What is knee arthritis?

Knee arthritis is a common condition that causes pain and stiffness in the knee joint. It can affect anyone at any age, but it’s more common as you get older.

Knee arthritis can be caused by injury to the joint or by wear and tear over time. It’s most common in people aged 40 to 60 years old.

The main symptoms of knee arthritis are:

• pain in the knee joint, especially when walking up stairs or hills, or after sitting for long periods of time
• stiffness in the joint that gets worse after exercise or after it rains (because water increases friction on the surface of cartilage)

Osteoarthritis Overview

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, a group of diseases that causes pain, stiffness and loss of function in joints. It occurs when cartilage degenerates and bone rubs against bone. Cartilage is a substance that covers the ends of bones where they join with other bones. This tissue provides cushioning and lubrication to joints, allowing them to move smoothly.

Osteoarthritis affects people of all ages but most commonly affects older adults. It causes many people to lose mobility and independence as they age.

Osteoarthritis is a disease that results from wear-and-tear on your joints over time. The cartilage tissue between the bones — which acts as a shock absorber — gradually wears down until there’s nothing left but bone rubbing against bone (bone on bone). This causes inflammation, pain and stiffness in your joints, which may make it difficult for you to move easily or perform daily tasks like getting dressed or climbing stairs.

Osteoarthritis can occur in any joint — including your hands, feet, knees and hips — but it most often affects the large weight-bearing joints such as hips and knees.

Why early diagnosis important for knee osteoarthritis?

The earlier you get diagnosed, the better your chances of treating your knee osteoarthritis successfully. Diagnosing knee osteoarthritis early is crucial, as it allows you to take measures such as diet and exercise that may prevent joint damage from progressing.

In addition, early diagnosis will help you avoid the need for surgery later on. Surgery is a serious procedure, which involves cutting through healthy tissue in order to relieve pressure on the joint and provide relief from pain. However, it also has its drawbacks: Recovery time can be long and painful; there’s a risk of infection; there’s always a risk of complications; and sometimes surgery doesn’t work at all.

To help identify patients with symptomatic knee OA at an early stage of disease progression, some researchers have suggested using radiographic evidence of osteophytes or osteoarthritic changes in the knee joint (eg, narrowing of joint space) as criteria for diagnosing symptomatic knee OA in primary care settings.15 However, these criteria are not always reliable indicators or predictors of functional limitations or pain intensity in patients with milder degrees.

What causes osteoarthritis (OA)?

Osteoarthritis usually develops gradually with age. The exact cause of osteoarthritis remains unknown, although several factors are known to contribute to its development:

Joint injury or trauma

Injury to a joint can cause inflammation and pain, which can progress to osteoarthritis if not properly treated. Traumatic injury to a joint may occur during sports participation or from an accident. Injuries that cause bruising or bleeding in a joint can lead to osteoarthritis later on.

Overuse injury

Repeated stress on a joint can cause inflammation of the surrounding tissues and result in pain and stiffness. Overuse injuries are common among athletes who participate in repetitive activities such as running or cycling without adequate recovery time between sessions. Osteoarthritis often develops in these athletes when they reach middle age because they have been overusing their joints for years without proper rest periods between workouts.

Who gets knee osteoarthritis?

In the United States, there are nearly 30 million people with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. OA is a degenerative joint disease that can cause pain, stiffness and swelling in joints. It occurs when cartilage — the tissue that covers the ends of bones and helps them glide smoothly over one another — wears down or breaks down. As a result, bones rub against each other, causing pain and loss of movement. The condition can make simple daily tasks such as walking or climbing stairs difficult to do.

The risk factors for developing knee OA include:

Age. People over age 50 are more likely to develop knee OA than younger individuals. Age-related changes in cartilage make it less flexible and more susceptible to damage from everyday wear and tear on joints. The risk of developing knee OA increases with age because cartilage does not regenerate as well as other tissues do as we get older.

Gender: Women are more likely than men to develop knee OA as they age because their knees tend to be smaller than men’s knees and have less muscle around them, which makes them more susceptible to injury (such as ACL tears).

Treatment for OA?

There is no cure for osteoarthritis. But there are some things you can do to reduce your symptoms and slow down the progression of the disease.

Your doctor may recommend that you try:

Medications: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen sodium (Aleve), can help with painful flare-ups of OA. But these medications can be hard on your stomach and kidneys, so they may not be safe for everyone. To keep NSAIDs from causing stomach ulcers, take them with food or milk and avoid drinking alcohol while taking them. Corticosteroid injections can provide some relief from pain but don’t last long.

Weight loss: If you’re overweight, losing weight can help relieve pain in your knees and other joints by reducing pressure on them. Aim for a slow weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week by eating less fat and sugar and exercising more often.

What sports can develop a knee osteoarthritis?

The most common sports that can develop a knee osteoarthritis are football, basketball, and soccer. These three sports are very popular in the United States and they are played by millions of people.

The reason why these types of sports can cause knee osteoarthritis is because they require a lot of running, jumping and twisting which puts stress on your knee joint. The repetitive motion causes damage to the cartilage which protects the bones in your knees from rubbing together. When this cartilage wears away or breaks down, you will have pain and inflammation in your knees.