Osteoarthritis is one of the most common diseases that are caused due to wear and tear of joints in the old age causing disorder in their joints. The symptoms, signs and causes of this disease are discussed here under in brief to understand it more precisely.
Symptoms
Joint pain, especially in the knee and hip, is the most common symptom of osteoarthritis which relieves by resting and worsens by exercises. In the advance stage of this disease patient may experience pain at night even after keeping it at rest most of the times. Pain is normally experienced in and around the knee whereas in the hip it is felt mostly in the anterior and groins to make the patient uncomfortable. In males the pain in the hips may travel to the testicles and knee of the affected side. Affected knee may experience stiffness in the morning and after rest.
Some of the common signs of Osteoarthritis include:
This disease restricts the participation of the patient in various activities due to restricted movement of joints. The range of movement of joints gets affected. Pain in joints will increase while moving them due to tenderness in them. Swelling in joints is another normal signs of this disease. Deformation of joints due to swelling of bones is an important sign in the advanced stage of this disease. Instability of joints Weakness in muscles around the affected joint
Causes
Normally appropriate causes of the occurrence of osteoarthritis in not known till date but still it is supposed to be caused due to deterioration of joints with the increase in age.
Damage in the rubbery tissues of the cartilages that enable the joint bones to slide over one and another is one of the main causes of this disease. The bones start rubbing on each other due to break down or wearing off of the cartilages. Formation of additional bone around the joint is another cause of this joint problem. The stiffness and weakening of the muscles and ligaments can instigate this problem. Symptoms of this problem usually start occurring around the age of 55 years among men and women both. But around 70years of age almost everyone experiences it.
Other factors
Osteoarthritis is also considered as a hereditary disease as it travels through generations. Risk of this problem increases with the excessive increase in weight as the over weight may cause deterioration in the hip, knees and other joints. The life of joints also deteriorates after fractures in them due to non-procurement of injured cartilages and ligaments. Risk of this problem increases with the constant over use of joints daily for more than an hour. Bodybuilders and sports persons are more at risk of this disease especially weight lifters, climbers, football and soccer players etc.
Medical causes
Some of the medical conditions can also encourage osteoarthritis like Bleeding disorder in the joints, Disorder due to blockage in blood supply to the joints Combination of various types of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis, chronic gout, or pseudogout etc. Thus after knowing the symptoms, signs and causes of osteoarthritis it becomes easy to treat the problem properly.
