Usually, the symptoms you notice starts to gradually appear. Pain is the first and it appears when you use the affected joint. Other symptoms that may appear include morning stiffness and restricted range of motion. As the condition progressive, it will also lead to joint deformity.

The joints that are commonly affected are:

Other joints such as the hands and foot can also be affected.
The joints that carry the body's weight, known as the weight-bearing joints, (for example, the knee) are likely to show more pain and stiffness. You will get relief from pain after 30 minutes to 1 hour, especially when you move the joint.

Initially, there is none or very little inflammatory effects taking place; it will not appear swollen. As the condition gets worst, the joint structure starts to change, swell and you experience more and more stiffness and less flexible.

Eventually, the bone deforms and you can no longer open the joint fully. As well, the joint will appear bent and deformed. At this stage, the damage is permanent. Only surgery (for example, joint replacement) will be able to give you back use of the joint.

If you suffer from spinal osteoarthritis, you will experience back pain or neck pain. As this condition gets worst, the bones may put pressure on nerves and cause numbness and pain to travel down the legs or arms.

Your family doctor can perform a physical exam, take your history and get an X-ray of the affected joint. With a detailed exam, your doctor will rule out other health conditions.

It will ensure that you get the proper treatment. However, the x-ray image may not give you the full picture because it only shows the bone and not the cartilage (which is the main problem).

While MRI will show the cartilage (which an X-ray will not), this is seldom done. The cost is far too high to justify its use for such a condition except in the worst cases.

This procedure is costly and not often done except under certain circumstances.

A surgeon can make a small incision into the knee joint, insert a tube attached to a camera at the end and physically see inside the joint to evaluate the damage.

There are no blood test for OA. However, most physicians will do a blood test to make sure that the OA symptoms are not due to some other ailments.

One recommended product for treating OA is Joint Advance. Joint Advance is a unique advanced formula.

There are many joint supplements on the market today. But Joint Advance is ahead of all of them because it has so many all-natural herbal ingredients.

References for Osteoarthritis
Revised: September 27, 2011

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