Arthritis and osteoarthritis are quite common today. Many people confuse these diseases due to the similarity in their manifestation. However, in fact, both ailments are very different from each other. You can understand the difference between diseases only by studying their characteristics.
Types of pathology
It is impossible to define joint disease based on pain alone. Almost any disease of the musculoskeletal system is accompanied by pain.
The following diseases are the most common:
- Arthritiscaused by inflammation of the joint surface. This inflammation occurs for several reasons. The primary form develops against the background of a number of diseases of a gouty, septic and rheumatic nature.
The secondary form can develop after systemic lupus erythematosus, borreliosis, arthropathy.
- Osteoarthritis,which causes the destruction of the cartilage and part of the bone underneath.
The primary usually develops for no reason. It usually manifests in older people and affects the surface of large symmetrical bone joints.
The secondary form of the disease occurs after suffering a serious illness. Often the development of this form is caused by a genetic predisposition.
Often, inflammation of the joints of large bones (shoulder, knee) is due to excessive weight, intense physical activity, past trauma, and endocrine diseases.
- Arthropathy is a violation of the integrity of the joints as a result of the complex transferred ailments.
- Tendonitis is an inflammatory process that occurs in the tendons.
- Enthesitis: structural changes in the union of soft tissue with bone.
- Bursitis is an injury to the bursa.
- Capsulitis - inflammation and violation of the integrity of the joint capsule.
How to distinguish osteoarthritis of varying severity from arthritis? You should know that arthritis and arthrosis have a different nature of manifestation, which determines the treatment of arthritis.
Difference in characteristics
How is arthritis different from osteoarthritis? Signs that indicate the presence of a particular ailment. The signs of arthritis and osteoarthritis of the knee joint are specific.
What is osteoarthritis? A chronic disease that is inherently destructive. The peculiarity of the disease is that it affects the cartilage and is irreversible.
The disease most often affects people of both sexes over 60 years of age. That is, osteoarthritis of the knee joint is considered a disease during which a large-scale destruction of cartilage occurs. First, a large joint is affected, for example, the ankle. It is your treatment that should be given special attention.
When rheumatoid arthritis touches the hands or feet, the inflammation is found simultaneously in several bone joints. The main difference between osteoarthritis and arthritis is that the second ailment is accompanied by inflammation of the joints of the large bones - knee, shoulder.
Arthritis has several secondary symptoms. In particular, it causes swelling of the joints, redness around them. Also, the patient has a fever, which blocks motor functions. One of the factors can lead to an ailment: allergies, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders and trauma.
In the case of an inflammatory process, a person's motor activity is affected. In particular, the range of motion is significantly reduced. This restriction applies both to movements that are performed independently and to those for which a person needs help.
Inflammation affects one or several joints at the same time. Usually this phenomenon is accompanied by pain without a clear place of localization, and the articular surface of the ankle or foot joint remains intact.
It is worth remembering that the main danger of this ailment is that changes occur not only in bone tissues, but also in other organs, for example, the digestive, visual and excretory organs. The changes can also affect the dermis.
The disease affects people of any age, however, most often, the disease is diagnosed in women between the ages of 35 and 50.
As for pain, arthritis accompanies it all the time. In the presence of osteoarthritis, the destruction of bone tissue is usually asymptomatic, without causing any pain, so the patient does not notice it.
In the first case, the disease manifests itself in some way. It is accompanied by weakness of the body, sometimes psoriasis. In the second case, all inflammatory changes occur without external signs.
Arthritic inflammation manifests itself externally by soft tissue swelling. They are also characterized by paralysis of the joints. Changes of a different nature occur without problems and are practically not manifested. However, they are characterized by a specific "dry" crunch that appears as a result of wear and tear on the joints.
What is the difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis? The second causes the destruction of cartilage and rheumatic disease manifests itself as inflammation of the bone tissue. It is these signs that are the main ones by which arthritis that hit a person or arthrosis can be distinguished.
Difference in symptoms
How is osteoarthritis different from different sources of arthritis? Osteoarthritis and arthritis differ in the symptoms of the disease. Knowing them is very important, since symptoms and treatment are interrelated.
