Osteoarthritis Archives - Chaparral Winds Retirement Community

What is Osteoarthritis?

As you become older, your body naturally wears down, which can lead to osteoarthritis (OA). This is the most prevalent type of arthritis, but it can be mild or severe and normally doesn’t show up until later in life. Over time, a lot of people over 60 will get OA, but others won’t be really sick from it.

OA is a degenerative disease, which means it breaks down the cartilage that surrounds the bone. As the cartilage wears out, the space between joints gets smaller. This makes the bones scrape against each other and hurt.

Signs of OA

The most typical signs include swelling around the joint, pain when walking or doing everyday things, and inflammation.

OA can affect any joint, but it mainly affects the hips, knees, and shoulders. This is because those joints get the most wear and tear from years of hard work, past accidents, activity, and weight increase.

How to treat OA

The severity of OA determines the treatment choices available. People who have only a little joint discomfort can ease their symptoms by modifying their diet, practicing low-impact activities, and going to physical therapy. Our surgeons often recommend steroid injections if the pain gets worse. These shots could last for months before you need another one.

If OA has caused your joint cartilage to wear away completely and you are in agony all the time, you might want to think about getting a joint replacement. Joint replacement takes out the diseased cartilage and bone and puts in an implant that can last for 20 years or more.

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune illness that makes the joints feel swollen. When synovial fluid builds up around the joints, it can cause swelling and pain that feels a lot like osteoarthritis pain. Doctors don’t know what causes RA, but they do know that it makes bad antibodies target healthy joints.

With OA, you might only feel pain in one joint. With RA, on the other hand, you will always feel pain in more than one joint, and it usually happens in a symmetrical way. If you have RA in your left wrist, you probably also have it in your right wrist. Even kids can get Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is a kind of RA that can happen at any age.

Signs of RA

Most of the symptoms of RA are the same as those of OA: swollen, painful, and stiff joints, as well as tiredness. People may also feel numbness and tingling, have a dry mouth, and have chest pain. You can find lumps on your fingers and toes if you have RA in your hands and feet.

Imaging and diagnostic tests are the only ways to really tell if someone has RA. MRIs are better at finding RA than x-rays.

How to Treat RA

Because RA is an autoimmune illness, it is a condition that lasts for life and can be controlled but not gotten rid of. There are several ways to treat RA, including as changing your diet, taking medicine, getting steroid injections, doing certain types of exercise, and using home remedies. A lot of people with RA learn how to deal with their symptoms so they can still live an active life.

What is Osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is the most extensive type of arthritis, affecting millions of people across the globe. It transpires when the preventive cartilage that pads the ends of the bones becomes worn over time.

Despite the fact that osteoarthritis can be damaging to any joint, the disease most commonly affects joints in the knees, hands, hips, and spine.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis can usually be regulated, nevertheless, the damage to joints cannot be undone. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, retaining a healthy weight, and receiving appropriate treatments could delay progression of the ailment and help improve pain and joint function.

Symptoms of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis symptoms generally progress slowly and worsen over time. The symptoms of the disease can include:

Swelling. This might be caused by soft tissue inflammation around the joint.
Stiffness. Joint stiffness could be most obvious when waking up or following being inactive.
Loss of Flexibility. You might not be able to move your joints through their full range of motion.
Crepitus. You could feel a grinding sensation (crepitus) when using the joint, and you might hear cracking or popping.
Bone spurs. These additional pieces of bone, that feel like hard bumps, can form around the affected joint.
Tenderness. Your joint might feel tender when placing light pressure on it.
Pain. Impacted joints might hurt during or after moving.

When to See a Doctor

When you have stiffness or joint pain that simply does not go away, schedule a visit with your doctor.

Causes of Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis transpires when the cartilage that pads the end of bones in your joints after a while deteriorate. Cartilage is a set, slippy tissue that allows nearly frictionless joint motion.

After a while, should the cartilage wear down completely, bone is going to rub on bone.

This is sometimes known as a “wear & tear “ailment. But apart from the breakdown of cartilage, osteoarthritis changes the whole joint. It is going to make changes in the bone and weakening of the joining tissues that hold the joints together and connects muscle to bone. It also produces swelling to the joints lining.

Risk Factors of Osteoarthritis

Factors that might increase your risk of osteoarthritis can include:

Older age. The risk of osteoarthritis increases as people age.
Gender. Women have more of a possibility to develop osteoarthritis, nevertheless, it’s not known why.
Weight. Carrying extra body weight adds to osteoarthritis in various ways, and the more weight you bear, the increase of risk you have. Add weight strains weight-carrying joints, such as your knees and hips. Additionally, fatty tissues produces proteins that can cause harmful inflammation surrounding your joints.
Joint injuries. Injuries, such as those that happen when taking part in sports or from accidents, can raise the risk of osteoarthritis. Even those that took place years ago and appear to have healed could also increase your risk.
Frequent stress on the joint. should your job or the sport you are involved in places frequent stress on a joint, that joint could ultimately produce osteoarthritis.
Genetics. A lot of people inherit a tendency to develop osteoarthritis.
Bone abnormalities. A lot of individuals are born with abnormal joints or inadequate cartilage.
Particular metabolic diseases. These can comprise of diabetes and a disorder known as hemochromatosis (harmful levels of iron).

Complications of Osteoarthritis

This is a regressive disease that will worsen over time, typically chronic pain accordingly. Joint stiffness and pain can become intense enough to make daily tasks difficult.

Depression and disruption in sleep can result from the pain and debilitation of osteoarthritis.

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