In medicine, there is no such term as “salt deposition”, however, it is customary to call any changes in the joints or surrounding tissues in the people in this way. In fact, this disease is provoked by growths on the edges of bones, in other words - osteophytes.
These formations are not salt. They occur in cases when the axis of the joints is displaced, which leads to changes in the normal load of the articular surfaces of the bones. It is difficult for people far from medicine to understand this, so they habitually call this condition salt deposition.
Gout
The only disease in which uric acid salts are actually deposited is gout, which significantly impairs the quality of life. Constant pronounced pain in the joints leads to restriction of movement. As a rule, the disease affects the small joints of the foot or fingers. It happens that negative changes affect the knee and shoulder joints, less often patients suffer from damage to the hip joint, which often leads to disability.
For the prevention of the disease, you need to consider your diet, reduce the amount of fatty and smoked food, be examined by a doctor and take the medications prescribed by him, introduce such a thing as fasting days into the lifestyle, properly and moderately load the joint, and so on.
Why do salts accumulate in the body?
The main reason for salt deposition is the improper process of salt metabolism. Consider several factors leading to this violation:
- Irrational nutrition, which is characterized by a large number of meat dishes, spicy foods and so on.
- Alcohol addiction.
- Tobacco abuse.
- High synthesis of urates.
- Various kidney diseases, such as polycystic disease, nephropathy of varying severity, etc.
- Diseases of the circulatory system.
- Metabolic disease.
- Skin diseases.
- Sedentary lifestyle.
- Genetic predisposition.
- Hypothermia of the extremities.
Having given up smoking and alcohol, and also regularly engaged in physical education, such as cycling, swimming, taking therapeutic baths and minimizing the consumption of meat, fatty and spicy foods, the patient has every chance of curing gout.
Deposition of salts in the knee and shoulder joint
Most often, the knee joint suffers from this disease. This disease is scientifically called gonarthrosis.
With gonarthrosis, the pain practically does not stop. Even at rest, the knees do not stop hurting.
Other signs of salt deposition in joints are:
- The condition of “tightness” of the skin.
- Stiffness of the joint.
- Pain after sleep and long sitting.
- Crunching during bending.
- Swelling and swelling of the knees.
- Inability to bend or straighten a leg completely.
There are two reasons for the occurrence of salt deposits in the joints. This is the patient’s age or an anomaly congenital or resulting from a mechanical injury. Gonarthrosis affects, as a rule, people in old age.
It is noted that the disease develops gradually, in three stages. At the first, the symptoms of salt deposition are insignificant. The pain occurs periodically, rather, after a load on the joint, which may slightly change, become swollen, but deformation is not detected at this stage.
At the second stage, the pain becomes more intense, lasting. Often you can hear a crack and clicks in the joints that begin to deform, that is, the joint increases in volume, it becomes more difficult for a person to bend and unbend the knee.
In the third stage or stage, all previous symptoms are clearly manifested. Painful feelings accompany the patient constantly, regardless of whether he is moving or is at rest. The gait is impaired, deformation of the joint in the form of an X- or O-shaped form is more and more evident. If you start the treatment of salt deposition, then this stage is fraught with further disability.
How to make a diagnosis?
Before starting treatment, it is necessary that the doctor make the correct diagnosis, find out at what stage the development of the disease is, and so on. Gonarthrosis can be diagnosed in several ways. It:
- Roentgenography.
- Arthroscopy
- CT scan.
- Magnetic resonance diagnostics.
- Thermography
Let us consider in more detail each method for diagnosing salt deposition.
With the help of radiography, diagnosis is made only five years after the onset of the disease.
Arthroscopy is the introduction of an arthroscope into a diseased joint, a drug that allows you to see the condition of bone joints from the inside. The only negative - it is introduced with only using a micro section.
Computed tomography helps to determine the size of the diseased joint, to see all the pathological processes from which the cartilage grows.
Magnetic resonance diagnostics allows you to accurately determine each layer, its healthy and pathological structure, from bones to soft tissues.
Thermography is an auxiliary way of examining a joint that shows a temperature gradient and so on.
In addition, for the correct diagnosis of knee joint disease, it is necessary to conduct laboratory tests, including uric acid analysis, leukocyte count, Zimnitsky's test, erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
Treatment of salt deposits in the joints
At an early stage of the disease, it is recommended to treat it with the help of physiotherapy, physiotherapy exercises and massage. People suffering from minor gonarthrosis are entitled to trips to sanatoriums and resorts. In this case, medications are prescribed to eliminate pain, if the patient asks for it.
With a positive trend in treatment, most often doctors resort to manual therapy and a course of therapeutic massage. All these procedures are aimed at strengthening the muscles of the knee, improving blood circulation and nutrition of the cartilage, and so on.
With the running deposition of joint salts (if the patient does not want to become disabled), surgical intervention is necessary. The operation itself lasts an hour and a half, implants are introduced into the body, made of durable stainless steel or a titanium alloy that can replace the joint. They fit perfectly and take root in the human body. Currently, ceramic and polyethylene (heavy-duty plastic) are also used.
It is not easy to cure salt deposition at home. This is a fairly long process, requiring patience and regular use of medications. Of great importance is the lifestyle that the patient leads.
