Osteoarthritis, cartilage degradation
Factors in osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is linked to cartilage degradation.
For many people, it is age-related. This is known as degenerative osteoarthritis.
This may be due to the consequences of an accident or fracture, or sometimes in the aftermath of an operation. This is known as secondary osteoarthritis.
There are factors that favour osteoarthritis: genetics, occupational factors or activities involving repetitive traumatic actions. Osteoarthritis frequently worsens in women after the menopause.
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Osteoarthritis in figures
1st cause of functional disability for people over 40.
of diagnoses are made with a simple radiological examination.
of cases involve the hand and upper limb.
of the French population is affected by osteoarthritis.
The presence of osteoarthritis is strongly correlated with age: 68% of cases occur in patients over 50. As the population ages, the number of people with osteoarthritis will increase in the years to come.
Allopathy: treating osteoarthritis with drugs or surgery
Allopathy refers to Western medicine as practiced in France.
By drug
Osteoarthritis progresses in stages, called congestive flare-ups. These phases are accompanied by acute pain and disabling joint swelling.
In addition to resting the affected joints, medication can help relieve pain: analgesics, anti-inflammatories and corticosteroid injections are the most common and effective treatments for managing pain and halting attacks.
To prevent symptoms from worsening, visco-supplementation and infiltration withhyaluronic acid gels are effective background treatments.
Innovative techniques are available, and Dr. Couturier was one of the first surgeons to use platelet-rich plasma injections. This technique gives better results than others on the hands and wrists.
Chryotherapy
If drug treatment fails, or if joint damage is too severe, surgery can effectively relieve your osteoarthritis. When the joint is partially damaged, an osteotomy can be performed to correct the deformity caused by osteoarthritis.
In the case of a joint completely damaged by osteoarthritis, an arthroplasty or prosthesis (joint replacement surgery) may be performed, or, less frequently, an arthrodesis (surgical welding of the joint).
Relieving osteoarthritis with an orthosis
Wearing an orthosis can relieve your pain and restore your comfort and well-being. Orthoses are designed to immobilize or correct your osteoarthritic joint. They enable you to rest and reduce pain.
There are two types of orthoses:
- The simple orthosis, which stabilizes the joint to relieve it.
- The resting or immobilization splint, which puts the joint in a better position to prevent deformation.
Relieving osteoarthritis with appropriate exercise
Appropriate physical exercise can be a great help in relieving osteoarthritis and preventing its progression.
Physical exercise can help combat joint instability.
Depending on the joints affected and the severity of your osteoarthritis, there are a number of everyday gestures that can help relieve the pain.
What's more, regular activity has been shown to have an analgesic effect, as well as helping to reduce any excess weight.
Using other medicines as part of integrative medicine
The aim of integrative medicine is to combine several treatment methods. It is not opposed to allopathic medicine; on the contrary, it combines it with other methods to enhance therapeutic efficacy.
RELIEVING OSTEOARTHRITIS WITH AURICULOTHERAPY
Auriculotherapy is similar to acupuncture, but more akin to reflexotherapy. Stimulation points are located on the ear only.
Taught to doctors through an Inter-University Diploma, it has been the subject of numerous studies and publications.
The virtues of this practice are numerous, and in particular it helps to relieve the pain associated with osteoarthritis.
RELIEVE OSTEOARTHRITIS NATURALLY
Natural methods exist to relieve osteoarthritis! A naturopath can help you set up a personalized nutrition program.
Naturopathic treatment of osteoarthritis is a holistic approach. A naturopath will not focus on the part of your body that suffers from osteoarthritis, but rather on the multiple factors that generate or aggravate your osteoarthritis.
OSTEOPATHIC OSTEOARTHRITIS RELIEF
Osteopathic manipulation can prevent, correct and relieve joint deformities caused by osteoarthritis.
An osteopath can help relieve your osteoarthritis and restore comfort and mobility by working on your affected joints.
RELIEVING OSTEOARTHRITIS WITH TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Thousands of years old, Traditional Chinese Medicine is best known in Europe through acupuncture.
Its principles are very different from those of allopathy, since it is based on the energy pathways that run through our bodies.
Acupuncture is frequently used to relieve the pain associated with osteoarthritis, and the use of herbs can act as a preventive measure or limit the deterioration of your joints.
RELIEVING OSTEOARTHRITIS WITH MESOTHERAPY
Mesotherapy is a proposed treatment for osteoarthritis. It consists of administering a treatment by micro-injections under the skin, in a localized manner.
Developed by Dr. Michel Pistor in 1952, mesotherapy uses less product, in a more targeted way. The aim is to ensure that the treatment has as little distance to travel as possible, thereby short-circuiting certain risks of side-effects, since the product does not have to pass through the bloodstream, the liver, the stomach...
Several subcutaneous injections are performed simultaneously, rapidly relieving local pain.
The pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects of mesotherapy make it a popular treatment for top-level athletes, but it is also increasingly used in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
Discover the different care methods offered by Dr Couturier
In 2016, Doctor Christian COUTURIER set up an Integrative Medicine center in the Yvelines: a Clinique de l'Arthrose de la Main et du Membre Supérieur that combines different methods of care for your osteoarthritis.
In practice, it all depends on your symptomatology, i.e. pain, functional discomfort and aesthetic deformity.
You will be asked to undergo a standard radiographic work-up, or one with specific images> sometimes it is useful to have other examinations such as an ultrasound scan, arthroscanner or MRI.
If symptomatology is weak and cartilage remains, Dr. Christian COUTURIER will try to find conservative, i.e. non-surgical, methods of treating you, drawing on his experience in integrative medicine.
When these treatments no longer work or fail, when your joint cartilage is destroyed, he will explain the surgical procedures he has been an expert in for over 25 years, in Paris.
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