How do you know whether you have ordinary joint pain or if you have osteoarthritis?  To answer this, it is important to understand a bit about osteoarthritis.

Arthritis simply means “joint” and “inflammation.”  The two most common diagnosed forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  The two conditions are very different.  Our focus is on osteoarthritis, which is sometimes used to refer to a group of similar diseases that affect the joints, such as degenerative joint disease, hypertrophic arthritis, or atrophic arthritis. 

In osteoarthritis, the cartilage that covers the joints becomes thinner and rougher, gradually losing its ability to protect the underlying bone.  As the cartilage is worn away, portions of bone are exposed.  When this occurs, the exposed bone on one side of the joint meets with exposed bone on the opposite side of the joint.  This bone-on-bone phenomenon is characteristic of severe osteoarthritis and it is one reason why preventing the damage to cartilage while it is still intact is so important.  Put another way, when joint pain is in its early stages, one should do everything possible to keep that cartilage from wearing down.

Osteoarthritis can affect almost any joint.  However, it most commonly affects the knees, hips, spine, and hands.  It usually takes many years to develop.  It typically begins after age 40, but with increases in conditions like obesity and diabetes, osteoarthritis is being found in much younger people than ever before.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Nearly 1 out of 5 adults have some form of arthritis.  This equates to 46 million people in the U.S. alone.  Some 27 million people in the United States have osteoarthritis.  The CDC report says that 25 years from now, one-third of the nation's arthritis cases will be people ages 45 to 64.  In fact, the Baby Boomers are one of the fastest growing groups facing limitations of their activities because of OA.