What Are The Ways To Prevent Osteochondritis Dissecans & Does It Reoccur?

Osteochondritis Dissecans refer to a joint condition, where bones present below the cartilage of any joint dies because of a lack of blood flow. The cartilage and bone, later on, breaks to become loose and cause pain, while hinders the joint motion. Osteochondritis Dissecans mainly takes place in adolescents and children. It causes symptoms after you suffer an injury to any of the joints or after many months of your intensive physical activities, like running and jumping, as both affect your joints. The condition mainly takes place in your knees. However, in some cases, it even takes place in any other joint, especially ankles and elbows.⁽¹⁾

The prevention of Osteochondritis Dissecans condition is almost impossible, as doctors do not know its underlying cause. However, young children involved in sports activities should take certain measures related to protecting their bone joints. For instance, one can choose to wear protective gear and certain sports pads.

Simultaneously, young girls and boys involved in different types of sports should learn the right physical techniques to stretch their bodies. Even young sportspersons should do some warm-up, especially before doing any physical activity. To stay safe, it is better to start any sport with proper warm-up and end it with a cool down and stretching activities.⁽²⁾

Osteochondritis Dissecans mainly take place in your ankles, elbows, and knees. Patients need approximately 3 months period to heal the joint completely. However, whether the problem relapses or not depends on the underlying conditions of a patient. If a kid succeeds to heal completely, he or she does not experience any long-lasting problem. ⁽³⁾

Before we should know whether Osteochondritis Dissecans recurs or not, it is essential for us to stay aware of its stages, as recurrence depends somewhat on the underlying symptoms and the particular stage.

One can classify the condition of Osteochondritis Dissecans into four different stages-

Stage 1: In the first stage, the problem remains stable and the affected cartilage stays covered by the help of intact cartilage. Also, the lesion grows in continuation with the respective host bone. If a person remains at the first stage, he/she may overcome it by taking certain precautionary measures and management steps.

Stage 2: The condition in the second stage remains stable at the time of probing. However, stage 2 of Osteochondritis Dissecans causes partial discontinuation of the formed lesion from its host bone. In this stage also, one can manage the underlying symptoms to prevent the problem from occurring again.

Stage 3: Stage 3 of Osteochondritis Dissecans is somewhat critical and it is unstable at the time of probing. However, the condition does not cause any dislocation of the fragment but results in complete discontinuation of the dead in situ types of lesion. Here, recurrence of Osteochondritis Dissecans may occur depending on the condition of a patient and it’s bone and/or cartilage positions.

Stage 4: Stage 4 is the final stage associated with Osteochondritis Dissecans, which leads to a dislocated fragment.⁽⁴⁾

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Also Read:

• What is Osteochondritis Dissecans of Knee Joint and How is it Treated?
• Osteochondritis or Osteochondritis Dissecans: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment