All joints in the human body have two enemies that prevent them from fully functioning. These are osteoarthritis and arthritis, however, despite having a similarity in the name, they are two different pathological processes that affect the cartilage tissue of the joints. Below we will consider how osteoarthritis differs from arthritis.
As you know, cartilage ensures the functioning of the joints. Cartilage is strong, resilient because it lacks blood vessels and nerve endings. Thanks to it, the stress on the tissues is mitigated, where capillaries or nerve fibers are present.
When a person is in motion, the cartilage tissue promotes painless and unhindered rotation of the bone heads in the joint cavity, thus preventing damage to the joint from friction. During the jump, the walk, the cartilage softens the load, performing the function of shock absorption.
Osteoarthritis and arthritis lead to joint stiffness, which prevents a person from leading a normal life due to limited movement. There are a number of symptoms where the two diseases are similar, but there are many other symptoms that are fundamentally different.
Physiological processes caused by arthritis
The first symptom of the disease is pain in the joints. With arthritis, the process of inflammation of the cartilage tissue begins.
In the joint, arthritis affects:
- Joint capsule;
- synovial fluid, which lubricates and nourishes the tissues and joint cavity;
- located along the edges of the synovial membrane.
Patients diagnosed with arthritis very often complain of pain, joint stiffness. The inflamed area begins to turn red, and the temperature also rises at the site of arthritis or polyarthritis. In some cases, the pain syndrome is also felt in the paired joint on the other arm or leg.
A symptom that worries the patient in the presence of arthritis and polyarthritis is the swelling of the external tissues of the joint.
However, despite the fact that the functions are reduced, the deformation of the structure does not occur. Arthritis causes the appearance of an inflammatory process of the cartilage tissue, provoked by trauma, infections or metabolic disorders. This disease is completely curable, but only under the condition that the patient adheres to the doctor's recommendations during treatment and does not use unverified folk remedies for arthritis. If this process is allowed to run its course, the disease will lead to joint degradation.
Physiological processes caused by arthrosis
The presence of arthrosis or spondyloarthrosis leads to pathological processes occurring in the joint cavity. Since there are no vessels in the cartilage tissue, it feeds on the synovial fluid, which contains many elements.
When a person reaches old age, the metabolic processes in his body begin to slow down, as a result of which the nutrition of the cartilage deteriorates, which leads to its deterioration.
Cartilage with various types of osteoarthritis becomes thinner and cannot cope with the shock-absorbing functions. For this reason, patients begin to feel the pain syndrome the moment the joint is involved.
In this case, there is no point in taking anti-inflammatory drugs for osteoarthritis, since there is no inflammatory process. This disease occurs in older people. Its occurrence is influenced by a person's lifestyle. Those people who eat well, lead a healthy lifestyle, osteoarthritis, as a rule, does not appear.
In addition, another factor in which arthritis differs from arthrosis is that, unlike the first, with the second disease there is no edema, redness of the tissues.
Additionally, osteoarthritis differs in that it affects a specific joint. If it hits a joint on one arm, it won't be on the other. It often occurs in large joints such as the hip or knee.
Different and similar characteristics of diseases
Similar symptoms:
- in the morning, a person feels numbness and stiffness in the joint;
- loss of complete movement of the limbs;
- pain when moving the affected joint.
These are symptoms inherent in two diseases, but the pain has a different character, the place where it occurs, the duration of sensations are different. As a rule, the doctor relies on these indications when making a diagnosis.
Differences between osteoarthritis and arthritis
- With arthritis at the site of the affected joint, an increase in the temperature of the skin is observed, this process is caused by inflammation. But with osteoarthritis, despite the fact that the degenerative process is running, this symptom is absent.
- Arthritis leads to swelling of the upper tissues, with the second disease this symptom is absent.
- The presence of polyarthritis, arthritis due to inflammation can lead to subcutaneous nodules. Such symptoms are not inherent in osteoarthritis.
- Osteoarthritis causes a process of deformation of the joint and, if left untreated (using ointments for osteoarthritis or other methods), it will become inoperative. The presence of polyarthritis or arthritis does not lead to deformity.
- Due to the inflammation of arthritis, the skin in the affected area is redder. The second disease does not change the color of the skin.
Similar signs and their differences
There are a number of nuances that can be diagnosed when studied. Symptoms with individual and similar symptoms will be described below.
Painful sensations
As mentioned above, pain syndrome occurs in both diseases. However, arthritis must be characterized by the presence of inflammation that leads to pain. The nature of the pain itself is acute and can occur even at night or immediately after awakening.
Many people themselves aggravate the situation when they use a new miracle cream or remedy advertised on the Internet to treat polyarthritis. Any good doctor will tell you that you cannot independently prescribe treatment for arthritis.
