Knee osteoarthritis is a common disease among people of various ages and can be regarded as a significant medical problem. It is important to know that even in the case of arthritis of the knee, you are capable of leading a normal, happy life. Osteoarthritis is a kind of arthritis that is prevalent in many health conditions and is known to affect numerous individuals in their everyday lives. It commonly affects several joints of the lower limbs, and the knee specifically accounts for the largest proportion. This condition can make it challenging to go for a stroll, take staircases, or even engage in many more activities. This article will examine what causes osteoarthritis of the knee to occur, how it can be managed, and what type of changes you may make in your daily life to help ease the discomfort from the disease.

What Causes Osteoarthritis?

Knee osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease, is a breakdown and degeneration of cartilage that can result from normal mechanical wear and tear on the joint. This means that the cartilage, which acts as a cushion between the bones to reduce friction as the bones move against each other, wears out as the years pass with usage. The cartilage wears out and the bones start grinding against each other, which can bring about knee pain.

Knee joints tend to wear out over time, especially as the person reaches a certain age, that is, over fifty years. Osteoarthritis of the knee is a more prevalent disease in females than males. Any occupations that involve the application of the joint to stress, such as flexing, bending, or lifting, often increase your risk. Also, if one has had a previous history of knee joint injuries, the risk may be there. Being overweight also places more pressure on the knee joint and can cause swelling of the joint. There is evidence of a genetic predisposition and risk factors that are associated with knee osteoarthritis being inherited. Some metabolic disorders, bone abnormalities, or other diseases may make knee OA more likely to occur.

What Pain is Experienced?

Contrary to popular belief, bone-on-bone arthritis of the knee is not necessarily a pain-causing structure since there are no nerve receptors in the bones. The knee also has no nerves, even in the cartilage that is available in this joint. Thinning of the cartilage tissues will not be a problem in and of itself.

Surgery

If the discomfort becomes unbearable and conservative treatments are not effective, a physician may suggest surgery.

Arthroscopy: In this highly localized operation, one can use an arthroscope, which is a form of camera used in operations to view the knee joint. They can rebuild an injury or eliminate such particles as bones inside the joint, which will help preserve the healthy tendon tissue.

Osteotomy: It entails the process where a surgeon saws and sculpts the bone to create the required space. This will reduce pressure on the affected area and ensure that the bones are set right in their positions. If all these do not succeed, the doctor may call for a total knee replacement. You can also go for advanced genicular artery embolization, a procedure that reduces the flow of blood to the synovium and decreases inflammation and pain. After that, you can do normal activities like before.

Exercise

It is imperative to reiterate the fact that exercise will not make your arthritis worse. It may be uncomfortable, especially when starting a new exercise regimen, but that doesn’t mean that you are in any way damaging your knee. This means that the greater the range of motion in a person’s knee joint, the stronger the muscles that control the knee joint are, and the better a person’s quality of life will be.

Diet and Metabolism

It must be said that our eating habits are a major determinant of the disease burden that many of us experience. Consuming the present standard American diet has caused high incidences of heart ailment, diabetes, fatty liver diseases, dementia, and so on. Diet and its side effects on your body contribute to the development of osteoarthritis and other conditions that cause joint pains. The food that is prepared through these processes is not beneficial for you to consume. It is permissible to turn a blind eye to the vitriolic and often unilateral discussions on diets on social media. The diet that will be most suitable for your lifestyle is a diet that will accommodate fresh foods and not processed foods that come in boxes. It will therefore be a diet that you can maintain and that can be practiced in the long run.

Pain Relief Medications

Knee osteoarthritis can be treated with many different medications that can help alleviate some of the pain associated with the condition. Your doctor will therefore decide which medicines will be best for that particular case depending on your symptoms, past medical history, and other illnesses or conditions that you might be having.

Hyaluronic acid Injections: This deal is administered through injection into the knee to ease the pain of sufferers and is a relatively minimally invasive procedure as compared to surgical operations.

Over-the-counter pain medication: These drugs alleviate pain and also help curb inflammation. They include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen, specifically.

Topical medications: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are also in the form of gel, which can be massaged on the painful knee joint.

Prescription pain medications: If you do not find relief from pain using the mentioned OTC medication, your doctor may refer you to take COX-2 inhibitors, which include celecoxib and meloxicam among others.

Corticosteroids Cortisone shots may be taken directly at the knee joint to combat pain and inflammation. You may be given no more than four injections in any given year to prevent some adverse effects.

Osteoarthritis can lead to the wearing of the contact surfaces of the bones of the knee joint and the development of painful, swollen, and stiff knee joints. It is more frequent with weight gain and as you grow older. Some therapies that may be curative or in the treatment of knee OA have been highlighted, and the appropriate one for the individual will differ. The ideal approach might require some experimentation to find what is most effective.