Osteoarthritis of the knee affects some people due to hereditary factors, many others get it due to injuries or infections and most overweight people also get this disorder.
Osteoarthritis of the knee is commonly called as “wear and tear arthritis” in which the cartilages in the knee joints wear away, and make the ends of the bones rub against each other when you walk causing severe pain, stiffness of the joint, swelling and reducing the degree of mobility leading to severe discomfort affecting your overall quality of life.
Reasons of the Knee Arthritis:
Age is the major reason for the incidence of osteoarthritis and most of people have this disorder in varying degrees. This is due to the fact that with advancing age, the cartilage that surrounds the knee joint bones loses its ability to heal itself.
Overweight, heredity, gender, injuries caused due to the repetitive stress by kneeling, squatting or lifting heavy weights causing over pressure to your knee joints, or the athletic activities like long distance running, soccer and tennis, are considered as important causes of osteoarthritis of the knee. This is also found in persons having rheumatoid arthritis.
The Diagnosis of Osteoporosis of the Knees
When you have stiffness in your knee joint with severe pain you have to visit a doctor, who will be able to diagnose your condition by conducting a physical examination, and consider your medical and family history of the incidence of osteoarthritis.
This will make the correct diagnosis to know if the pain is due to the Osteoarthritis. and if necessary he may requests for X-ray, or in very rare cases it may be necessary to go to do Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans so that the condition of your knee can be correctly diagnosed.
Treatment Options for Osteoarthritis in the Knee
The main aim of the treatments of Osteoarthritis of the knee is to safeguard the full mobility of the knee joints and to get relief from the swelling and pain that are associated with this condition.
The treatment of osteoporosis of the knee is a combination of various factors that give the required relief from the dreaded condition affecting the use of your knee joints.
- A right combination of exercise, diet and achieving the right level of weight loss is very much necessary to manage this condition in an effective manner.
- There are many medications like pain relievers and anti- inflammatory drugs that have the right type of curing effect of this type of arthritis.
- In the modern techniques, the use of Glucosamine supplements or injections of Corticosteroids and Hylauronic acid into the knee also gives good relief from the pain and the stiffness of the knee joint.
- Apart from this, there are many types of alternative therapies like the application of topical creams, capsaicin or acupuncture are also used in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
- Use of braces and devices to take the weight off the affected part of the knee joint is also a part of the treatment and if necessary you have to undergo physical and occupational therapy.
- And as the last resort you may have to go for knee joint replacement surgery.
