Causes, symptoms and treatment of leg rheumatism
Content:
- Symptoms of rheumatism of the feet
- Causes of rheumatism of the feet
- Treatment of rheumatism of the feet
- Prevention of rheumatism of the feet
Rheumatism of the legs is an autoimmune disease that complicates streptococcal infections and affects the joints of the lower extremities.
According to statistics, the young population of the planet suffers from rheumatism of the legs more often, and the infection of people mainly affects the cold season. Rheumatism of the legs occurs after a streptococcal infection in about 2.5% of the total number of cases.
Symptoms of rheumatism of the feet
Rheumatism of the legs does not occur as a single complication caused by the ingestion of hemolytic streptococcus. In parallel, the heart is affected, the patient develops rheumatic heart disease.
Among the symptoms indicating the development of rheumatism of the legs, one can distinguish:
- The occurrence of pain in the joints (hip, knee, ankle). They are of varying intensity and duration. As rheumatism of the lower extremities progresses, the pain intensifies and becomes more frequent.
- The area around the inflamed joint swells, the skin becomes red and hot to the touch.
- The general body temperature may rise, sometimes to high values.
- In parallel, there are violations in the work of the heart.
- The patient experiences a breakdown, appetite and sleep are disturbed, the pulse quickens.
- The joints are most often affected symmetrically. Although in the vast majority of cases large joints are involved in the pathological process - the knee, then the ankle, sometimes the disease also affects the small joints of the lower extremities, for example, the toes.
The disease starts about 3 weeks later, after suffering a streptococcal infection. In some cases, the primary attack of rheumatism may be asymptomatic and the person learns about the damage to the joints and heart only during routine examinations.
The clinical picture observed by the doctor is as follows: the joints are affected, as in rheumatoid arthritis, the volume of intra-articular fluid is increased, all signs of inflammation are present. However, rheumatism of the legs, with timely treatment, rarely leads to the formation of persistent joint disorders. If therapy has been prolonged, they will lose motor activity, bones become porous, and minerals are washed out.
Causes of rheumatism of the feet
Among the reasons leading to the development of rheumatism of the legs, the following can be distinguished:
- Ingestion of streptococcal infection, which causes diseases such as tonsillitis, scarlet fever, tonsillitis and pharyngitis. Rheumatism of the legs, in turn, is a complication of these diseases.
- The entry of pathogenic bacteria into the joint directly through the blood.
- The onset of a disease, as a manifestation of an allergic reaction to toxic substances secreted by bacteria.
Rheumatism of the legs is a consequence of a malfunction of the immune system, which first fights against foreign organisms, and then begins to attack its own healthy tissues. In this case, the large joints of the legs are affected.
Treatment of rheumatism of the feet
The fight against the disease should begin with the elimination of the cause that caused the rheumatism of the legs.
The therapy takes place in several stages:
- To begin with, the patient is placed in a hospital, where for a long time (up to 2 months), he undergoes a course of intensive therapy, in combination, first with full bed rest, and then with a course of physiotherapy exercises.
- After inpatient therapy, the patient is sent home, with the obligatory recommendation to undergo a spa treatment. Over the next years, the patient is compulsorily observed by a rheumatologist receiving at the place of residence.
- The earlier the treatment of rheumatism is started, the more favorable the prognosis for recovery.
Medication for leg rheumatism:
- As medicines, antibiotics are used (if there is no individual intolerance, then the penicillin series), NSAIDs, to relieve inflammation in the joints of the legs (naproxen, diclofenac and others), immunosuppressants, glucocorticoids and gamma globulins, to stimulate the body's immune reserves.
- If the inflammation in the joints of the legs is persistent, then anti-inflammatory drugs are injected directly into the articular cavity to achieve maximum effect.
Treatment of rheumatism of the legs must be comprehensive. This means that in addition to therapeutic treatment, the patient must follow a diet and attend physiotherapy procedures. Among them, the most effective are: paraffin applications, UHF, electrophoresis, exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
When the disease is in an acute phase and a person is shown bed rest, he must be prescribed massage. This improves blood circulation in the lower extremities and accelerates the process of removing inflammation from the joints. If rheumatism does not recede for a long time, the patient is shown plasmapheresis. This will cleanse the patient's blood of toxins produced by bacteria and antibodies that harm healthy tissues in the body.
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Prevention of rheumatism of the feet
Although this disease is not an epidemic, nevertheless, the factor that provokes its development - hemolytic streptococcus, belongs to the infectious pathogens. Therefore, it is so important to isolate the patient from others and carry out medical supervision of all contact persons for 21 days.
Other measures to prevent the development of the disease include:
- Maintaining the body's defenses, which will reduce the chances of infection surviving. Among such activities, there are: physical education, hardening, rejection of bad habits, balanced nutrition, etc.
- Elimination of all existing foci of infection that provoke the development of the disease, such as caries, tonsillitis, pharyngitis.
- Registration of each patient with rheumatism in the dispensary.
- Year-round prophylaxis of the disease for persons who have once had rheumatism of the legs. This is especially true for patients prone to frequent relapses.
These measures will both prevent the development of the disease and avoid its exacerbations, which makes it possible to prolong the patient's life and improve its quality.
Author of the article: Kaplan Alexander Sergeevich | Orthopedist
Education: diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received in 2009 at the Medical Academy. I. M. Sechenov. In 2012 completed postgraduate studies in Traumatology and Orthopedics at the City Clinical Hospital named after Botkin at the Department of Traumatology, Orthopedics and Disaster Surgery.
