain cases, custom-made insoles. To unload the affected joints, you will be recommended to wear bandages or orthoses (according to indications).

Medical methods

“As for the drug treatment of polyarthritis, it is individual and is selected by a specialist,” says Luiza Lukmanova. – In almost all cases, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are prescribed to relieve pain and inflammation in the joints: tablets, injections, ointments or gels, patches, and more, taking into account the patient’s concomitant diseases. With the infectious nature of polyarthritis, therapy is prescribed to eliminate the causative agent of the disease (antibiotics, antiviral and antifungal drugs). With autoimmune polyarthritis, immunosuppressants are prescribed – drugs that help suppress excessive activity of the immune system. In any case, treatment of concomitant diseases, assessment of working and rest conditions is mandatory.

Prevention of polyarthritis at home

In the case of this disease, prevention is not limited to “do not overwork and rest more”. Here are the top tips from our expert to help you avoid writing “polyarthritis” on your medical record.

Polyarthritis prevention measures:

• maintaining a normal body weight (body mass index is not more than 25 kg / m);
• limitation of heavy lifting, prolonged intense physical activity;
• injury prevention (development of a training regimen, the use of special devices that protect joints during stress);
• correction of disturbed biomechanics of the joint (use of orthoses, supinators);
• avoid excessive exposure to the sun and hypothermia; when working with cold and wet objects (cutting meat, fish, contact with cold water, snow) – wear insulated protective clothing and footwear;
• smoking cessation, rational nutrition (do not abuse protein shakes, meat foods, alcohol);
• timely treatment of concomitant diseases, the use of means of individual prevention of sexually and airborne infections, compliance with the hygienic regimen for intestinal infections.

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