Does Osteoarthritis Spread Throughout Body?

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  1. Knee joints. They are the most vulnerable joints to have osteoarthritis (OA). When they are affected, you can feel stiffness, pain, and swelling of the joint. A knee joint that doesn’t work normally can significantly affect the way of how you move your body such as difficulty walking.
  2. Hands! Soreness and stiffness of fingers are usually the early signs when OA affect your hands. The symptoms usually get worse in the morning. The problem can make you difficult to pinch with your fingers. You may also find difficulties in turning a key, opening a jar, and typing. The affected fingers can be crackle when moved.
  3. Spine and hips! OA also can affect the neck (the cervical spine), causing pain in the arms and shoulders. It also can affect the lower spine, causing symptoms that may spread to the legs or buttocks. OA of the hip may cause pain in the groin, thigh, or even legs.

Prognosis and outlook

Again, each case can be unique because OA can affect different people differently. And for the prognosis, it also varies.

In some sufferers, the disease only causes mild symptoms, interferes little with daily activities, and easier to cope. But in others it can be very bothersome, even can be so painful and cause disability.

Another issue you need to concern, the effect of the disease is not only about physical symptoms. Sometime it can cause psychological problems that also should be concerned as well.

In severe case, the disease can be so costly and even make you lose your productivity and your carrier. Some sufferers find difficulty for participating in their daily activities, family joys, and responsibilities.

All of these things increase the risk of some psychological issues such as depression, feeling of helplessness, and anxiety. That’s why it’s important for sufferers to also get adequate emotional support.

Despite the limitations caused by the disease, fortunately many people with OA are still able to live active – though there may be some adjustments in responding with the disease.

If you have OA, some treatment options are available to help improve the quality of your life. These can include pain relief medications, educating yourself about OA and how to cope with it effectively, learning self-care, exercise, maintaining your weight, and other lifestyle approaches.

Citations /references:

  1. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Osteoarthritis/default.asp
  2. http://www.arthritistoday.org/tools-and-resources/expert-q-and-a/osteoarthritis-questions/osteoarthritis-progression.php
  3. http://www.nku.edu/~rad350/osteoarthritisrh.html
  4. http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/joint-pain-is-it-osteoarthritis

Last accessed on September 2014

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One Comment
  1. Steve Corry
    December 28, 2022 | Reply

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