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Find Out More: Osteoarthritis

What is it?

Osteoarthritis is a chronic musculoskeletal condition which affects joints in the body. Most often osteoarthrtis is found in weight-bearing joints such as knees, hips and feet. Hand and neck joints are also commonly affected. As bodies age and change, joints may become worn, damaged and not repair well.

This is what a healthy joint looks like:

When cartilage, the smooth coating of the bone, becomes thinner, the joint doesn't move as smoothly as it should and will work to repair itself. Osteoarthritis develops with the changes that take place as a result of this repair process.

An osteoarthritic joint looks like this:

 

Changes due to the repair process may include:

  • rough growths on the edge of the bone (osteophytes)
  • inflammation of the capsule wall (synovium)
  • too much synovial fluid in the joint capsule
  • stretching of the capsule wall

Sometimes these changes in the joint cause pain, swelling or loss movement.

Who does it affect?

Osteoarthritis can affect anyone, but most commonly affects adults aged 45 and older. In the UK around 8.5 million adults have evidence of osteoarthritis, the majority of these are women. Osteoarthritis tends to affect people in older age groups. This may be due to the changes that take place as we get older, such as weakening muscles, weight gain and the body being less able to heal itself.

The risk of developing osteoarthritis is higher in people who are overweight. Excess weight puts additional strain on joints such as knees, hips, back and feet. People with weakened muscles are also more likely to develop osteoarthritis.

What does it feel like?

Osteoarthritis affects different people in different ways but doesn't usually get worse over time. The amount of pain that people feel is not always linked to the amount of damage in the joint. People with osteoarthritis may experience pain, swelling and stiffness in their affected joints, but not necessarily all of these symptoms. Some people have severe pain but no outward sign of swelling in the joint. Others may have little pain but more stiffness.  Sometimes muscles around the joint become weakened and give way. Symptoms might start very suddenly and can change from day to day or persist for a long time. Some people have osteoarthritis in their joints without knowing it as they have no obvious symptoms.

However, many people with osteoarthritis experience regular pain and have problems with daily activities and moving about. This can be restrictive, upsetting and may affect their quality of life.

This video from Versus Arthritis explains more about Osteoarthritis

Information based on NHS and government sources and Versus Arthritis (2020)

What can you do to help yourself?

Although there is no cure for osteoarthritis, there are some treatments and ways of managing symptoms that can help. Learning what you can do to help yourself is called self-management.

Managing symptoms may involve making important lifestyles changes. These might include:

  • being more active,
  • introducing muscle strengthening exercises
  • focusing on weight management
  • planning daily activity

Using over the counter or prescribed pain medication regularly may help you to maintain daily activities, sleep better, and move more.

Have a look at the self-management pages on this website to find out more about osteoarthritis self-management.

Where you can go for support?

There is lots of other help and support available from national and local services. Some of these are listed below:

  • Versus Arthritis national helpline: 0800 5200 520 or contact through enquiries@versusarthritis.org
  • Versus Arthritis Leeds area:
    • Leeds Branch meets third Tuesday of the month, 7.30pm at St. Chads Hall, Otley Road, Headingley, LS16 5JT
    • Bramley Branch meets first Thursday of the month, 10.00am  at Bramley Lawn Social Centre, Rossfield Lawn, off Rossfield Approach, Bramley, Leeds LS13 3RU
    • Leeds Walking Group meets weekly on Fridays, 10.30am at Talbot Avenue LS17 6SF
    • Bradford Pain Group meets weekly on Wednesdays, 10.30am at Clayton Village Hall, Reva Skye Road, Clayton, Bradford BD14 6AE
  • Osteoarthritis Support UK private Facebook group
  • Age UK Leeds - Health and Wellbeing  and  Walking for Health
  • OPAL (Older People's Action in the Locality) open daily 9.00am to 4.00pm at 55, Bedford Drive, Leeds, LS16 6DJ. Contact 0113 361 9103 or go to OPAL's Facebook page or their website

If you know of other helpful support services for osteoarthritis please tell us about them so that we can add them to our list.