Osteoarthritis - What can cause it and how to prevent it

By: Dr. Steven Trembecki, D.C

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.

Although the suffix "-itis" refers to an inflammatory state, this is considered a misnomer. Degenerative joint disease radiographically is not an inflammatory condition. This is the reason "degenerative joint disease" (DJD) is currently being used to describe this condition.

The tell-tale signs of osteoarthritis include 'crepitus' - a literally a grinding noise and feeling on moving the joint - pain, stiffness, and deformity. Typically the stiffness is worse after a night's sleep, but then as the person moves around and exercised the joint, the stiffness will subside.

There are two main categories of degenerative joint disease: primary and secondary. Primary DJD means that the degeneration has no direct link to an incident of trauma or other disease process. The degeneration has an insidious onset. Secondary degenerative joint disease entails a known cause for the onset of the DJD. This may be the result of 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 then causes excessive wear on the cartilage, rather like having a loose wheel on a vehicle. The cartilage gradually wears down, and develops a rough surface, which is what then causes that grinding sound (crepitus). Since the cartilage serves as a shock absorber for the joint, its gradual destruction means less protection for the joint, and so more damage occurs.

On the other hand, too little joint movement can be just as bad. The joint has no direct blood supply, so all nutrition has to be transported across the joint capsule, a process that relies on joint movement. So too little movement may result in poor nutrition actually inside the joint.

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.

Regular exercise combined with good stretches help to strengthen and stabilize the muscles around the joint. The maintains a good range of motion which, in turn, ensures proper nutrition inside the joint. If necessary to achieve that, get some treatment from a chiropractor to adjust the joint and to advise on proper stretching techniques.

Even though all this may not eliminate the risk of osteoarthritis - especially if you have had some significant trauma to the joint - it will certainly help to delay or slow down the degenerative process.

Article Source: http://appliedhealtharticles.com

Tired of pain from osteoarthritis? Read our other articles by Dr. Steven Trembecki, D.C. on this and other chiropractor treatments.
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