Chlamydial arthritis usually appears not as an independent disease, but as a complication. It is preceded by infectious diseases caused by chlamydia.
general information
Chlamydial arthritis may occur if chlamydia-provoked infections have been diagnosed:
- prostatitis;
- conjunctivitis;
- urethritis;
- pneumonia.
The causative agent of the disease is introduced into the cartilage of the joint, capsule or membrane. This happens in 5-15% of all patients with chlamydial infections. The transmission of the disease occurs through sexual contact, less often during operations, if poorly sterilized instruments were used.
Important Features
Chlamydial arthritis often affects the stronger sex. If at first the infection was transferred, and only arthritis appeared on its background, it is customary to talk about post-infectious disease. The development of complications due to the immune complex of the joint, provoking inflammation.
In some cases, the pathology indicates Reiter's syndrome, when the pathogen affects several body systems immediately or gradually. At the same time suffer:
- genitourinary organs;
- mucous membranes of the eyes;
- joints.
The syndrome is diagnosed in patients with chronic chlamydia.
How to notice
Chlamydial arthritis can be suspected for a number of symptoms that occur after the transfer of the diseases listed above. Signs of the disease appear after one and a half, less often two months from the moment of exacerbation of the primary disease.
As a rule, at the beginning the inflammatory process proceeds in an acute form, tendons and joints suffer:
- between the phalanges;
- metatarsal;
- phalanx;
- metacarpophalangeal.
Classically reactive chlamydial arthritis is manifested:
- stiffness of movements;
- swelling
- joint pain;
- an abnormal shade of the skin;
- elevated temperature.
If chlamydial arthritis develops, the symptoms are noticeable in the general condition of the body, which is getting worse:
- temperature rises;
- tormented by weakness;
- enlarged lymph nodes;
- shivering at times.
And if complications
Complications are a fairly typical situation if reactive chlamydial arthritis has been diagnosed. Treatment is selected based on the manifestations of the disease.
As a rule, complications are expressed in capsular phlegmon, infiltration of body tissues. In addition, there are cases when:
- the synovial membrane becomes hypertrophied;
- bones, cartilage are affected by erosion;
- joint ankyloses appear (fibrous, bone).
Varieties
The division into groups is based on how chlamydial arthritis manifests itself. Signs allow you to talk about:
- monoform, when only one joint is affected;
- oligoarthritis, when the process covers no more than three joints;
- polyform when lesions are found on more than three joints.
Diagnosis
To accurately determine which chlamydial arthritis manifests itself in children and adults, a number of studies are needed. First of all, X-rays are taken to determine the presence of osteoporosis, which affects the area near the joints. An x-ray shows whether there are defects in the bones and what is the condition of the joint space.
To clarify the diagnosis, conduct the following studies:
- Ultrasound
- podography;
- radionuclides;
- thermography.
If the patient has chlamydial arthritis of the knee joint, he has a high level of white blood cells. Analyzes show an increased ESR rate.
Chlamydial arthritis: symptoms and treatment
The treatment method is chosen, focusing on the particular situation. In most cases, resort to antibiotic therapy. Use drugs with a wide range of effects. Well-proven non-steroidal agents forgiving inflammation.
If the disease proceeds in an acute form, joint immobilization should be considered. Medicines are most effectively administered to the affected area.
When inflammation subsides, physiotherapy exercises, regular gymnastics, and physiotherapy are practiced:
- manual;
- ozone;
- phyto;
- balneological.
Be mindful of your health
Chlamydial arthritis is dangerous. Symptoms, types, treatment - this is the information that should be known to everyone, since the disease affects an increasing percentage of the population. In recent years, the frequency of cases known to medicine has been growing literally exponentially.
Damage to the joints is characterized by specific inflammation and a peculiar onset, dissimilar to other diseases. In a clinical study, the disease is diagnosed without difficulty. Suspecting arthritis provoked by chlamydia, do not delay the visit to the doctor. The most effective treatment will be at the very beginning of the disease.
Features of the disease
At the very beginning of development, chlamydial arthritis is different:
- Step by step damage to the joints. Pathology usually first affects the joints from below (foot), from where it gradually moves upward, covering the lower legs, knees and beyond.
- High rate of inflammation. Only a few days is necessary for the pathogen to penetrate into several joints, causing acute inflammation.
- Asymmetry, since manifestations are usually only on one side of the body.
- Numerous manifestations (from four to six joints are involved in inflammation).
- Pain worse at night in the morning.
If large joints of the lower extremities become inflamed, it is primarily chlamydial arthritis that should be suspected. Treatment will be prescribed by a doctor, focusing on the characteristics of the disease and the size of the affected area: ointments, injections.
be careful
Although rare, but still in some cases, the infection affects even the spine and upper limbs.
