Osteoarthritis is the degeneration or wear of the joints or joints of the body: knees, elbows, hands, spine, etc. Wear can affect a single joint or several at the same time.
As the joint wears out, movement becomes more difficult and can be painful. The joint can also become deformed. It usually does not cause disability.
Causes of osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis occurs as a consequence of:
– Age (it usually appears after the age of 45 and at 70 all people have osteoarthritis).
– The obesity.
– Excessive use of the joints in sports or physical work
– Due to the effect of some diseases.
In many cases the cause is not known.
Osteoarthritis pain
Osteoarthritis usually does not hurt, although it can be seen on X-rays.
Most people with osteoarthritis never have pain.
In those who have pain, there is no relationship between the pain and the amount of osteoarthritis on the X-rays: the more osteoarthritis does not have to be more pain.
Osteoarthritis is not, in the vast majority of people, a disease. Only in cases with continuous pain that cannot be relieved or that prevents movement, it is considered a disease.
Diagnosis of osteoarthritis
The doctor diagnoses osteoarthritis with the data that the patient tells him and with the examination that he does. X-rays only complete the study and are not necessary in many cases since they do not change what the doctor must do to the patient.
Osteoarthritis treatment
- Painful cases should be treated with analgesics, starting with the simplest and if these fail, move on to the more complicated.
- Patients should be kept as agile as possible through adequate physical activity. Obese patients should lose weight.
- Some patients, few, may need rehabilitation and have to have surgery.
