osteoarthritis

Degenerative form of arthritis which tends to affect larger, load-bearing joints such as the knee and hip. It appears in later life, especially in joints that have been subject to earlier stress or damage; one or more joints stiffen and may give considerable pain. It occurs most in people over middle age and the elderly, and is more common in men than women. Joint replacement surgery is nearly always successful. See also rheumatoid arthritis.

Athletes often develop osteoarthritis in particular joints as they get older; hurdlers have a tendency to develop osteoarthritis of the hips, footballers of the knees and ankles. Structural abnormalities of joints produced by fractures involving the joint, or poor alignment of long bones predispose to osteoarthritis.

Treatment Treatment of osteoarthritis is primarily conservative. The mainstay is the use of simple analgesic drugs and also those drugs which appear to have a specifically anti-arthritic quality, such as indomethacin. Physiotherapy is of value, and inequalities of leg length due to muscle spasm or bony collapse can be helped with a shoe raise. Surgery may be needed in some cases.