The surfaces within your joints become damaged so the joint doesn’t move as smoothly as it should The condition is sometimes called arthrosis or osteoarthrosis.
Older terms are degenerative joint disease or ‘wear and tear’
When a joint develops osteoarthritis, some of the cartilage covering the ends of the bones gradually roughens and becomes thin and as a result there is cartilage loss, and the bone underneath thickens.
All the tissues within the joint become more active than normal – as if your body is trying to repair the damage:
The bone at the edge of your joint grows outwards, forming bony spurs called osteophytes.
The synovium (the inner layer of the joint capsule which produces synovial fluid) may thicken and make extra fluid. This causes your joint to swell.
The capsule and ligaments (tough bands that hold the joint together) slowly thicken and contract as if they were trying to make your joint more stable.
Sometimes your body’s repairs are quite good and the changes inside your joint won’t cause pain or problems.
In severe osteoarthritis, the cartilage can become so thin that it doesn’t cover the ends of your bones. Your bones rub against each other and start to wear away. The loss of cartilage, the wearing of bone and the bony spurs can change the shape of your joint, forcing your bones out of their normal position.
The knee is a complex structure consisting of bone, cartilage, muscle, tendon, ligament, synovial fluid and nerves.
Knee pain could be the result of a problem with any one of these components, or a combination of several.
The knee can take time to heal due to generally there is poor blood supply in that area, X-rays will show some obvious conditions, tendons and ligament damage is difficult to diagnose on x rays, further investigation i.e a MRI scan maybe required.
Each condition have different healing times, a specialist in that healthcare field will monitor your healing time and should guide you to obtain optimum healing time as this can can from individual to individual.
Tens machine
TENS is strongly recommended against in patients with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis.
Difficult to grasp objects or make a pinching motion?
Hips and/or knee:
Pain at front of knee(s) especially when getting up from chairs and walking up the stairs and exercising and/or walking downstairs?
Pain on the inside of knee(s)?
Pain on both side of kneecap?
Cracking, grinding, or popping sensation (the sensation is caused by irregular or rough surfaces of the joint—surfaces that normally would be smooth—or from debris within the joint)?
Joint instability?
Joint deformity or malalignment normally one side mainly affected i.e. knee, hip?
Bone spur?
Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:
Osteoarthritis is characterised by pain that is worse with activity and associated with only a short period of early morning stiffness; in contrast, Rheumatoid arthritis commonly causes early morning stiffness lasting more than one hour.
Clinical Pharmacist, CP, April 2015, Vol 7, No 3;7(3):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2015.20068288
Baker’s Cyst – a collection of knee-joint fluid that pools in the back of the knee, most commonly as a result of arthritis. If a Baker’s cyst ruptures, the fluid may leak down into the calf region causing an aching pain in the calf, along with swelling.
Gout is commonly distinguished from Osteoarthritis by a flare period followed by complete remission between flares.
However, long-term damage to joints associated with uncontrolled inflammation in gout (and Rheumatoid arthritis) may ultimately result in the development of Osteoarthritis in the affected joint, making it difficult to distinguish the types of arthritis by symptoms alone.
Furthermore, Osteoarthritis often co-exists with gout, resulting in chronic joint pain in the absence of active disease).
Clinical Pharmacist, CP, April 2015, Vol 7, No 3;7(3):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2015.20068288
Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (Madelung deformity is characterized by the bowing and shortening of the bones in the forearms (the radius and the ulna) and the dislocation of the ulna, resulting in the abnormal deviation or misalignment of the wrist)
Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice
Detailed Information
Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Osteoarthritis (hands/hips/knees) in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).
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