In old age, there is a lot of good, but nevertheless, some diseases interfere with enjoying life. According to medical statistics, often elderly patients turn to the clinic with a complaint of legs, when for a short period or for a long time they begin to refuse, which significantly violates the usual way of life and it becomes impossible to fully move, serve yourself independently. In this case, the question arises: “Which doctor should I go to the hospital? Do the elderly people refuse their legs because of old age or due to life circumstances? Or maybe the reason lies in the lifestyle?
After all, even short-term problems with the lower extremities force family members to provide the patient with constant assistance, which consists in special care, support - physical and moral. Unfortunately, the musculoskeletal system wears out over time, and this system is, in fact, a whole complex that includes bones and joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons. Thanks to this unique device:
- a person can move in space;
- internal organs are under reliable protection;
- the body is provided with form and support.
Loss due to illness of an active lifestyle causes panic and the patient’s natural desire to regain shaky health. But there are many reasons that caused leg paralysis, and only a specialist can make a correct diagnosis through research.
When the legs suddenly begin to fail, a person must listen to deviations in health, as the body warns that pathologies have begun. This means that a disease begins to develop, which may soon affect the lifestyle temporarily or for a long time. Therefore, you need to contact a medical institution as soon as possible.
The body is so arranged that after a 55-year age limit, it gradually weakens, the capabilities of the immune system are not so strong. Factors such as poor diet, stressful situations, smoking, prolonged heavy physical exertion and other negative phenomena that significantly undermine the work of internal organs are also added. As a result, old diseases worsen and new ones appear. Numbness of the legs often begins, which many diseases contribute to. Why do the legs of an elderly person fail? The causes and treatment of this problem is further.
Osteoarthrosis - the oldest disease
This is one of the most common diseases that affects the musculoskeletal system. And pathology occurs due to the fact that in old age there is a degeneration of articular cartilage. This gradually leads at first to its changes, and then the articular surfaces begin to change. The whole process causes the proliferation of marginal bones, in medicine they are called "osteophytes". As a result, the joints are deformed, and the person’s mobility is impaired.
Humanity has long known about this disease, as evidenced by studies of the bones of our ancestors of the Paleolithic era. This disease can be recognized by some manifestations, which are gradually progressing more and more.
Initial stages
The first stage is characterized by the following:
- leg fatigue periodically occurs;
- pains appear during movement, even not very energetic and active, as well as during sleep at night;
- pain begins when leaving a state of absolute rest;
- after sleep, discomfort is felt due to stiffness in the body;
- a barely audible crunch is heard with motor activity;
- if an x-ray is taken at this time, a narrowing of the joint gap will be noticeable in the picture.
The second stage has the following manifestations:
- limited amplitude of motion appears in the joints, this process gradually progresses;
- if you press hard on the joint, pain is felt;
- deformable changes in the joint and bone growths are noticeable;
- lameness develops;
- on the x-ray, the narrowing of the joint gap became even more noticeable, osteophytes were detected in the area of ​​small load.
Subchondral sclerosis is detected.
Third stage
It is characterized by the following symptoms:
- There comes an almost complete loss of joint mobility, often only tangential movements are obtained.
- Pain is present almost constantly, even at rest.
- X-ray indicates that there is practically no articular gap, cysts appeared, the surface of the joint is deformed, marginal growths are expressed. In the stage of severe arthrosis, the bone surfaces are exposed, starting to rub against each other, pronounced bone deformation occurs.
Forms of the disease
Osteophytes grow so much that there is a significant limitation of joint mobility. Doctors have identified two forms of this disease:
- Primary It differs in that the disease begins to develop in a healthy cartilage. Most often, factors such as old age contribute to this, and most often in women in the menopause or when a lot of time, a person went in for sports or was busy at work with great physical exertion. A genetic predisposition also affects the development of osteoarthrosis in the elderly.
- Secondary Changes in cartilage occur due to numerous joint injuries and surgery, overweight. In order for proper treatment to be carried out, you should contact an orthopedist. It is this specialist who will be able to determine to what extent the deformation has occurred. He, having appointed studies, will make the correct diagnosis.
Treatment
If the legs of an elderly person fail, modern technologies and classic methods will come to the rescue. In addition to x-rays, arthroscopy can be prescribed. This method is used for medicinal purposes, washing the joint cavity to remove particles of damaged tissue and detritus. With the help of ultrasound it is possible to assess the state of the cartilage structure. MRI allows you to understand how affected the bone structure is, the matrix tissue is destroyed.
You can stop the disease only with complex therapy. It is necessary that the treatment be directed both to the local process in the joint tissue and to the maintenance of the whole organism. Therefore, anti-inflammatory and chondroprotective agents, corticosteroids and non-steroidal drugs, also aimed at removing the inflammatory process, are necessarily included in drug treatment.
Surgical intervention is also possible to remove loose tissue - intraarticular soft tissue, cartilage. Patients are offered resection of the synovial folds, endoprosthetics of a diseased joint, arthrolysis or osteotomy.
Other effective methods are widely used:
- Acupuncture.
- Various physiotherapeutic procedures. There is a wide range of effects using applications of mud, ozokerite, paraffin, magneto, laser, ultrasound therapy, electrophoresis with novocaine.
- Special therapeutic exercises in the gym or in the pool.
- Manual therapy.
- Sanatorium treatment.
There are many resorts located not far from mud, hydrogen sulfide or radon sources. There are several folk recipes. For example, for the joint pain to go away, you should take a clean cabbage leaf, make cuts on it, and then heat it over the fire, immediately grease it with a small layer of honey and apply it to the sore spot. Secure with cellophane and natural fabric. Top with a warm scarf and leave for several hours.