As for osteoarthritis, pain occurs due to the degradation of the cartilage tissue, so it is unable to mitigate the load. When there is no depreciation, the bone system is damaged.
A person experiences aching pains after long walks or when performing exercises that load the joint. When the disease first appeared, the patient may feel mild discomfort, but as the disease progresses the condition only gets worse. In this case, it is necessary to take not only pills or other medicines for osteoarthritis, the treatment must be complex and carried out under the supervision of a doctor.
Deformation process
Both diseases can change the structure of the joint. Arthritis can be recognized by external physiological changes visible on visual inspection: local temperature rise, redness, swelling and knot formation.
Often arthritis is accompanied by: weakness, increased sweating, psoriasis. Only some types of arthritis can lead to a change in the structure of the joint - these are osteoarthritis and traumatic arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is considered a more insidious disease, as it does not manifest itself externally. However, active tissue deformation occurs in the joint cavity. The cartilage becomes thinner and, as a result, the bone tissue is exposed to unusual stress.
Inflammation
With arthritis, swelling appears in the area of the affected joint. The reason for this is the inflamed synovial film, which is located in the middle of the capsule. When examining the patient's analyzes, an increase in the level of leukocytes is found. As a rule, the presence of infection or injury leads to the appearance of an inflammatory process.
Osteoarthritis does not lead to an increase in leukocytes, as there is no inflammation. The degeneration process begins gradually and often a person does not even notice any symptoms.
Click and creak
A symptom of osteoarthritis is a creak in a sore joint. The reason for this is worn cartilage tissue, which causes pain during the interaction of bone tissues. But the crunch doesn't always indicate the presence of a disease, a healthy person can also hear the clicks. With osteoarthritis, the sound will be rough and dry.
With arthritis, there is no crunch, since due to inflammation, the joint swells and cannot move completely, the cartilage tissue performs its functions.
Joint mobility
Both of these diseases also have common symptoms as they limit the mobility of the joints. However, the reasons for the stiffness are different.
A decrease in the motor activity of the joint with arthrosis is caused by thinning of the cartilage tissue, while at the beginning of the disease there is no such symptom at all. In arthritis, stiffness is caused by inflammation and is extensive. The joint is completely paralyzed.
General and specific causes of the event
Common causes of diseases are injuries that a person received while running or jumping. In addition, the regular and heavy load of the joint can lead to this. For this reason, diseases are most often found in professional athletes. Another reason is severe or frequent hypothermia, this often happens in the joints of the limbs.
Arthritis occurs due to inflammation caused by the appearance of an infection in the body; this is not typical of osteoarthritis. Since inflammation is a whole body process, arthritis is only a consequence. To cure the disease, it is necessary to find out the cause of the onset of the inflammatory process and eliminate it. In addition, excess weight can lead to arthritis due to the fact that it puts stress on the joints. In this case, the joints of the lower extremities and the musculoskeletal system are at risk.
Osteoarthritis is a separate disease, since this process has nothing to do with the general condition of the body. The reasons for its appearance are hidden in a small amount of substances that enter the body due to improper nutrition. Also, bad habits, such as smoking and alcohol abuse, can cause illness. Often its appearance is favored by diseases of the circulatory tract and hormonal disorders. According to statistics, mainly older people suffer from osteoarthritis.
Who is at risk
A person at any age is susceptible to arthritis. The disease resulting from the infection also affects children. According to statistics, women are more likely to suffer from arthritis.
As for osteoarthritis, the elderly suffer from it. As a rule, the deformation of the structure of cartilage tissue begins in those over the age of 60. The fact is that the older a person is, the slower the metabolic processes in the body, this is also affected by the person's lifestyle. And by the way, those who have arthritis are more susceptible to osteoarthritis.
The risk group includes people who have bad habits, expose their body to regular physical activity and eat poorly.
Common in the treatment of arthritis and osteoarthritis
For the treatment of these diseases, in part the same measures are taken:
- the patient must exclude any stress, establish a thrifty regime;
- take drugs that restore cartilage volume and nourish it;
- perform physical therapy in combination with massage to improve metabolic processes in the body and blood flow to the diseased joint;
- the use of analgesics to relieve pain;
- the doctor prescribes intra-articular blockade in the form of injections;
- joint oxygenation;
- the patient switches to a complex diet.
Treatment, in particular, varies over the course of antibiotics for infectious-type arthritis to treat the underlying cause of the disease.
When the stage is advanced, they resort to surgery as a treatment. This need arises when the cartilage tissue is completely destroyed. In this case, a prosthetic joint is installed.