Osteoarthritis Treatment in Pune

What is osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative joint disorder characterized by loss of joint cartilage and degeneration of the underlying bone. Osteoarthritis is the commonest condition to affect joints in humans.

Which joints are affected by osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis can affect any joint but it occurs most often in knees, hips, small joint’s of the fingers and the bases of the thumb and big toe.

What happens in osteoarthritis?

In order to understand osteoarthritis affected joint, we need to understand a normal joint. The point at which two or bones are connected is called a joint. The bones in a joint are lined by a cartilage. Cartilage provides a smooth gliding surface for joint motion and acts as a cushion between the bones. A synovial membrane lines the cavity of joint from inside. The synovial membrane secretes synovial fluid which has a lubricating function. The joint is sealed by a dense fibrous connective tissue called joint capsule. The capsule along with overlying muscles and ligaments provide stability to the joint.

In osteoarthritis the cartilage breaks down causing pain, swelling and problems moving the joint. Because of the damaged cartilage the bone ends get exposed and tend to rub against each other. As osteoarthritis worsens over time bone ends may develop growths called spurs. Inflammatory process occurs that further damages the joint cartilage.

Risk factors for osteoarthritis :

1. Age – Patient age is the best recognized risk factor for osteoarthritis. Incidence of radiographic and symptomatic osteoarthritis increases sharply with age. This is probably mediated by increase in systemic and local factors including obesity, ligament laxity, and neuromuscular joint.
2. Gender – Women are at greater risk than men of developing hand, knee and generalized osteoarthritis. In contrast frequency of hip osteoarthritis increases at about same rate in men and women, but the disease seems to progress more rapidly in women.
3. Family history – Family history is important specifically in hand osteoarthritis and generalized osteoarthritis.
4. Obesity – Being overweight increases mechanical stress on weight bearing joints and thus is a major risk factor for development and progression of osteoarthritis.
5. Joint injury – Previous knee and hip injuries are independent risk factors for osteoarthritis.
6. Muscle weakness – Quadriceps muscle weakness has been described as a risk factor for knee pain, disability and progression of knee osteoarthritis.
7. Occupational factors – occupations involving repeated bending movements of weight bearing joints like carpentary and farming are associated with high risk of developing osteoarthritis.

Clinical features of osteoarthritis :

• Pain and stiffness of the affected joints are the most common symptoms, particularly first thing in the morning or after periods of inactivity or overuse.
• Mild swelling around the joint.
• Limited range of motion or stiffness that goes away after movement.
• Clicking or cracking sound on movement.
• In hip osteoarthritis pain is felt in the groin area or buttocks and sometimes on the inside of the knee or thigh.
• In hand joint osteoarthritis, bony growth (spurs) at the edges of joints can cause fingers to become swollen, tender and red. There may be pain at the base of the thumb.

Diagnosing osteoarthritis :

The diagnosis of osteoarthritis is based on clinical examination and x-ray. Blood test are not required for diagnosing osteoarthritis.

 Treatment of osteoarthritis :

The goal of treatment of osteoarthritis is to minimize pain and swelling, optimizing joint function, reducing disability and beneficial modification of osteoarthritis process.