Patient education: Osteoarthritis (The Basics)

What is osteoarthritis? — Arthritis is a general term that means inflammation of the joints. There are dozens of types of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common type. It often comes with age, and it often affects the hands, knees, and hips.

The place where 2 bones meet is normally covered with a rubbery material called cartilage. This material allows the bones to slide over each other without causing pain. When osteoarthritis sets in, the cartilage begins to break down. As it wears away, the bones in the joint start to rub against each other (figure 1). This can cause pain, stiffness, and swelling (table 1).

What can I do to feel better? — To ease your symptoms, you can:

●Rest for several minutes when your pain is at its worst – But don't rest too long. That can make your muscles weak and your pain worse.

●Lose weight (if you are overweight) – Being overweight puts extra strain on your joints. Your doctor or nurse can talk to you about healthy ways to lose weight.

●Get plenty of physical activity – Having strong muscles takes some of the strain off of your joints. It can reduce your pain in the long run, even if it hurts to do at first. There are lots of different ways to get physical activity. Your doctor or nurse can help you come up with an exercise routine that works for you. They might also suggest you work with a physical therapist (exercise expert).

●Use "assistive devices" if your doctor recommends them – These devices can help keep your joints stable or take weight off them. Examples include shoe inserts, splints, canes, and walkers.

●Use hot or cold packs – Some people find that heat or cold helps relieves pain for a short time.

●Learn about arthritis – Learning about your condition allows you to work with your doctor or nurse to find the things that you are most helpful for you. It can also help you better understand what to expect with your symptoms and treatment.

Can herbs, vitamins, or supplements help? — There is no strong evidence that supplements of any sort work on arthritis symptoms. That's true even for glucosamine and chondroitin, which are supplements people seem to think help with arthritis. If you want to try any supplements or herbs, check with your doctor or nurse before taking them.

Are there medicines I can take? — Usually, doctors suggest trying things like physical activity, weight loss, and assistive devices first. If these do not help with pain, they might recommend medicine. Options include medicines that come as pills as well as creams and gels that go on the skin.

In some situations, doctors might suggest shots that go into the joint to relieve pain. But these are not usually used as a main treatment, because they only work for a few weeks.

What about surgery? — When other treatments do not help enough, some people with osteoarthritis get surgery. For instance, some people have surgery to replace a knee or a hip. Surgeons are working on other types of surgery for arthritis, too.

Try different things until you find what works — The symptoms of osteoarthritis can be hard to handle. But don't lose hope. You might need to try different combinations of medicines, exercises, and devices to find the approach that works for you. But most people do find ways to go back to doing many of things they like to do.

More on this topic

Patient education: Rheumatoid arthritis (The Basics)
Patient education: Gout (The Basics)
Patient education: Hand pain (The Basics)
Patient education: Paget disease of bone (The Basics)

Patient education: Arthritis and exercise (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Joint infection (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Osteoarthritis symptoms and diagnosis (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Osteoarthritis treatment (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Total hip replacement (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Total knee replacement (Beyond the Basics)