Chlamydial arthritis is characterized by redness of the skin, an increase in temperature over the affected area.
In some cases, sacroileitis is diagnosed when joints located near the sacrum and in the iliac region are affected. In this case, the patient suffers from severe pain near the sciatic tubercles.
Inflammation is not always limited to joints. There are frequent cases when the lesions cover the tendons. The weakest part is the places where they are attached to the bones. If there is inflammation of the tendons of the feet, small bones, dactylitis is diagnosed.
Associated symptoms
A number of manifestations of Reiter’s disease are not recorded in all cases, however often enough. It:
- Structural changes in nails, discoloration of the nail plate.
- Keratoderma, when the skin on the body is corneous with plaques. Usually manifested on the palms, soles.
- The proliferation of lymph nodes. First of all, an increase occurs in the groin.
- Damage to the kidneys, heart, other systems and organs.
All symptoms are associated with autoimmune processes.
Do not delay the trip to the doctor
Practice shows that patients with chlamydial arthritis turn to doctors when the disease is already, as they say, “obvious”, which greatly reduces the quality of life. The pain syndrome interferes, it is impossible to isolate oneself from constant discomfort, systemic physiological changes in the body appear.
At this stage, the treatment will be delayed for a long time and will be difficult. But in the event that the cure was started in the first stages, it will pass much easier and faster.
How to treat
Chlamydial arthritis is eliminated comprehensively. There are several phases. Medications are taken in courses, exactly following the doctor's recommendations.
The course of treatment is chosen, focusing on:
- form (acute, chronic, relapse, subsided);
- difficulty level (easy, medium, heavy, remission);
- origin;
- signs (all affected organs are taken into account).
The treatment regimen combines:
- antimicrobial agents;
- anti-inflammatory drugs;
- immunity stimulating agents;
- painkillers;
- non-steroidal drugs;
- physiotherapy exercises;
- lotions.
Gender dependence
Chlamydial arthritis more often affects men than women. The disease is diagnosed in the vast majority of cases in people who have an active sex life, but in some cases it affects even children. The course of the disease and its treatment for men and women is practically no different.
The main difference in medical measures for chlamydial arthritis is the diagnostic stage. If women need to take a swab from the vagina to identify the disease in order to determine the presence of pathogenic microflora, for men they take material from the urethra.
Medicine has known cases of chlamydial arthritis in the elderly, children, adolescents. This is due to the abundance of methods of infection in the conduct of an active social life. This is also due to the fact that small colonies of chlamydia can live in a healthy human body. When immunity is weakened, the conditions become optimal for their reproduction, which leads first to urethritis or conjunctivitis, and then to arthritis.
Treatment features
It is unacceptable to try to cure chlamydial arthritis on your own. As a rule, self-medication leads not only to complications, but also to additional lesions of various systems and organs, including due to an incorrect choice of drugs. Usually antibiotics are used that cannot be used without medical supervision, since the effect on the body can be unpredictable.
Arthritis progresses very quickly, and attempts to cure it with our own forces only lead to a worsening of the situation.
The most typical complications for self-medication:
- carditis;
- blood clots
- neuritis;
- conjunctivitis;
- urethritis.
Patients complain of an enduring feeling of fatigue, weakness. The launched process is accompanied by phlegmon and erosion.
Drug therapy
Chlamydial arthritis can be treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics:
- "Chloramphenicol."
- Tetracycline
- "Azalid".
- Macrolide.
- "Rifampicin".
Select a drug by analyzing:
- intracellular permeability;
- drug activity;
- toxicity;
- contraindications
- features provoked arthritis bacteria.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are selected based on the same logic. Individual tolerance comes first.
Drug therapy includes:
- Ibuprofen.
- Etodolac.
- Diclofenac.
- Tenoxicam.
ethnoscience
As an aid to regular drug therapy, the use of alternative recipes is allowed. The choice of this or that prescription should be agreed with the attending physician so that such funds do not come into conflict with the prescribed tablets and injections.
Herbal medicine shows the greatest effectiveness. Good exposure known:
- sage;
- calendula;
- decoction of birch buds;
- St. John's wort
You can use other herbs that can fight inflammation.
Doctors recommend supplementing conservative therapy with tinctures of herbs that increase immunity. The most effective are eleutherococcus, aralia.
Do not neglect physiotherapy. As a rule, it acts locally on the affected areas, eliminating the unpleasant manifestations of the disease. Treatment in sanatoriums and resorts gives good results. You can resort to methods of magnetic therapy, ozone, massage. An integrated approach allows you to eliminate the manifestations of the disease and prevent their occurrence in the future.