Osteoarthritis - what causes it and how can you prevent it?

Osteoarthritis is the gradual process in which the joint surfaces - the cartilage and the bone itself deteriorate and break down. For this reason it is currently considered a degenerative joint disease.

In fact, the the name is not really accurate. The suffix '-itis' suggests that the joint is inflamed which is not, in fact, the case. So rather than labelling it as an inflammatory condition, it is better to think of it as a "degenerative joint disease" (DJD)

Clinical features of degenerative joint disease may include crepitus (grinding sound), pain, stiffness, and deformity. The stiffness associated with degenerative joint disease often goes through a "gelling" period. What this entails is stiffness upon waking from sleep then, as the person moves around, the stiffness begins to subside.

There are two main types of degenerative joint disease: primary and secondary. Primary means, basically, that it happened all by itself, whereas secondary means there was some obvious cause for it such as trauma or another disease process.

What the real cause of primary osteoarthritis is is still a mystery. Some experts believe that it is related to dysfunction in the normal movement of the joint - either too much or too little.

Too much motion of the joint (aberrant motion) occurs with the ligaments around the joint, including the joint capsule, becoming overstretched. This can result from things such as poor posture or chronic stretching of the joint, such as when someone "pops" their knuckles repetitively.

This results in deterioration of the integrity of the joint as the joint cartilage receives too much wear, quite similar to having a loose wheel on a vehicle. The cartilage slowly begins to roughen causing a grinding sound (crepitus), and decreases the shock absorption of the joint. This, in turn, then leads to greater wear on the joint and increased deterioration.

If a joint is moving too little, degenerative joint disease may set in due to a lack of nutrition to the internal components of the joint. Since there is no direct blood supply to the inside of a joint, the body relies on motion to allow a transfer of waste product and nutrition across the joint capsule.

Since lack of movement can prevent adequate nutrition at the joint face, most health care professionals recommend that you DON'T rest immobilize your joints (eg in traction) for extended periods of time unless absolutely necessary.

This essentially leads us to the conclusion that the best practice to help decrease the risk of degenerative joint disease is to maintain proper joint motion to the best of our abilities. This entails having proper treatment of injuries with a health-care professional and following an adequate stretching routine.

By strengthening muscles around a joint whose ligaments have been torn, we are better able to avoid aberrant motion. By stretching muscles around a joint that is stiff and having that joint adjusted by a chiropractor, we are better able to maintain the motion needed in the joint for the proper transfer of "waste products" and nutrition for the internal joint.

Of course we cannot guarantee that this will prevent you from getting osteoarthritis - especially if you have had a bad accident to the joint. But it will certainly help to delay or slow down the degenerative process, and allow you to be mobile and pain free for longer.

Article Source: http://www.articlemonk.com

Looking for some relief from osteoarthritis? Click now for more advice from Dr. Steven Trembecki, D.C. on chiropractor treatments.
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