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Knee arthritis medications: medications to help treat the condition
Knee arthritis medications: medications to help treat the condition
Anonim

Treatment for knee arthritis should be comprehensive. You can't just relieve symptoms (pain, swelling), you need to eliminate the cause of the disease and create favorable conditions for recovery.

Knee arthritis medications

For therapy to be successful, you need to act in several directions at once:

  • Relieve unpleasant symptoms - pain, swelling, redness;
  • Improve nutrition and speed up recovery;
  • Locally activate blood circulation;
  • Reduce pressure on damaged tissue;
  • Strengthen muscles;
  • Increase joint mobility.

Medical treatment: IVC for arthritis of the knee joint. NPS are non-steroidal (non-hormonal) anti-inflammatory drugs.

Notable representatives of this group:

  • Butadion;
  • Diclofenac;
  • Indomethacin;
  • Meloxicam;
  • Nimulide;
  • Ketoprofen;
  • Piroxicam;
  • Celebrex and derivatives of these substances.

In arthritis, IVS is the traditional treatment for pain and inflammation. Elimination of painful symptoms is the beginning of therapy for the disease.

Only after getting rid of the discomfort can you do massage, gymnastics, physiotherapy procedures, which were previously very painful.

NPS are given in short courses: they relieve symptoms, creating a feeling of healing. Meanwhile, the disease continues to develop. NPS are symptomatic drugs that do not affect the root cause of the disease.

NPS, like other drugs, have specific contraindications, and with prolonged use they cause side effects.

Chondroprotectors - protection for joints

Representatives of this group are chondroitin and glucosamine - substances that nourish cartilage and restore their structure. Unlike IVC, they act directly on the joint: they restore cartilage, normalize the production of synovial fluid and its composition / properties.

Chondroprotectors will help only in the initial stages of joint pathologies. When the latter are deformed and practically destroyed, only prosthetics will help.

Chondroitin / glucosamine preparations are slow to act. It is necessary to undergo several courses of treatment to see the result, and this takes from six months to one and a half years. And, despite their usefulness, they are not a panacea for arthritis. It is necessary to combine their intake with other medications, procedures and lifestyle correction.

To achieve the maximum therapeutic effect, chondroprotectors are used for long courses, and regularly. Non-systematic application will be ineffective, practically useless.

Every day during therapy, the body should receive sufficient doses of the drug: 1000 mg of chondroitin per day or 1000-1500 mg of glucosamine.

List of popular chondroprotectors:

  1. "Artra" (USA) - tablets containing both active substances in equal proportions. Daily dose - 2 pcs.;
  2. "Dona" (Italy) - solution for injections with glucosamine. In an ampoule 400 mg of active substance. The drug is mixed with a solution for injection and injected intramuscularly. The procedure is done three times a week. The course consists of 12 injections. Repeat treatment up to 3 times a year;
  3. Dona is a powder for oral administration. The sachet contains 1500 mg of active ingredient. Daily dose - 1 sachet;
  4. "Don" - capsules containing 250 mg of glucosamine. The daily dose is up to 6 capsules;
  5. Elbona (Russia) is a glucosamine-based solution for injections. An ampoule contains 400 mg of active substance. The ampoule is mixed with a solution for injection, injected intramuscularly. Injections are given, like the previous ones, three times a week. The course consists of 12 injections. Repeat treatment up to 3 times a year;
  6. "Structum" (France) - capsules based on chondroitin. Daily dose - 250 mg capsules - 4 pcs. in a day; capsules of 500 mg - 2 pcs.;
  7. "Chondroitin AKOS" (Russia) - capsules with chondroitin (250 mg). The daily dose is at least 4 pcs.;
  8. Teraflex (Great Britain) - combined capsules. Daily rate - 2 pcs.;
  9. "Chondrolon" (Russia) - solution for injections with chondroitin. The course consists of 20-25 injections.

A significant advantage of chondroprotectors is the almost complete absence of contraindications. They should not be used only for phenylketonuria and hypersensitivity to the constituents.

Side effects from their use are rare. Chondroitin can cause allergies.

Glucosamine sometimes provokes abdominal pain, stool disorders, very rarely - headache, swelling / pain in the legs, tachycardia, sleep disturbances.

Arthritis treatment can last up to 5 months. It is repeated at least six months later.

The duration of treatment of knee joints with chondroprotectors can be up to 3 years.

Arthritis treatment with medicines: ointments and creams

Means for external use are necessarily included in the complex of therapy for joint diseases. They act symptomatically: they relieve swelling, pain, and activate blood circulation.

For example, ointments with a warming effect help to improve blood circulation. They cause a feeling of warmth and comfort, rarely cause negative reactions.

These include:

  • "Menovazin";
  • "Gevkamen";
  • Espol;
  • Nikoflex cream.

If synovitis is present (inflammation of the synovial capsule of the knee joint with accumulation of fluid in its cavity), treatment includes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ointments:

  • Indomethacin;
  • Butadionovaya;
  • "Dolgit";
  • "Fastum-gel";
  • Voltaren-gel.

Unlike pill NPS, topical treatments are mild. This is due to the fact that a low percentage of active substances penetrates through the skin. Therefore, an ointment / cream cannot be the only remedy for arthritis.

Arthritis treatment with compresses

A similar procedure affects the affected joint more effectively than pharmaceutical products for external use.

The following substances showed the best result:

  1. Medicinal bile is a substance obtained from cows / pigs. Bile has warming and resorbing properties. It is contraindicated in inflammation of the lymph nodes, pustular rashes on the skin, fever with fever;
  2. Bischofite is a brine, an oil derivative with analgesic and moderate anti-inflammatory properties. It is also a warming agent;
  3. Dimexide. This substance is often used in combination with other agents, as it improves their penetration into tissues. Unlike ointment / cream, Dimexide is able to almost completely penetrate the skin. It has anti-inflammatory, resorption properties, improves metabolism in tissues.

Knee injections

Intra-articular injections are a measure of extreme necessity. Basically, corticosteroid hormones are administered: celeston, hydrocortisone, diprospan, kenalog, phlosterone.

Injections act quickly and efficiently, therefore they are very popular. Many doctors prescribe them even without urgent need, which is strictly contraindicated.

Corticosteroids are used as symptomatic (pain relievers, anti-inflammatory), so they cannot be the main direction of therapy. They can only be used in combination with other medicines.

Injections are done once every 2 weeks, not more often. This is due to the fact that the effect of the injection can be assessed after at least 10 days.

Hyaluronic acid preparations

These agents are injected into the joint to create a protective film. Hyaluronic acid acts like a synovial fluid.

Treatment of knee joints is carried out in courses of 3-4 procedures, withstanding a break (week, two). If necessary, the event is repeated six months later.

Conclusion

First of all, acute symptoms are stopped, then muscles are strengthened, sore joints are treated. Only then can you return to your usual rhythm of life, gradually increasing the load on your knees.

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