It is advisable to do at night and repeat the procedure two to three times in a row. In order not to disturb the knee, the joints did not hurt and the ligaments were restored, the chalk was ground into dust, kefir was added. When mixing, a slurry should be obtained, which is applied to the leg, covered with cellophane and wrapped well, preferably at night.
Vascular atherosclerosis
This pathology is dangerous because there is a blockage of blood vessels with cholesterol plaques. As a result, the natural blood flow of the pelvis and legs is disturbed. This destructive process leads to the fact that the soft tissues stop receiving nutrition, especially amino acids, and therefore their death begins. Initially, only a temporary slight weakness occurs, but then comes numbness of the legs and complete immobility.
Osteochondrosis of the lumbar
In old age, there is a gradual subsidence of the vertebrae, and in the coccyx are those nerve endings that are responsible for the normal functioning of the lower extremities. Their jamming, displacement begins. Spinal cord cells, more precisely, their nerve fibers, are compressed, so the interaction between the pulses ceases. Often against this background, a hernia occurs in the lumbosacral zone, and then partial or complete paralysis of the legs may begin.
If the legs of an elderly person fail, the treatment of osteochondrosis will be long, it will be necessary to strictly observe all the recommendations of the doctor. When it is difficult to move your legs because of this diagnosis, it is necessary to establish metabolic processes with the help of chondroprotectors. Thanks to painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, the condition of the patient can be significantly alleviated. Vitamin complexes, physiotherapy and physiotherapy are also prescribed.
Moreover, physical education is required. Of particular danger to people over 50 years of age is a hemorrhagic stroke. Its occurrence can be caused by severe shock, impaired cerebral circulation, pathological congenital disorders of the vessels of the brain, which in old age are most pronounced. To save the patient from the effects of paralysis, you will need specialized rehabilitation with the help of a comprehensive range of drugs only under the supervision of a doctor.
Paralytic dislocation can lead to numbness of the legs. It occurs on the basis of paralysis of the limbs of one muscle group. In fact, these are pathological dislocations that appear due to joint diseases, which leads to deformation and destruction of the surfaces of the articulating bones. Similar processes are observed most often against the background of dangerous diseases such as tuberculosis, malignant tumors, osteomyelitis. In treatment, surgery is preferred due to modern techniques.
Alcoholic polyneuropathy
In most cases, people who are addicted to alcohol do not hear warnings that in old age they will very much regret their addiction. And only when they seek medical help because of serious leg problems and are diagnosed with alcoholic polyneuropathy, many belatedly begin treatment, forgetting about alcoholic beverages.
The initial stage of the disease has the following symptoms:
- legs become numb from time to time, a short tingling occurs in them;
- cramps appear in the calf muscles;
- growing tiredness is felt in the legs.
With the development of the disease, the condition becomes much worse:
- there are constant pain from each movement, a burning sensation and heaviness, severe cramping;
- the muscles first weaken, and then atrophy;
- it is hard to get up and then walk, because the gait changes a lot;
- the distance that can be overcome without rest is shrinking more and more.
In older people, the disease develops much faster, since without the influence of the harmful effects of ethyl alcohol the process of muscle atrophy is already taking place. A major role in the development of the disease is played by the lack of the proper amount of B vitamins in the body. In addition, the intestines are broken, and he is not able to absorb the necessary microelements and other useful substances.
Vitaminosis appears, the immune system is disrupted, but the nerve fibers undergo a destructive shock, which causes muscle weakness, and eventually there is a limitation of motor function. It is extremely difficult to cure such a patient, especially in old age. If the disease is not treated, complete paralysis of the lower extremities may occur.
Why does an elderly person's legs fail? What to do if alcohol-containing drinks are to blame? The treatment will be as follows:
- try to stop drinking alcohol;
- using the therapy prescribed by a doctor, restore the digestive system;
- take a course of intramuscular injections, which is required to fill the lack of vitamins;
- Perform gymnastics selected by the doctor;
- attend prescribed physiotherapeutic procedures;
- follow a diet that contains foods with vitamin A and protein.
Diabetes mellitus can lead to numbness of the legs, especially often in older people. When the proper norm of blood sugar is exceeded in the body, blood vessels are gradually destroyed, deformation of soft and bone tissues occurs. Diabetes is dangerous because it is a harbinger of many diseases.
The patient is required to follow a diet developed by the attending physician, take all prescribed drugs on time, otherwise neural chains may break. Such a loss of relationship between neuron receptors is fraught with the fact that the sensitivity in the lower extremities disappears, they become numb, a tingling appears, causing significant discomfort. There may come a complete lack of mobility over time.
Symptoms of the diabetic and patients from alcohol dependence of polyneuropathy are similar. But the reasons that led to the disease vary widely.
Diabetics can develop trophic ulcers that threaten sepsis and gangrene. The diabetic type of polyneuropathy should be observed by an endocrinologist. Typically, drugs are used to improve blood flow and maintain nerve endings to improve a patient’s condition. It is also necessary to use insulin.
Obliterating Endarteritis
It is worth considering another option why the legs refused. The reason for the elderly lies in obliterating endarteritis, when the arteries of the legs are narrowed. It is dangerous in old age: the vessels are already worn out, they become impassable, they don’t receive nutritional tissue, starting to die. The reasons for its occurrence are, first of all:
- fast coagulability of blood;
- smoking abuse;
- autoimmune lesions of the vessels of the legs;
- atherosclerotic pathologies;
- infectious diseases.
Preventative measures
After receiving an answer to the question why the legs of an elderly person fail (there are many causes of pathology), a solution to the problem should be found. In order to remain active and vigorous in old age, you should more often be in the fresh air, move more, training muscles and ligaments, but select the load according to age. It is also necessary to eat right and get rid of addictions, not to allow excess weight.