ARE YOU EXPERIENCING PAIN OR STIFFNESS IN YOUR HIP(S) OR KNEE(S)?
THESE SYMPTOMS MAY BE DUE TO OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA)

Osteoarthritis is one of the primary causes of difficulties in movement and disability which affects elder people. It is one of the most common conditions that damage the articular cartilage (the protective covering of the bones from joint impact or bone-to-bone contact) in the joint.

The most common causes of this condition are:

• Healthy joint(s) being exposed to heavy workloads or resistance for a long period of time.
• Repetitive motion that damages the articular surface of the joint.
• Overuse of unhealthy joint(s) that could not handle normal workloads.

Between the ages of 35 and 54 years old, there are approximately 5% of these people diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Apparently, the percentage of having problems in the joint which are related to osteoarthritis increase as they get older. Most of them acquired these injuries in their early life.

It has been a misleading concept that osteoarthritis was often described as a ‘wear and tear’ condition. Many people believed way back then that the joint wears out if it is overused. But current researches have provided many advances in medical practices. It has been proven that the cartilage needs to keep moving to stay healthy. There is a constant balance of breakdown and build-up (regeneration) of the cartilage in a healthy joint. But if there is more degeneration of tissues in the cartilage, osteoarthritis may occur. This may promote irreversible damages to the cartilage and may lead to its disappearance. If this happens, bones will start to rub and grind each other which may cause to impair the function of the joint. For this, a certain amount of load and resistance must be applied to the cartilage to enhance regeneration. Through rehabilitation, adequate loading is applied to the joint to allow recovery. Today, osteoarthritis is more often described as a joint failure.

Source: https://gladcanada.ca/index.php/osteoarthritis/