Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease, is the most common joint disorder and has unknown causes. It is a condition that is usually seen in older people, in their larger, weight-bearing joints, such as the hips, knees, and spine. It can also affect the hands and feet, or other joints.The smooth cartilage lining of a joint begins to flake and crack through age and general wear and tear. As the cartilage deteriorates, the underlying bone can become thickened and distorted. This can make moving the joint so painful and restricted that the associated muscles are used much less. This leads to the degeneration of the unused muscles.SymptomsPain, swelling, and stiffness can occur at intervals of months or years. Although osteoarthritis often affects several joints, it rarely causes symptoms in more than one or two joints at a time. Pain may gradually become so sever that it disturbs sleep and limits everyday activities.Swelling can vary from being hardly noticeable to making the joint appear extremely knobby and enlarged. The pain from osteoarthritis can be felt directly in the affected joint, or indirectly. That is, the pain may transmit to other […]

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