Osteoarthritis commonly affects the hands, knees and hips. It is a degenerative condition, meaning that as we age the cartilage that cushions the joints wears down over time.
When it wears down, the bones rub together and cause pain and stiffness. Due to the degenerative nature of the condition it commonly affects older people.
However, younger people can suffer from the condition if they are particularly active and have more significant wear and tear on their joints or have had previous trauma to the joints.
What treatment is available?
Non-operative treatments range from simple pain relief, activity modification and steroid injections.
Key hole surgery can help ‘wash out’ joints and also help diagnose the severity of the arthritis, and procedures can also be targeted at removing the pain nerves supplying a joint.
In severe cases, either the joint is prevented from moving (fused) or the joint can be replaced.
