Contents:
- Medical Video: What Causes Osteoarthritis Joint Disease? - Manipal Hospital
- What is the difference between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis?
- Are these two conditions caused by the same thing?
- What about treating osteoporosis and osteoarthritis?
Medical Video: What Causes Osteoarthritis Joint Disease? - Manipal Hospital
Bone loss is often known as osteoporosis, while calcification of joints is called osteoarthritis (hereinafter OA). Osteoporosis is characterized by reduced bone strength due to decreased bone quality and quantity. People who have this disease will be more susceptible to fractures. Broken bones can occur spontaneously (suddenly), or due to minor trauma.
While osteoarthritis is a disease of the joints of the bones, causing the bones to experience thinning. OA is generally caused by excessive bone use, aging, or due to damage to the cartilage. Osteoarthritis will cause stiffness, pain, and limitations in movement.
What is the difference between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis?
Osteoporosis usually has no symptoms but can be seen when done by investigation. Osteoporosis needs to be watched out because it often causes fractures due to decreased bone quality. Locations that generally often experience fractures are the pelvis, spine, shoulders and wrists. In severe cases, the bones can even break while sneezing or coughing.
Whereas in OA, usually accompanied by a feeling of stiffness in the morning that lasts less than 30 minutes. In addition, pain in the joints will also be affected by activity. Joint pain will also increase when doing body movements that are too extreme.
Joints that usually experience inflammation are the knees, hips, joints on the fingers, and joints on the lower part of the thumb. These parts are the most commonly used parts of the joint. These joints will experience swelling, stiffness, and limited movement. In the case of advanced OA, pain may arise when resting until changes in bone shape.
Are these two conditions caused by the same thing?
Bone loss is usually caused by age. The older a person is, the more bone strength decreases. However, this can also be triggered by several things. For example, repeated injuries to the bones, decreased levels of estrogen that occur drastically (when a woman has undergone menopause), metabolic disorders, to the trauma of the spine.
While for joint calcification, there are several trigger factors. Among them are age factors (aged 40 years and over, because of the effects of aging on muscle ability and a decrease in the body's ability to heal damage), female sex (women who have menopause have twice the risk of men), obesity, and trauma in areas that have inflammation.
So, there are indeed several risk factors for osteoporosis and osteoarthritis that are the same, namely age, sex, and injury. To determine the exact diagnosis and cause of the disease you are experiencing, always consult with your doctor.
What about treating osteoporosis and osteoarthritis?
If you have osteoporosis, you can try taking alendronate, risendronate, and so on. These drugs work by reducing cell activity which destroys old bone cells and stimulates the growth of new bone cells. These drugs can reduce the risk of fractures and can increase bone density.
If you experience OA, there are some tips that you can apply:
- Exercise. For example aerobics, swimming, or some exercises that aim to strengthen the muscle area that has inflammation. You can also try treatment at a physiotherapist to do movements that train your muscle strength.
- Control your weight. If your body mass index shows obesity, reduce weight. To calculate what your body mass index is, check this body mass index calculator or at bit.ly/indeksmassatubuh.
- Take painkillers. You can try taking NSAIDs or paracetamol drugs to relieve the pain you feel. You can also try using an anti-inflammatory gel or pain reliever gel.
- Corticosteroid injections. This is only needed if pain persists and ordinary medicines do not work to reduce pain.
- Avoid excessive loads. If a complaint occurs on your knee, don't wear shoes with high heels (high heels) and do not lift weights that are too heavy.
- Use warm water. If you have trouble sleeping due to pain, you can try taking a warm bath before going to bed or compressing the area that has inflammation with warm water.
