What Is Osteoarthritis And Who Gets It?

Osteoarthritis, commonly referred to as OA, is a degenerative condition that occurs when the cartilage in the knee joint wears down over time. Osteoarthritis can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling in the knee.

Osteoarthritis of the knee may sound scary, but with Arthritis Knee Pain Centers® as a part of your medical team, it doesn’t need to be. Frequently referred to as “wear and tear” arthritis or OA for short, osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that typically affects the hips, knees, hands, and spine.

Related video: How to alleviate knee pain without drugs or painful surgery.

WHAT DOES OSTEOARTHRITIS DO?

Osteoarthritis is called “wear and tear” arthritis because it erodes the cartilage that protects your joints. Why is cartilage important? There’s a long list of reasons! Cartilage is the flexible, white-colored tissue that connects the bones in your joints. You can think of it as a cushion that prevents your bones from grinding together whenever your body bends.

Healthy cartilage means less grinding and prevention of bone-on-bone collision. 

OA deteriorates this cartilage, causing friction between your bones as they grate together. If you suffer from osteoarthritis, then you understand exactly how painful this can be!

WHO GETS OSTEOARTHRITIS?

Osteoarthritis usually affects individuals over the age of 60 and statistically afflicts women more than men although the reason is unclear. More infrequently, OA may affect people as young as 20 and 30 due to repetitive overuse of the joints or pre-existing conditions like sports or accident-related injuries.

And yet osteoarthritis is much more common than you might think! In fact, not only is OA the #1 most common form of arthritis, but more than 30 million people suffer from it – and that’s just in the USA alone!

Related video: How Lee Trevino Treats His Osteoarthritis

SYMPTOMS

If any of this information sounds familiar, you may wonder whether you suffer from osteoarthritis. If so, here are the most common symptoms people usually encounter:

• JOINT ACHING & SORENESS: This may occur during or after movement.
• STIFFNESS & LOSS OF FLEXIBILITY: Usually occurs when waking up in the morning or during prolonged periods of inactivity.
• SWELLING & TENDERNESS: Look for joints that appear inflamed or tender to the touch.
• GRATING SENSATION: If you’re experiencing excessive popping, cracking, or friction in your joints, the cartilage connecting the bones may have partially or entirely eroded.

CAUSES

There are a variety of reasons that cause osteoarthritis such as:

• INJURY: As previously mentioned, osteoarthritis may develop due to old sports-related injuries, car wrecks, broken bones, and more. Even years-old injuries that have fully healed may affect your likelihood to develop the painful joint disease.
• OBESITY: Remember that OA tends to affect those who are severely overweight due to added stress on the joints, especially the knees, and hips.
• GENETICS: Because osteoarthritis is hereditary, the disease can also be passed down through genetics if it runs in your family’s medical history.

TREATMENT

There is no cure for OA. You’ll find numerous options that claim to reduce pain and return your life to normal. What’s the best solution for you?

At Arthritis Knee Pain Centers, we’ve successfully treated thousands of patients since 2016 with our advanced pain relief program. Our outpatient therapy does not involve surgery or opioids. Schedule your no-charge, no-obligation knee pain screening with us. Call 1-833-300-5633 today. You don’t have to live in pain.

This video shows what our viscosupplementation knee injection treatment looks like. Hall of fame golfer Lee Trevino gets his knees injected approximately every six months.