Arthritis and osteoarthritis of the knee joint show similar symptoms. However, you can still distinguish between them. Arthritis and osteoarthritis of the knee joint and others are manifested by severe pain. However, the nature of the pain is different. With osteoarthritis, the patient feels pain when moving or due to a great load on the knees. She is in pain, the attack lasts a long time.
The first stage is characterized by mild pain, therefore the disease is often detected only during diagnosis.
In the next stage, the patient feels pain even under light load conditions.
In the third stage of its development, the disease is considered neglected. Pain can appear even when there is no movement. After changing the position of the joint to a comfortable one, the pain goes away.
A disease of the arm, shoulder or hip is characterized by severe pain that does not go away at all. Often an attack of pain begins early in the morning. The symptoms of arthritis and osteoarthritis are different. You can understand if arthritis or osteoarthritis has affected the joints by the presence of a crunch in them. If heard, it means that the second ailment hit the bone joint.
Osteoarthritis of the knee joint or other large joints may be accompanied by a crunch if the cartilaginous layers have been destroyed and there is direct bone contact.
The disease adversely affects the mobility of an affected joint. For example, osteoarthritis of the knee is accompanied by pain in the legs. Arthritic arthritis or another type of arthritis occurs with a feeling of stiffness throughout the body.
How is arthritis different from osteoarthritis? Also, gonarthrosis progresses without external swelling, but with an external change in the joints.
Osteoarthritis or arthritis affects the joints: what is the difference? In addition to the main symptoms, arthritis is accompanied by hyperthermia, eye inflammation, excessive sweating, and weakness.
Differences in diagnosis
It is possible to diagnose arthritis of various origins and osteoarthritis only by determining the cause of the development of this disease. Treatment begins only after the level of activity of the development of the disease is determined. In addition, during the diagnosis, the treating physician must make a prognosis to avoid a bad result.
Treatment of multi-stage osteoarthritis and arthritis begins only after detailed diagnosis.
The medical testing complex consists of general clinical laboratory research, X-ray, microscopy, and bacteriological research.
Diseases of different origins differ in the results of the analyzes performed.
If arthritis and osteoarthritis are not treated immediately, it will be impossible to cure them. In addition, systematic prevention of arthritis and osteoarthritis should be carried out. Do you want to get rid of arthritis and osteoarthritis through effective treatment? Have a major exam that includes MRI and arthroscopy.
An informative method that allows you to identify the difference in the manifestations of arthritis from osteoarthritis of the knee joint is X-rays.
Treatment differences
How are arthritis and osteoarthritis treated? Symptoms and treatment of ailments are interrelated. Treatment of arthritis and osteoarthritis is the same, but there are some differences. From the point of view of medicine, diseases differ, therefore, the treatment of forms of osteoarthritis and arthritis is safe.
How to treat osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis? Complex therapy will help cure any of the ailments. In both cases, patients with osteoarthritis and arthritis are prescribed a treatment, which includes drugs (drugs are prescribed by a doctor). Physiotherapy is prescribed, that is, physiotherapy, which is especially important for patients with arthritis or a form of osteoarthritis of the knee joint, as it helps to speed up the treatment. For arthritis and osteoarthritis of the joints, treatment includes diets, the menu of which varies.
Those who want to improve their health "without drugs" often undergo treatments with various home remedies.
Illnesses can last long enough and become chronic. Despite the reason for their appearance, they provoke the development of complications. That is why patients must be constantly or for a long time under medical supervision and undergo rehabilitation, the program of which has been developed especially for them.
To prevent the development of ailments, special attention should be paid to disease prevention.
- First of all, it is necessary to treat all diseases of the musculoskeletal system in time and undergo comprehensive rehabilitation after injuries.
- Second, you should limit or at least dose physical activity, eat right, and control your weight.
- Third, you should systematically consult a doctor to determine the presence and correct bone deformities in time.
So the difference between the two diseases is significant. It manifests itself in symptoms, signs and causes of ailments. The nature of the course is also specific. In the absence of timely qualified assistance, inflammatory processes in bone tissue and cartilage can lead to complications.
Prevention will help prevent the development of this or that disease, to which special attention should be paid.