For greater effectiveness of therapy, it is necessary to follow a diet, abandon such bad habits as smoking, alcohol addiction and so on. Physical activity and regular walks improve overall health. Everyone can get gonarthrosis, today they have not revealed any methods of preventing this disease, but in any case it should be understood that a healthy lifestyle leads to an increase in its duration.
Pathology in the cervical region
There are almost no people over forty who would not know what constitutes pain in the cervical spine. Unpleasant sensations arise when the neck is turned, there is either something crunching or clicking.
There is such a deposition of salts in the cervical region due to the fact that people began to move a little. The metabolism in the neck and spine is impaired, which often leads to osteochondrosis.
More often than not, office workers suffer from unpleasant sensations in the neck area, who are forced to spend hours at the computer in an uncomfortable sitting position. Hypodynamia and an unbalanced diet lead to this pathology. Two decades ago, doctors claimed that the disease provokes excessive salt intake.
It is now known that the culprit of the disease is the misuse of protein, that is, its increase in diet.
Symptoms of neck and spine disease
First of all, patients complain of a crunch that occurs when the head is turned. If you do not remove it in time, that is, do not consult a doctor, then dizziness, tinnitus and so on may occur in the future.
Also, a person may lose coordination when walking or when standing up abruptly. Piercing pain appears when raising arms and a sharp turn of the head, neck. If you do not pay attention to these symptoms, then most often there is a migraine, vision, memory worsens, up to the loss of consciousness.
People feel tired, with a sharp rise in front of their eyes sparks often flicker, pressure starts to jump, pain arises in the heart, and a rapid heartbeat also appears. Therefore, do not start the deposition of salts in the cervical spine. Timely treatment will bring a positive result.
Therapies
As in the case of gonarthrosis, doctors prefer to treat this disease in a comprehensive manner. The patient only needs to contact a specialist who will tell you how to conduct a series of physical exercises and prescribe the necessary drugs. In the advanced case, there will be a need for surgical intervention, which is undesirable.
How to remove the deposition of salts in the cervical spine? The traditional method of treatment includes:
- Massage.
- Physiotherapy.
- Electrophoresis
- Medications and injections.
- Vitamins and Supplements.
- Surgical intervention.
Massage removes stagnation in tissues, and also improves blood circulation, so it is so effective. However, trusting your health is necessary only for professionals, as amateurs can not only not help, but also harm.
Physical therapy enhances the muscles of the neck, promotes the activation of blood supply. Using electrophoresis, salts are eliminated from the body. In order to relieve severe pain, doctors prescribe a blockade or trigger, and vitamins and dietary supplements improve metabolic processes in the body.
Surgery of the cervical vertebra is an extreme measure that is prescribed in advanced cases, such as neuralgia, pinching of nerves, hernia, and so on. Often, doctors use implants for surgery.
Physical exercise
Consider a few physical exercises showing how to remove salt deposits in the cervical region. At an early stage of the disease, it is better to resort to this method. It is necessary:
- Raise your chin up and down a few times.
- Make circular movements of the head clockwise and counterclockwise.
- Tilt your head back and return to its original position several times.
- Tilt your head first to one shoulder, then to the other, then back and forth - several times.
- Tilt the chin several times to the right shoulder, then to the left.
All movements should be carried out smoothly, without haste, since you can inadvertently hurt yourself. In any case, the doctor will coordinate movements, replace them with others, or reduce the number of repetitions.
How to organize proper nutrition
As with most diseases, a strict diet is recommended in this case. The patient needs to exclude fatty foods, smoked meats, offal from the diet. It is advisable to eat meat steamed diet. This also applies to fish. It is necessary to abandon fried foods, including vegetables. Sauces, herbs, ketchups and tomatoes, spicy and salty foods are also removed from the diet. In order for food to be better absorbed in the body, food should not be washed down with water or tea.
It is recommended to consume more fruits and vegetables that have not undergone heat treatment.
Folk remedies for the treatment of pathology
In addition to massage, salt can be removed by two well-known methods. These treatments for salt deposition are quite effective. With their regular use, the result will not be long in coming. It is interesting that these products are in every home, and in extreme cases they can be easily purchased at the nearest supermarket or in the market. Consider each method in detail.
The first way: you need to prepare vodka, radish, honey and salt. Radish needs 200 grams, honey should be liquid, approximately 130 ml, vodka, which is needed for tincture, is taken 70 ml or two piles, and salt - 4 teaspoons or two tablespoons, as you wish.
All components must be mixed, sprinkled with salt, pour vodka and leave to infuse. Remove the prepared mixture in a cool dark place for three days. From time to time it needs to be stirred.
After the set time, tincture can be used for its intended purpose. Three times a day, it must be applied to the affected area, on which wool is then laid. Half a tablespoon of the composition is enough for once.
Another way is an ointment made from oil and powder from ginger root. First you should fry the powder in melted butter. You can’t be too zealous, you should lightly fry. Allow the mixture to cool. Then finely grated garlic is added there.
It is clear that a burning cream will be obtained, which should be applied as carefully as possible to the affected area. First, you should conduct a test, only then smear your neck. The cream is smeared three times a day for a little bit. As in the first case, it is necessary to wrap the affected area with a woolen scarf so that the heat remains as long as possible.
Information in conclusion
Of course, these folk remedies will not help immediately. Patients should be patient, regularly treat the affected areas. Only in this case will there be a positive trend. Those who find it difficult to do this can be treated comprehensively by using medications prescribed by their doctor.