This is how you know if you have suffered from osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is usually called a public disease, as as many as one million Swedes are affected.
But how do you know if the pain is due to osteoarthritis or if it is something else?
– You have more stiffness and pain when you have been sitting still or when you wake up in the morning, advises Erik Rönnblad, orthopedist and sports doctor.

Osteoarthritis is a joint disease where the cartilage in the joint breaks down. It is estimated that at least one million Swedes are affected and the risk increases with increasing age. But even between the ages of 35 and 55, five percent of the population is estimated to have osteoarthritis.

– We are not complete in any way. Some get high blood pressure, others get diabetes and some get osteoarthritis. After the age of 45, 25 percent of everyone has symptoms, so it is very common, says orthopedist Erik Rönnblad in Nyhetsmorgon.

Symptoms: Stiffness and pain

He shows an X-ray of a healthy knee and one with osteoarthritis. There you see that bone meets bone, without any cartilage in between, which causes the pain. The symptoms of osteoarthritis are stiffness and pain.

– You often have more stiffness and pain when you have been sitting still or when you wake up in the morning. Then it can usually get a little better when you start moving the joint, so that you start lubricating it. Then the symptoms can sort of fade away, he says.

It is not only age that increases the risk of osteoarthritis, but also heredity and obesity.

The most common body parts to get osteoarthritis in are the big toe joint, knee joint, hip joints, back and neck.

– Shoulders also occur and fingers are not entirely unusual. And it’s quite troublesome if you have a profession where you use your hands, which many people do today when they type on a keyboard.

How do you know if you have osteoarthritis?

But how do you know if the pain and stiffness is osteoarthritis and not something else?

– Of course, you have to do a thorough investigation. We call it anamnesis, a strange word for medical history. Then we have a number of different investigations we can do, of which X-ray is a very important one to see if it is osteoarthritis, says Erik Rönnblad.

You must also rule out other diseases, such as rheumatism or arthritis – an inflammation of the joint.

Osteoarthritis is an irreversible disease, which means that you cannot recover from it. Once it has arrived, it never goes away again, but you can become problem-free with the help of physical activity.

– Exercise is the cornerstone of the treatment. Both to avoid getting osteoarthritis, but above all to get rid of the symptoms. They can subside with time and often the problems recur, but exercise is a good foundation for getting rid of problems.