Osteoarthritis

What is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease in which the joint cartilage layer becomes thinner and may be completely worn out. As the disease progresses, activities like walking, driving and standing become very painful and very difficult.

Osteoarthritis is a very common disease of the joints and generally sets in between the ages of 50 and 60. It may also occur at a much earlier age, depending on the cause.

How does osteoarthritis develop?
Osteoarthritis may be caused by incorrect posture, long-term incorrect loading or over-loading of the joints, an earlier accident with injuries to the joint region, or through inflammation of the joints.

Often the factor that causes osteoarthritis in an individual cannot be established.

Osteoarthritis of the hip joint
Osteoarthritis of the hip, is generally accompanied by pain in the hip joint that can radiate to the knee or even to the lumbar region of the spine. If you don't get treatment for osteoarthritis of the hip, the condition keeps getting worse until resting no longer relieves your pain. The hip joint gets stiff and inflamed. The pain can lead to muscle tension, restricted mobility or incorrect posture. In later stages pain may also be experienced at night or at rest. When the cartilage wears away completely, bones rub directly against each other. This makes it very painful for you to move. You may lose the ability to rotate, flex or extend your hip. If you become less active to avoid the pain the muscles controlling your joint get weak, and you may start to limp.

Osteoarthritis of the knee joint
In arthritis of the knee joint, the patient generally first experiences pain and accompanying swelling in the knee joint when starting to move and applying pressure to the knee joint. The pain can lead to a feeling of uncertainty with movements involving the knee joint, and to muscular tension, restricted mobility or incorrect posture. In later stages pain may also be experienced at night or at rest. Deformation of the bones around the joint can additionally restrict movement.

Examination methods
Before surgery is considered, a thorough preoperative medical evaluation is carried out. Treatment is planned on the basis of the severity of the symptoms and the visible signs of wear seen in X-rays.

If the disease is still at an early stage, then physiotherapy is often prescribed, coupled with drugs such as anti-inflammatory agents or analgesics to reduce pain.

When does the joint have to be replaced?
If no improvement is seen as a result of physiotherapy or other forms of therapy, or if the pain becomes unacceptable, then a joint replacement has to be considered.