About Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis, sometimes called degenerative joint disease or osteoarthrosis, is the most common form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis occurs when cartilage in your joints wears down over time.

Osteoarthritis can affect any joint in your body, though it most commonly affects joints in your hands, hips, knees and spine

Osteoarthritis Symptoms

• Pain in a joint during or after use, or after a period of inactivity
• Tenderness in the joint when you apply light pressure
• Stiffness in a joint, that may be most noticeable when you wake up in the morning or after a period of inactivity
• Loss of flexibility may make it difficult to use the joint
• Grating sensation when you use the joint
• Bone spurs, which appear as hard lumps, may form around the affected joint
• Swelling in some cases

Causes

Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage that cushions the ends of bones in your joints deteriorates over time. The smooth surface of the cartilage becomes rough, causing irritation. Eventually, if the cartilage wears down completely, you may be left with bone rubbing on bone — causing the ends of your bones to become damaged and your joints to become painful.

It isn’t clear what causes osteoarthritis in most cases. Researchers suspect that it’s a combination of factors including:

• being overweight
• the aging process
• joint injury or stress
• heredity
• muscle weakness

Risk Factors

1. Older age. Osteoarthritis typically occurs in older adults. People under 40 rarely experience osteoarthritis.
2. Sex. Women are more likely to develop osteoarthritis, though it isn’t clear why.
3. Bone deformities. Some people are born with malformed joints or defective cartilage, which can increase the risk of osteoarthritis.
4. Joint injuries. Injuries, such as those that occur when playing sports or from an accident, may increase the risk of osteoarthritis.
5. Obesity. Carrying more body weight places more stress on your weight-bearing joints, such as your knees. But obesity has also been linked to an increased risk of osteoarthritis in the hands, as well.
6. Other diseases that affect the bones and joints. Bone and joint diseases that increase the risk of osteoarthritis include gout, rheumatoid arthritis, Paget’s disease of bone and septic arthritis.

Complications

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that worsens over time. As many as a third of people with osteoarthritis will eventually experience significant disability. Joint pain and stiffness may become severe enough to make getting through the day difficult, if not impossible. Some people are no longer able to work. When joint pain is this severe, doctors typically suggest joint replacement surgery. For those who aren’t able to undergo surgery, pain medications and assistive devices can make daily tasks more manageable.