Osteoarthritis Overview

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is a degenerative joint disease that has no cure and gets worse over time. It affects the joints such as the wrist, knee, neck, hand, or hip and treatments are available to control pain and slow the condition.

Osteoarthritis Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of Osteoarthritis can start off mild, progressively get worse over time and may be mistaken for another condition. Some of the most common symptoms include:

• Achy Joints.
• Stiffness.
• Reduced range of motion.
• Grinding in the arm, elbow, knee, neck, ankle, or other joints.
• Bone spurs or small bumps connected to the achy joints.
• Pain while resting.
• Pain is bad then lightens then gets worse again.

If these symptoms are accompanied by swelling or fever it may be a different form of arthritis such as Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Causes of Osteoarthritis

When joint cartilage, that is there to cushion the end of your bones, starts to deteriorate over time it can become rough or wear down completely. When this happens bones can rub against each other and cause damage.

Known reasons for cartilage degeneration usually have to do with:

• Age The older you get the more likely you are to develop osteoarthritis.
• Other forms of Arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis can assist in developing cartilage degeneration.
• Bone and Joint Injury Bones can heal improperly and rub against joints or other bones. Also often after a break or fracture bones and joints can become weak and can cause osteoarthritis.
• Abnormal Anatomy such as having one leg slightly longer then the other can cause unnecessary stress on bones and joints.
• Nutrition can play a role if your body is lacking or doesn’t process necessary vitamins and proteins needed for proper bone health.
• Muscle Issues If muscles and ligaments don’t support properly it can cause joint issues.
• Weight can cause unnecessary stress on bones and joints.
• Heredity Certain health issues can be passed on that can contribute to osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis Tests and Diagnosis

Your doctor will generally start the diagnosis process with questions about symptoms your experiencing, your medical history, and past injuries. You may require physical tests to properly diagnose your condition which may include:

• X-Rays may be done to look for narrowing of the space between the joint (articular surface), broken or fractured bones and joints, and bone spurs.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be used to look at all structures within the joint including cartilage, bone, and ligaments which can be used to discover what might be causing your pain.
• CT Scans may be done which are similar to an X-Ray but in greater detail.
• Blood Tests may be done to look for underlining issues such as infections that may be causing the pain but aren’t used to diagnose osteoarthritis.
• Joint Fluid Analysis is when, using a needle, fluid is extracted from the joint such as the knee to test for infections.

Osteoarthritis Treatments and Drugs

Pain Management medications, creams, and drugs that can help alleviate joint pain and may include:

• Over the counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Acephen, Actamin, Feverall, Q-Pap, Tactinal, Tempra, Tylenol, Uniserts, and Vitapap) and Aspirin (Arthritis Pain, Aspergum, Aspir-Low, Aspirin Lite Coat, Bayer Aspirin, Bufferin, Easprin, Ecotrin, Empirin, Fasprin, Genacote, Halfprin, Norwich Aspirin, St. Joseph Aspirin, Stanback Analgesic, Tri-Buffered Aspirin, YSP Aspirin, Zorprin) can help with mild pain and may be used in combination with other medications.
• Narcotics such as oxycodone (Percocet) and hydrocodone (Vicodin) for mild to severe pain caused by arthritis but can be damaging in the long term and may be habit forming.
• Counter irritants are used for temporary pain relief and include topical treatments such as Arthricare, Icy Hot, Bengay, and Mineral Ice which provide warmth or cooling to soothe the area in pain.

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) help reduce pain and inflammation that may be causing pain and include:

• Over the counter oral NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin), naproxen sodium (Aleve), and ketoprofen (Orudis KT)
• Prescription NSAIDs are stronger versions and include: Diclofenac (Cataflam, Voltaren), Fenoprofen (brand name: Nalfon), Flurbiprofen (Ansaid), Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), Indomethacin (Indocin), Ketoprofen (Orudis, Oruvail), Meclofenamate, Meloxicam (Mobic), Nabumetone (Relafen), Naproxen (Anaprox, Naprelan, Naprosyn), Oxaprozin (Daypro), Piroxicam (Feldene), Sulindac (Clinoril), and Tolmetin (Tolectin).

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are drugs that help stop your immune system from attacking your joints as is seen in rheumatoid arthritis.

Corticosteroids are steroids that help stop inflammation and suppress the immune system. They can be taken orally or injected directly into the joint. Some examples of Corticosteroids include: prednisone and cortisone.

Therapy including exercises and simple daily activities may be added to your treatment as a way to keep the joints and ligaments moving, increase range of motion, and as a prevention method to future degeneration.

Surgery may be an option if there is sufficaint damage to the joint, bone, or surrounding tissues. Some surgery options include.:

• Removal of the Synovium (synovectomy) may be needed when rheumatoid arthritis causes the synovium (the lining of your joint capsule) to swell. By removing it can help slow the deterioration of the joint.
• Joint Replacement may be necessary in worst case scenarios when the damage is so severe that a prosthetic one is needed. Common joints that need replacing are the hips and knees.
• Joint Fusion is a surgery where the two ends of the bones are removed and then attached together. Usually preformed on smaller joints such as fingers.

Your doctor will guide you through all the possible treatment options for Osteoarthritis arthritis and together you should be able to find the right ones to fit your specific needs.