The older you get, the more likely it is that you will fall prey to the condition known as osteoarthritis, which is the most common of all arthritis types that affect the elderly. It can be considered as being a degenerative joint disease due to the fact that the cartilage of the joints continuously degenerates and thus cause the patient a lot of pain, stiffness as well as swelling, which is caused by the bones scraping one another.

Movement Becomes Inhibited

Osteoarthritis may result in movement becoming inhibited as well as causing pain, though there need not be any redness, heat and it is not known to affect your internal organs either. This condition is the reason why most people affected by it are disabled and it is also known as a condition that affects men who are less than forty-five years of age, and women that have crossed the age of forty-five. It can lead to not only disabilities but also changes the patients lifestyle as well as makes a dent in his or her finances.

Osteoarthritis is commonly known to affect the knees, hands, hips as well as spine, and when it does strike a person, there is a noticeable difference in the comfort level when he or she attempts to raise him or herself from a sitting position to a standing position, especially in the morning when getting out of bed, and also after exercising.

You can be sure that you are down with osteoarthritis when you notice that your joints make a crackling noise, are stiff after getting up from a chair, or getting out of bed, and there is also pain, swelling as well as tenderness. However, there may not be any redness or heating up of the joints. And, there is no single test that doctors can perform to identify the condition, which means that they have to rely on changes in condition, and then prescribe treatment methods accordingly.

Osteoarthritis is known to affect the hands of women more than in the case of men and there may also be genetic factors that cause the condition. To get relief from this painful condition of the hands, it is normal to take medications, use splinting as well as use moist heat. If the disease strikes your knees, which is a very common condition given the fact that they bear the largest weight and thus can easily be affected, you may become significantly disabled and it will disrupt your lifestyle.

To treat osteoarthritis in the knee, you can get therapy and also use medications, reduce your weight as well as make use of walking aids, and if the condition is especially severe, you can even get joint replacement surgery performed. With a correct identification as well as suitable therapy, people that suffer from arthritis is it their hips, knees, hands or spine can get relief as well as prevent further progression of the condition.

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