Osteoarthritis

Written by Michelle Champlin BSc Pod., M.Ch.S., S.R., Ch., (UK)

Osteoarthritis in the knee joint
Osteoarthritis is a condition affecting the joints of our bones, where the surfaces of the bone become damaged over time and don’t move quite as smoothly, or to the full range, that they should.
The protective covering of our joints is cartilage and this can become thinner and rougher as we age. Osteoarthritis is a fairly normal part of the aging process, which is why it’s also sometimes called ‘degenerative joint disease’ or even just ‘wear and tear.’
As the cartilage covering the joints become thinner and rougher, other tissues in your joints may try to help repair the area. The bones at the edge of the joint may grow outwards, creating ‘spurs’ or osteophytes. The joint capsule containing ‘synovial fluid’ may become enlarged, causing the joint to appear swollen. The ligaments that surround every joint in your body and help to stabilize and control its movement can thicken and contract, as they help the joint stabilize.
Symptoms
Mostly, the body copes with most osteoarthritic changes with no problems or symptoms – we all will develop some degree of joint wear and tear as we get older. It tends to be as the damage gets more severe that you may notice symptoms, although some people with relatively ‘minor’ appearing damage on x-rays can experience great pain advises Chief Podiatrist Michelle Champlin. Symptoms can be similar to rheumatoid arthritis. Symptoms include:
• Pain at the joint(s) – tends to be worse when you move it or at the end of the day
• Stiffness – you may feel more stiff after resting, easing as you move
• A grating or crunching sound in your joints – called ‘crepitus’
• Swelling around the joint(s) – either soft (from the fluid build up) or hard (from the bony spurs)
• Reduced range of motion in the joint – all of our joints are designed to move in certain specific directions and within a certain maximum angle each way. For example, the knee is a hinge joint designed to extend (calf to hamstring) and flex (straighten the leg out). It is the body’s biggest joint and also the joint most commonly affected by arthritis. You may notice you can’t bend a joint as far as you used to.
Risk Factors
There are certain things that can increase the risk of developing arthritis, make it worse or cause it to develop earlier. These include:
• Excess bodyweight (places more force through the weight bearing joints, such as knees and ankles)
• Hereditary / genetic
• Previous injury or trauma to the joint
• Muscle weakness
• Biomechanical misalignment – musculo-skeletal imbalances in how we walk or run. Most commonly, people over-pronate which is likely to cause increased forces through the medial (inside) of the foot and leg joints. On the other hand, supinators are likely to have increased force through the lateral (outside) of their foot and leg joints. Both supinators and over-pronators are at higher risk of arthritic damage to their ankle, knee and hip joints.
Treatment
Your Doctor may refer you to a Podiatrist for a full biomechanical lower limb assessment to diagnose any contributing misalignment, and to make your own discrete orthotics to wear within your work or casual shoes. Alternatively, you can present straight to the foot and leg experts at Dubai Podiatry Centre without a doctor’s referral (unless your health insurance requires it). Custom orthotics re-distribute the weight and forces through your feet, legs and hips without any conscious effort from you, tightening and toning muscles that have been previously underused, such as raising the arch of your foot if you have fallen arches (sometimes called ‘flat feet’).
If you are experiencing pain or any of the symptoms described above in any of your joints – hip, knee, ankle or toes, make an appointment with your Podiatrist or Doctor. They will be able to diagnose osteoarthritis and rule out any other conditions that can have similar symptoms, such as rheumatoid arthritis, hallux rigidus (of your big toe), stress fractures, runners knee or gout. Joint pain in children, such as knee pain, should always be investigated with your Paediatric Orthopaedic specialist or Podiatrist, to rule out rheumatoid arthritis, Severs Disease and other possible causes of joint pain in children.
Custom corrective foot orthotics, prescribed and made by competent and experienced biomechanics Podiatrists such as the team at Dubai Podiatry Centre can reduce osteoarthritic damage, alleviate pain and increase activity levels by correcting the biomechanical alignment.
It is important that all children are checked at school age for any foot/leg biomechanical anomaly as a matter of routine, to correct any issue that may damage their joints in later years if left untreated. Your Paediatrician or Podiatrist will be glad to carry out this routine screening.
Contact the team at Dubai Podiatry Centre today on +971 4 3435390 to start on the road to recovery, or to have a kid’s foot and leg screening.