Arthritis in simple language means “ swelling( inflammation ) in joints”.

There are many types of arthritis, but it is majorly classified into two types.

1. Degenerative Arthritis.
2. Inflammatory Arthritis.

1. Degenerative Arthritis/ Wear and tear related arthritis – also commonly referred as osteoarthritis. It is the most common type of arthritis. Almost 50 % of the population over 50 yrs of age is affected by it. It is usually age related and commonly affects knee joints in the Indian population and more commonly the hip joints in the western population. Osteoarthritis may also affect hand and feet joints especially in women. Patients present in the OPD with pain , difficulty walking and progressive deformity of knees. Treatment options include medication, exercises, lifestyle modification, intraarticular injections, and Physiotherapy. If these measures are unable to make an impact then Joint Replacement surgery should be considered.

2. Inflammatory Arthritis: Unlike osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis is more common in young population, although people of any age might be affected by inflammatory arthritis.

Following are few common types of inflammatory arthritis.

*Rheumatoid Arthritis.
*Ankylosing Spondylitis.
*Psoriatic arthritis.
*Gout.
*SLE.

All the above types of arthritis are discussed in detail in diseases section. For detail information of each type of arthritis, kindly refer to the diseases section.