What makes cartilage

There is also a chapter for conservative treatments options and rehabilitation after cartilage repair. While the former is much more common in middle-aged patients, and even more so in women, injuries to the joints, such as trauma or accidents during active sports, can affect any age group or gender.

Careers requiring repetitive or intense motion can increase the risk of developing cartilage problems, but there are several other risk factors, including age, weight and genetic predisposition. On this website, we focus only on articular cartilage repair treatments, which means the restoration of damaged hyaline cartilage in the joints. Cartilage repair and regeneration is a treatment for joints that have damaged cartilage but are otherwise healthy.

Typically, these procedures are recommended for cartilage damage or deterioration caused by:. Injury or trauma, including sports injuries or repetitive use of the joint Congenital abnormalities — abnormalities a person is born with for instance misalignment — that affect normal joint structure Hormonal or idiopathic disorders that affect bone and joint development, such as osteochondritis dissecans OCD.

There are several types of new and modern procedures for cartilage repair and regeneration techniques that are designed to heal the cartilage by filling the cartilage defect pothole with repair tissue.

There are several types of bone and joint pain, each with many potential sources or etiologies. This site is not intended for people who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis RA , gout, avascular necrosis AVN , and cancer within bones, osteoporosis and other inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. The ICRS would like to express a deep gratitude for this very generous contribution to the International Cartilage Repair Society and the respective patient community, making it possible to provide updated information about cartilage damage and cartilage repair technologies free of charge to all interested persons.

By using the Website or by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms of Use when that option is made available, visitors of the Website accept and agree to bound and abide by the Terms of Use on behalf of all users of the respective computer. Visitors who do not agree with these Terms of Use must not access or use the Website. Cartilage is a strong, flexible and semi-rigid supporting tissue. It can withstand compression forces, and yet it can bend. There are three types of cartilage, which differ mostly in the type of fibres they contain.

Hyaline : Most common - has a glassy appearance hyalos - is greek for glass. Fibrocartilage : tendon insertions and invertebral discs: reinforced with parallel bundles of collagen fibres.

Elastic cartilage : external ear and epiglottis: flexible and resilient - has elastic fibres as well as collagen fibres. Click here to find out more about these three types. This diagram shows the structure of an aggregate of Aggrecan another name for the aggregating GAG chondroitin sulphate. There are three main types of cartilage: elastic cartilage, fibrocartilage and hyaline cartilage.

These types vary in their make-up of the substances listed above. Elastic cartilage is present in the ear, nose and parts of the lungs. It is a highly flexible formulation of cartilage. Fibrocartilage is found in the menisci of the knee and the discs of the spine. It is far less flexible than elastic cartilage. Hyaline cartilage is found at the ends of bones — lining the joints of the body — as well as the septum of the nose and part of the breathing tube.

Hyaline, or articular, cartilage covers the ends of bones to create a low-friction environment and cushion at the joint surface.

If the cartilage begins to degenerate with age, or if it were to become damaged from an injury, the joint loses some of that protective cushion and exposes underlying bone ends. This damage can lead to excess stress of those areas of bone that are ill-equipped to handle strong forces.

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Learn about the potential causes of sudden pain without an injury, as well as treatments and when to see a doctor. Tenex is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that uses ultrasonic technology to break up and remove damaged tissue. Learn more about the the…. Joint pain, especially in the knee, due to arthritis affects about 1 in 10 older Americans. Research finds that an ingredient in the spice turmeric…. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. What Is the Purpose of Cartilage?

Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. Types Damage Treatments Bottom line What is cartilage? What are the different types of cartilage? How can cartilage become damaged? Can cartilage repair itself? The bottom line.

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